The hairstyles adopted in the Christian tradition have varied widely over history.

Early Christians

The paintings in the

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

permit the belief that the early Christians simply followed the fashion of their time. The short hair of the men and the braids of the women were, towards the end of the second century, curled, and arranged in tiers, while for women the hair twined about the head over the brow. Particular locks were reserved to fall over the forehead and upon the temples.

Christian iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

still proceeds in accordance with types created in the beginning of Christianity. Images of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

retain the long braided locks parted in the middle and flowing to the shoulders. Those of the

Blessed Virgin Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

still wear the veil which conceals a portion of the brow and confines the neck. The Orantes, which represent the generality of the faithful, have the hair covered by a full veil which falls to the shoulders.

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

iconography differs little as to head-dress from that of the catacombs.

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s and ivories portray emperors, bishops, priests and the faithful wearing the hair of a medium length, cut squarely across the forehead. Women then wore a round head-dress which encircled the face. Emperors and empresses wore a large, low

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

, wide at the top, ornamented with precious stones cut en cabochon, and jeweled

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

s falling down to the shoulders, such as may be seen in the mosaics of S. Vitalis at Ravenna and a large number of

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

s. The hair of

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

s and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s was of medium length and was surmounted by a

closed crown A hoop crown (german: Bügelkrone or ''Spangenkrone'',Hartman entries "Spangenkrone, Bügelkrone" la, faislum),Lohrmann (1973), p. 764 arched crown, or closed crown, is a crown consisting of a "band around the temples and one or two bands over ...

or a double tiara.

Middle Ages

The invading

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

s allowed their hair to grow freely, and to fall unrestrained on the shoulders. After the fall of the

Merovingians The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

, and while the invaders were conforming more and more to the prevailing Byzantine taste or fashion, they did not immediately take up the fashion of cutting the hair. Carloman, the brother of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

, is represented at the age of fourteen with his hair falling in long locked tresses behind. Church councils regulated the head-dress of clerics and monks: according to

St. Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

's testimony, the monks were bearded, and the ''Vita Hilarionis'' also states that certain persons considered it meritorious to cut hair each year at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

. The ''Statuta antiqua Ecclesiae'' (can. xliv) forbade them to allow hair or beard to grow. A synod held by

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

(can. vi) in 456 prescribed that the clerics should dress their hair in the manner of the Roman clerics, and those who allowed their hair to grow were expelled from the Church (can. x). The

Council of Agde The Council of Agde was a regional synod held in September 506 at Agatha or Agde, on the Mediterranean coast east of Narbonne, in the Septimania region of the Visigothic Kingdom, with the permission of the Visigothic King Alaric II. The Council ...

(506) authorized the archdeacon to employ force in cutting the hair of recalcitrants; the

Council of Braga Several church councils were held in Braga in the Middle Ages. Braga was the Metropolitan (religion), metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province and it was the chief bishopric of the Kingdom of Galicia during the Suevic period and in the High Middl ...

(572) ordained that the hair should be short, and the ears exposed. The

Fourth Council of Toledo The Fourth Council of Toledo was held in 633. It was convened by Visigothic king Sisenand and took place at the church of Saint Leocadia in Toledo. Probably under the presidency of the noted Isidore of Seville, the council regulated many matters ...

(633) denounced the lectors in Galicia who wore a small

tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

and allowed the hair to grow immoderately, and two Councils of Rome (

721 __NOTOC__ Year 721 (Roman numerals, DCCXXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 721 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno ...

and 743)

anathematized Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

those who should neglect the regulations in this matter. In the ninth century there is more distinction between freemen and slaves, as regards the hair. Henceforth the slaves were no longer shorn save in punishment for certain offences. Under Louis the Débonnaire and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

the hair was cut on the temples and the back of the head. In the tenth century the hair cut at the height of the ears fell regularly about the head. At the end of twelfth century the hair was shaven close on the top of the head and fell in long curls behind. Fashions changed, from hair smooth on the top of the head and rising in a sudden roll in front, a tuft of hair in the form of a flame, or the more ordinary topknot. Not every one followed these fashions.

Early Modern times

The clergy followed with a sort of timidity the fashion of the

wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

, but, except prelates and court chaplains, they refrained from the over-luxurious models. Priests contented themselves with wearing the wig in folio, or square, or the wig à la Sartine. They bared the part corresponding to the tonsure. In the religious orders, the tonsure very early interposed an obstacle to hairstyles, but the tonsure itself was the occasion of many combinations.

References

;Attribution * The entry states that: **"Information relative to the head-dress of

regular clergy Regular clergy, or just regulars, are clerics in the Catholic Church who follow a rule () of life, and are therefore also members of religious institutes. Secular clergy are clerics who are not bound by a rule of life. Terminology and history The ...

will be found in Hélyot, ''Histoire des ordres religieux''. See also:" **DAREMBERG AND SAGLIO, Dict. des Antiques grecques et lat., s. v. Coma; **BAUMEISTER, Denkmäler des klass. Alterthums, I, 615 sq.; **KRAUSE, Plotina, oder die Kostüme des Haupthaares bei den Völkern der Alten Welt (Leipzig, 1858); **RACINET, Le costume historique (1882). {{Human hair Christian practices Hairstyles

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...