Shape-wise, the Byzantine mitre is much more akin to a rounded cap or crown. It is thought that this shape took its direct inspiration from the Imperial headdress of the Byzantine emperors of the late Eastern Roman Empire. A good example of this headdress can be seen here in a mosaic of Emperor John II that is found within Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
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| Emperor John II Komnenos (+1143) shown wearing his imperial crown. |
Keep this shape in mind and compare it to the examples we will share momentarily.
Time-wise, some liturgical scholars place the use of mitres within the Byzantine East as something quite late in history; as late as the sixteenth or seventeenth century. Warren Woodfin, author of The Embodied Icon: Liturgical Vestments and Sacramental Power in Byzantium, comments:
The mitra, or mitre, has been worn since at least the seventeenth century by bishops of the [Byzantine] rite. Nevertheless, its history prior to the modern period is one of the most disputed aspects of Byzantine liturgical dress.... Several modern scholars have taken the position that the mitre was not adopted by Orthodox bishops until Cyril Loukatis, quondam patriarch of Alexandria, was transferred to Constantinople in 1620. Others have put forward the hypothesis that the mitre, modelled on the imperial crown, was assumed by the hierarchy after the fall of Constantinople. [A.D. 1453] Other evidence exists, however, both visual and textual, that may indicate the use of patriarchal headgear resembling the mitre in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
-- See p. 28-29, The Embodied Icon
Evidently that is quite a range of possible time, but the main takeaway here is that mitre has seen much longer use in the Latin West than it has the Byzantine East -- which may well come as a surprise to some. Its Latin roots may in part explain why it took longer for it to be adopted within the East given the historical rivalry that has existed there. In fact, on that point, Woodfin shares an incident from the thirteenth century where a certain John XI, Patriarch of Constantinople, stirred up local controversy and criticism by attempting to wear a mitre; he was quickly accused by his fellow Byzantine travellers of imitating the Pope in Rome (which was obviously not very well received there). As Woodfin points out, had mitres been something seen in regular use in Byzantium at the time, it is rather unlikely that John XI would have received such a strong, critical reaction.
Regardless of when their use began within Byzantine churches, the primary reason for today's article is that I recently came across a few examples of some early modern Byzantine mitres dating to the 1600's and 1700's. I thought would be of interest to share them with our readers, particularly since antique Eastern vestments are not as well known or seen as they should be and as you'll see, these examples show some variances from the modern day Byzantine mitres we are accustomed to seeing.
So, without further ado, here they are.
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| A 17th century mitre now found in the collection of the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens. |
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| Greek mitre made of silver, dated to 1739. |
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| Greek mitre dated to circa 1715. |
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| Russian mitre likely dating from the 1600's or 1700's. |
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| Headdress of the Patriarch of Moscow, Job, 1595 |
