Ecclesiastical Vestments: Their development and historyMacalister, Robert Alexander Stewart
History
Ecclesiastical Vestments: Their development and history
Macalister, Robert Alexander Stewart
Church vestments
'Imprimis a Chesable of rede cloth of gold wᵗ orfreys before and behind
sett wᵗ perles blew white and rede wᵗ plaits of gold enamelled.'
'Item a Chesuble of Rede velvett wᵗ kateryn wheils of gold.'
'Item a chesuble of Rede sylk browdered wᵗ falcons & leopardes of gold.'
'Item a chesable of whyte damaske browdered wᵗ flowres of gold.'
'Item a chesable of whyte tartaron̄ browdered wᵗ treyfoyles of gold.'
'Item a chesable of purpur satten lynyd wᵗ blew bukerham havyng dyverse
scripturs.'
'Item a chesable of cloth of tyshew wᵗ orfreys of nedyll wark.'
'Item a chesable of sundon browdered wᵗ mones & sterres lyned wᵗ blew
bukerham.'
Of the materials here mentioned the commonest were velvet, silk, or
cloth of gold.
In the latest days of the transitional and the earliest days of the
mediaeval period, there were two kinds of chasubles in use, the
eucharistic and the processional. The distinction between them was
utilitarian rather than ritualistic; it consisted in a hood sewn to the
back of the latter, and designed as a covering for the head during
outdoor processions in inclement weather. But the processional chasuble
early gave place to the cope; and a hooded chasuble does not appear to
be extant in representations of date later than the tenth century.
The manner in which the early chasubles were made seems to have been as
follows: A semicircular piece of the cloth of which the vestment was to
consist was taken, and a notch cut at the centre, so that the shape of
the cloth resembled that of the figure in the annexed diagram; the two
straight edges corresponding to the lines AB and CD were then brought
together and sewn; the result was a vestment somewhat of extinguisher
shape, with a hole in the middle for the neck, and enveloping the body
all round to an equal depth each way. The result was that when the
priest had to raise his hands the vestment was gathered inconveniently
on either shoulder, and probably injured by being crushed, certainly
hampering the wearer by its weight. This difficulty was surmounted by a
very simple expedient. The cloth, instead of being shaped as before, was
cut into an oval form, and an opening was made at the centre for the
wearer's head, the consequence being that when in position the vestment
hung down over the front and back to some distance, and covered the
upper part of the arms, though not sufficiently so to interfere with
their free action. The latter shape is that which meets us all through
the mediaeval period throughout the Western Church.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—SIR PETER LEGH, KNIGHT AND PRIEST. (From his
brass at Winwick. Vested in chasuble only.)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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