ODO1 OF

BAYEUX (c. 1036-1097)  , Norman bishop and English earl, was a uterine brother of William the Conqueror, from whom he received, while still a youth, the see of Bayeux (1049) . But his active career was that of a warrior and states-man . He found ships for the invasion of England and fought in person at Senlac; in 1067 he became earl of Kent, and for some years he was a trusted royal minister . At times he acted as viceroy in William's absence; at times he led the royal forces to chastise rebellions . But in 1083 he was suddenly disgraced and imprisoned for having planned a military expedition to Italy . He was accused of desiring to make himself pope; more probably he thought of serving as a papal condottiere against the emperor Henry IV . The Conqueror, when on his death-bed, reluctantly permitted Odo's release (ro87) . The bishop returned to his earldom and soon organized a rebellion with the object of handing over England to his eldest nephew, Duke Robert . William Rufus, to the disgust of his supporters, permitted Odo to leave the kingdom after the collapse of this design (ro88), and thenceforward Odo was the right-hand man of Robert in Normandy . He took part in the agitation for the First Crusade, and started in the duke's company for Palestine, but died on the way, at Palermo (February 1097) . Little good is recorded of Odo . His vast wealth was gained by extortion and robbery .

His ambitions were boundless and his morals lax . But he was a

patron of learning and, like most prelates of his age, a great architect . He rebuilt the cathedral of his see, and may perhaps have commissioned the unknown artist of the celebrated Bayeux tapestry . See the authorities cited for WILLIAM I. and WILLIAM II., the biographical sketch in Gallia Christiana, xi . 353-360; H . Wharton Anglia Sacra, i . 334-339 (1691); and F . R . Fowke, The Bayeux Tapestry (London, 1898) . (H . W . C .