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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I wonder what date the mitred prior of Worcester is? There were fun and games there over the matter:

' ... a prior wearing a mitre instantly raised

procedural issues: the bishop and the prior could not be seen in the same cathedral wearing mitres of equivalent grandeur. At Worcester, the argument over mitre design went all the way to Rome. The bishop had to watch his prior carefully to see if he had indeed removed the gold fringe and jewels which, it had been decreed, made his mitre look too much like the bishop’s one, or whether his staff contravened the papal decree which restricted its colours to blue and silver.'

From recollection there were several iterations over mutual bling before the correct prior/bishop calibration was achieved...

Jon

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:12:10 +0100
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] mitred abbots
To: [log in to unmask]

Goodness. I might just have a go at that. I was particularly intrigued by the effigy of a Worcester prior with mitre and a very ornate and hefty-looking staff (a bordon?)

Maddy

Dr Madeleine Gray

Reader in History

School of Education/Ysgol Addysg

University of Wales, Newport/Prifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd

Caerleon Campus/Campws Caerllion,Newport/Casnewydd NP18 3QT, Wales/Cymru

Tel: +44 (0)1633.432675

'I ask you for help. And all you give me is ...papers!'
(Magda in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul)

History at University of Wales, Newport: http://timezone.newport.ac.uk
Gwent County History Association website: http://gwent-county-history-association.newport.ac.uk
Cistercian Way: http://cistercian-way.newport.ac.uk

From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Chandler
Sent: 24 June 2009 14:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] mitred abbots

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
My reference to Herbert Thurston's article "Pontificalia", tucked away at the bottom of a previous post, might have been missed. It briefly indicates the complexities <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12231b.htm>. By the end of the Middle Ages all abbots were mitred, as well as various other non-bishops. Proliferation of mitres and such continued to selected priors, canons, monsignori and other worthies until the bling-restricting legislation of Paul VI.

If you just have to know more, the standard study, AFAIK, is still Pierre Salmon, Étude sur les insignes du pontife dans le rite romain: histoire et liturgie, Rome: Officium Libri Catholici, 1955. -- Paul

--
Paul Chandler, O.Carm. | Institutum Carmelitanum
via Sforza Pallavicini, 10 | 00193 - Roma | Italy
tel: +39-06-6810.0849 | fax: +39-06-6830.7200
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