In Roman Catholic monasteries, novices who had just entered the community had their hair cut short with scissors. When the novice took his vows to become a monk, he received the tonsure. The hair was cut short and then the hair on top of the head was shaved off, leaving a round bald area on the crown.
These haircuts were carried out as part of the initiation into the group and were maintained by monastic barbers. Three main variations of the tonsure developed among various orders. The eastern style involved shaving the head completely, according to a style attributed to St. Paul, while others shaved just the crown, a style associated with St.
Peter and known as the Roman tonsure. A third style, called the Celtic or transverse tonsure or tonsure of St. John evolved in the British Isles.
Celtic monks shaved the front part of their head from ear to ear but left the hair in the back hanging longer. Some Celtic monks pulled that hair around to form a semi-circle from one ear to the other. Reference: Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Sign up to join this community. Because of the way Christian culture had evolved in that part of the world, there were two opposing viewpoints. Eventually King Oswiu who ruled between — AD called a meeting to sort the matter out once and for all.
The result led to the Italian tradition winning out and the St. The Celtic tonsure was trimmed away in There was no discernible religious belief or basis for the head-shaving. In the rules were relaxed and monks did not have to face the blade in order to show commitment to their faith. This also could have health benefits. This is her second year participating in a volunteer program. Photo of monks with tonsures taken by Flickr user waldopics November 1st began a month of many well known U.
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According to the Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History , it's unclear just when Catholic monks started adopting the trend of shaving the tops of their heads while leaving that little ring of hair. Historians do think it started around the same time men started organizing into devout communities of monks, which places the time frame around the second or third century A. There are a few reasons why early monks might have chosen to go for this sort of look, and one is that it had long been traditional to completely shave the head of slaves to denote their low status.
Early monks styled themselves as "slaves of Christ," and the tonsure might have been a way to demonstrate their obedience to the divine. There's another theory, too, and this one comes from Daniel McCarthy, a scholar in Dublin who has done a ton of research on the use of the tonsure.
He says the distinctive hairstyle was a tribute to the crown of thorns placed on Christ's head during the crucifixion. When men decided to enter the community, the first haircut they got wasn't the tonsure — it was just an incredibly short haircut done with scissors.
The tonsure was reserved for marking the occasion of the novice taking his vows to become an actual monk, and monasteries had barbers who were responsible for maintaining the look. Straightforward enough, but if there's anything that's guaranteed about history and religion, it's that nothing is ever straightforward. The tonsure that gets featured in all kinds of movies is actually one of three different styles.
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