BAYEUX, formerly the capital of the Bessin, and now the chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Calvadθ3, in France. It is situated in a fruitful valley on the River Aure, 17 miles W.N.W. of Caen. Many of its houses are of considerable antiquity, especially in the Rue St Malo and Rue St Nicholas, one in the former street being a fine specimen of the woodwork of the 15th century. The cathedral is a majestic edifice for the most part of the 12 th century, though the crypt probably dates from the time of Odo (1017). There are said to be no fewer than 2976 capitals in its construction, all sculptured differently. Bayeux is the scat of a bishopric, and has tribunals of primary jurisdiction and commerce, a communal college, and an extensive library. The former episcopal palace is now the town-house, and the seminary is turned into barracks. The chief manufactures are linen and cotton goods, hosiery, lace, and pottery. Important fairs are held for the sale of horses and cattle. Under the Romans the town bore the name of Augustodurus, and was the seat of a military establishment. During the Middle Ages it was frequently burnt, and passed from one lordship to another till it was incorporated in the duchy of Normandy. Nothing, perhaps, has done more for its fame than the possession of the Norman tapestry, which is now deposited in the town-house. It consists of a strip of liuen 200 feet long by 20 inches wide, worked in coloured worsted, and contains fifty-eight distinct scenes connected with the life of William the Conquerer. Seven colours only are employed, dark and light blue, red, yellow, buff, and dark and light green. In spite of the doubts that have been cast on the date of this tapestry, it seems almost certain that it is contemporaneous with the events it ...