Halley's Comet in the Bayeux Tapestry
Courtiers point at Halley's Comet as an omen while King Harold receives the news — Bayeux Tapestry, scenes 32–33, c. 1070s.
Stitched within living memory of the Norman Conquest, the Bayeux Tapestry records the events of 1066 in nearly 70 metres of embroidered linen. In this scene the appearance of Halley's Comet in April 1066 — labelled ISTI MIRANT STELLA, "these men marvel at the star" — is read as an omen hanging over the newly crowned Harold, whose death at Hastings the tapestry depicts twenty-four scenes later.
Public domain — source (Wikimedia Commons). Free to reuse under the stated licence.
