During the Second World War, Bayeux was the first city of the Battle of Normandy to be liberated, and on 16 June 1944 General Charles de Gaulle made the first of two major speeches in Bayeux in which he made clear that France sided with the Allies.
=== Moderna doba ===Ozemlje okoli Bayeuxa, imenovano Bessin, je bilo "bailiffovo" okrožje province Normandija vse do francoske revolucije.