Baudri, Abbot of Bourgueil, Adelae Comitissae

 Baudri's poem begins:-

"Baudri sends his poem to look at the royal chamber and to please the illustrious countess, to greet her saying “hail countess, worthy rather of the name of queen.” She is the daughter of a king who was born a count but conquered the invincible Angles, who beat down the Normans with iron when they tried to interfere with his paternal rights and united the two shores of the channel. His generosity surpassed emperors’ but his wealth was immeasurable. Her mother too descends from a powerful and noble family of Flanders. The queen adorned the king, the king the queen. And their daughter is no less in virtue than her father, though she does not bear arms, which she would do if custom did not inhibit it, but she surpasses her father in her appreciation of poetry and her knowledge of books."

The description of the poem says:-

'Baudril was abbot of the abbey of Saint-Pierre de Bourgueil in Anjou from 1079 to 1106. About 1100 he wrote a poem, known as the Adelae Comitissae for Adèle, Countess of Blois and daughter of William the Conqueror, in which he describes a tapestry illustrating the events of the Norman conquest of England hanging near her bed.'

Within his poem, Baudri admits that his description is a flight of fantasy, his imagined account of a room worthy of the daughter of a king.

"Behold how my pages created a chamber for you and what care was taken to praise you. Surely such a chamber is fitting for such a countess and I described what would be most appropriate more than what existed."

He imagines tapestry scenes for each of the four walls, the ceiling and floor. Around her bed he places a fictional tapestry which is often identified with the Bayeux Tapestry. 

The poem's description is cited by English Heritage as one of six 'leading sources' for the battle of Hastings.

"Although there is no eyewitness account of the Battle of Hastings, there are six leading sources which have been regarded as contemporary and, in all but two cases, independent: the Gesta Willelmi Ducis Normannorum et Regis Anglorum by William of Poitiers, Archdeacon of Lisieux; a poem by Baudri, Abbot of Bourgueil addressed to William's daughter Adela; a poem on the battle attributed to Guy, Bishop of Amiens; the Anglo Saxon Chronicle; William of Jumièges Gesta Normannorum Ducum; and, of course, the Bayeux Tapestry."

But what does the poem actually say and can it really be utilised as a source for the battle if the author himself admits that it is fictional? It says:-

"... around her bed the conquest of England, William’s claims to the throne as Edward’s chosen successor, the comet, the Norman council and preparations, the fleet, the battle of Hastings with the feigned flight of the Normans and the real one of the English, and the death of Harold."

 And that is all it says.