10 June 2010

Bizarre Random Question of History

Alright, bizarre random question of History. How does the idea of clergy wearing hats (the Bishop's Miter in particular) develop, especially given that whole idea of men not covering their heads in worship? Does anyone know this bit of history?

6 comments:

Fallhiker said...

The pontifical mitre is of Roman origin: it is derived from a non-liturgical head-covering distinctive of the pope, the camelaucum, to which also the tiara is to be traced. The camelaucum was worn as early as the beginning of the eighth century, as is shown by the biography of Pope Constantine I (708- 815) in the "Liber Pontificalis". The same headcovering is also mentioned in the so-called "Donation of Constantine". The Ninth Ordo states that the camelaucum was made of white stuff and shaped like a helmet. The coins of Sergius III (904-11) and of Benedict VII (974-83), on which St. Peter is portrayed wearing a camelaucum, give the cap the form of a cone, the original shape of the mitre. The camelaucum was worn by the pope principally during solemn processions. The mitre developed from the camelaucum in this way: in the course of the tenth century the pope began to wear this head-covering not merely during processions to the church, but also during the subsequent church service. Whether any influence was exerted by the recollection of the sacerdotal head-ornament of the high-priest of the Old Testament is not known, but probably not—at least there is no trace of any such influence. It was not until the mitre was universally worn by bishops that it was called an imitation of the Jewish sacerdotal head-ornament.

Fallhiker said...

or consider this....
In around the year 300, the Roman Catholic church was trying to get pagans to join the Catholic Church and become Catholics. One thing they did to try to make this happen was that they took some pagan traditions and tried to "Christianize" them by making them a part of the Roman Catholic religion and associating them with Christian "saints" instead of pagan gods. There was a pagan god worshipped at that time whose name was Dagon. His symbol was a hat shaped like a fish's mouth with a long piece of cloth that draped down over the back of the wearer, which was painted or embroidered to look like the body of a fish. You can see pictures relating to all of this in the Related Links section below. The Roman Catholic church made this hat a part of the attire of their bishops. At first, they even kept the spots on either side of the "fish head" which represented the fish's eyes. This design has been modified down through the ages and now only subtily resembles the fish head.

Kathy said...

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1992/9203cust.asp

Sean said...

you have to take your mitre off when you offer the prayers, don't you?

Pr. H. R. said...

Catholic Cyclopedia is an unparalleled source for all such questions:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10404a.htm

+HRC

Rev. Weinkauf said...

Some blackbird please address this. Perhaps as the lead article. Marriage. Are both communicate mbrs BEFORE you marry them OR do you marry them if only one is, the other plans/agrees/promises to attend the next new mbr class.