Wimple
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Awimpleis a medieval form of femaleheadcovering,formed of a large piece of cloth worn draped around theneckandchin,covering the top of thehead;it was usually made from whitelinenorsilk.Its use developed in earlymedieval Europe;in medievalChristianityit was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair. A wimple might be elaborately starched, creased and folded in prescribed ways. Later elaborate versions were supported on wire or wicker framing, such as thecornette.
Italian women abandoned their head coverings in the 15th century or replaced them with transparentgauze,showing theirbraids.Elaborate braiding and elaborately laundered clothes demonstrated status, because such grooming was performed by others. Today a plain wimple is worn by thenunsof certain orders who retain a traditionalhabit.[3]
In literature
[edit]TheWife of Bathand thePrioressare depicted wearing wimples in theCanterbury TalesofGeoffrey Chaucer(c. 1343– 1400).
TheKing James Versionof theBibleexplicitly lists wimples inIsaiah3:22 as one of a list of female fineries; however, theHebrewword"miṭpaḥoth"(מִטְפָּחוֹת) means "kerchief".
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Macklin, Herbert Walter; Page-Phillips, John (January 13, 1969)."Monumental brasses".New York, Praeger.RetrievedJanuary 13,2024– via Internet Archive.
- ^Macklin, Herbert Walter & Page-Phillips, John, (Eds.), 1969, p. 69
- ^Heron, Lynford (January 18, 2003)."Woman, Prayer & Head Covering".Centurion Ministry. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-03-18.
External links
[edit]Media related toWimpleat Wikimedia Commons