Odo of Bayeux

Odo fighting in the Battle of Hastings as shown in the Bayeux Tapestry
Scene in the Bayeux Tapestry showing Odo rallying Duke William's troops during the Battle of Hastings. Latin tituli above: HIC ODO EP[ISCOPU]S BACULU[M] TENENS CONFORTAT PUEROS ("Here Bishop Odo, holding a club, gives strength to the boys"). Duke William is also shown wielding a club during the battle in another scene.

Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy, and was also made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, William's primary administrator in the Kingdom of England, although he was eventually tried for defrauding the William's government. It is likely Odo commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry, a large tableau of the Norman Conquest, perhaps to present to his brother William. He later fell out with his brother over Odo's support for military adventures in Italy. William, on his deathbed, freed Odo. Odo died in Palermo Sicily on the way to crusade.