Medieval headdresses in Russia and the West: humility and madness

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Why did fairy fairies wear high caps? When did the hood rejoin the clothes? How does women's jewelry help archaeologists? And what does the word "kokoshnik" actually mean?

At all times, hats were always present in the costumes of women of all nations. They not only protected from adverse weather and natural conditions, but also sent others around important information about the owner. Let's figure out how the fashion for “clothes” for the head developed, and what exactly people in Europe and Russia could learn from it. And also how European ladies lost their Christian modesty and moved on to secular madness.

Medieval fashion in Europe

In Europe, at first, hats served a practical purpose: they had to cover from the sun and keep them warm in the cold. These were straw hats and fur or canvas hats and caps. But very quickly “clothes” for the head began to play a symbolic role. And it started with women's hats.

In the 10-13th centuries, the Christian idea of humility and obedience prevailed in European women's fashion: it was believed that the representatives of the "weaker sex" were spiritually weaker than men, and therefore could not resist the devil. To get some kind of protection, they wore closed hats (caps), which carefully concealed their hair, neck and even part of the face from prying eyes. In addition, women had to walk with their eyes and head down. Married women emphasized their dependence on their husbands with their heads covered - they were, as it were, an addition to him, and therefore did not have to look independent and open.

But in the 13th century, the ladies of the court rebelled against the Christian tradition of humility and obedience, because they increasingly took part in big politics (in England, France and Spain, by this time, several autocratic queens had already visited the throne). They decided to get rid of excessive modesty, and introduced annen (aka atur) into fashion. This headdress allowed others to see not only the woman's face and neck, but also half of her head and even the back of her head. At the same time, the eyebrows and hair in these places were completely shaved off. Annen is a tall hat of starched fabric, to which was attached a veil that hung down to the floor. The height of the cap indicated the origin of the woman - the higher it is, the more noble the lady: princesses wore meter-long annenas, and noble ladies were content with 50-60 cm. Compared to the previous fashion, it looked open and relaxed, but a little … crazy. In medieval fairytale images, sorceresses-fairies appear in these caps of incredible height - apparently, the artist wanted to emphasize their "elevation" above ordinary people.

Men kept up with women: they wore tall truncated-cone hats. This trick made them appear as tall as the ladies. Those who did not have complexes because of their height wore various hats, berets or a balzo hat, which outwardly resembled a Saracen turban.

The female annene and its many varieties were at the height of Burgundy fashion until the 15th century, when the escophion and the horned cap became popular. The first is a golden mesh, which was worn over the head over the braids twisted over the ears. The second looked like a bifurcated atur covered with cloth on top. These headdresses were lavishly and expensively adorned with gold, silver, pearls and precious stones, and cost a fortune. The horned cap may now seem like a strange trend in fashion, but even then women in them often became victims of ridicule and condemnation from the church, which saw in this headdress the "refuge of the devil." But medieval women of fashion, apparently, liked to wear horns - after all, this fashion lasted for about a century.

In the 15th century, a hat with a brim became popular among noble men, which was previously considered part of the clothing of peasants. Moreover, it turned into a symbol of nobility and nobility: representatives of noble families and entire cities placed it on their coat of arms.

Commoners at this time wore ordinary caps with ruffles, headscarves and straw hats. And the peasants and townspeople often wore a hood with a long slab (end) and blades that covered the shoulders and had a toothed cut. During the Renaissance, this hood became an attribute of jesters. The hood "stuck" to a jacket or raincoat somewhere in the 15th century, when it was replaced by a hat and beret.

The Renaissance era created new ideals. Luxury, wealth and sensuality came into fashion, and with them complex hairstyles, hats and berets that revealed the face, neck and hair. And Christian humility and the tradition of covering the head moved further into the past over time, and never returned to European fashion.

Medieval fashion in Russia

In Russia, since ancient times, the traditional hairstyle for women was a braid: one for girls and two for married. Many beliefs are associated with the female braid, for example, it was believed that loose female hair attracted evil spirits, and therefore they should be braided.

An obligatory rule for Slavic women was to cover their heads with an ubrus or with a cloth - a cloth. Even unmarried girls could only open the top of their heads. Ubrus or new was considered a symbol of purity, nobility and humility. Therefore, it was considered the greatest shame to lose the head covering (to goofed).

In ancient times, women wore a wooden or metal hoop over the ubrus, and temporal and forehead rings, plaques and pendants were attached to it. In winter, they wore a small hat with fur, over which they put on a special headband (headband), richly decorated with embroidery and pearls. In every city and village, decorations and embroidery ornaments were so different from each other that modern archaeologists use them to determine the territories of settlement of Slavic tribes.

Since the 12th century, chronicles mention such headdresses as kika, warrior, magpie and many others that had a similar structure. These headdresses looked like a crown (sometimes with horns) covered in cloth. They were made of birch bark and richly decorated with beads and embroidery. These headdresses hid the braids under them, and also hid the woman's forehead, ears and back of the head from prying eyes. Their structure and decorations could tell others everything there is to know about a woman: where she was from, what social and marital status she occupies. These smallest "identifying" features of jewelry have not reached us, but before everyone knew about them. From the 13-15 centuries, headscarves were increasingly replaced among commoners, but in some regions these headdresses existed until the 20th century.

Surprisingly, in the mass consciousness the famous kokoshnik became a symbol of Russian folk costume only in the 19th century. The name of this dress comes from the old Russian word kokoshka - hen, hen. This headdress was part of a festive outfit, and in the old days only married women could wear it. He, like no other headdress, emphasized female beauty and nobility. In remote provinces, the kokoshnik existed until the end of the 19th century. But at the beginning of the 20th century, he unexpectedly returned and entered the wardrobe of fashionistas … all over Europe! Made in a new way, the Russian kokoshnik was the wedding dress of European brides in 1910-20.

Unfortunately, these beautiful headdresses existed in the highest environment only until the Peter the Great era, when folk customs and traditions were replaced by European ones. And along with them, modesty and nobility went out of women's fashion.