A cornette is a piece of headwear for
religious sister
A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...
s. It is essentially a type of
wimple consisting of a large starched piece of white cloth that is folded upward in such a way as to create the resemblance of horns () on the wearer's head. Initially, the cornette was fashionable for some Parisian ladies around 1800,
wearing ones made of
muslin or
gauze
Gauze is a thin, translucent Textile, fabric with a wikt:loose, loose open Weaving, weave. In technical terms, "gauze" is a weave structure in which the weft yarns are arranged in pairs and are crossed before and after each Warp (weaving), w ...
and richly ornamented with
lace
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
.
Use by the Daughters of Charity
The cornette was retained as a distinctive piece of clothing into modern times by the
Daughters of Charity, a
society of apostolic life
A society of apostolic life is a group of men or women within the Catholic Church who have come together for a specific purpose and live fraternally. It is regarded as a form of consecrated (or "religious") life.
This type of organization ...
founded by St.
Vincent de Paul
Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.
In 1622, Vincent was appointed as chaplain to the galleys. ...
in the mid-17th century.
The founder wanted to have a community of women that tended to the sick and poor, and were not required to remain in the
papal enclosure as
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
s do, resemble ordinary middle-class women as much as possible in their clothing, including the wearing of the cornette.
After the cornette generally fell into disuse, it became a distinctive feature of the Daughters of Charity, making theirs one of the most widely recognized
religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...
s. Because of the cornette, they were known in Ireland as the "butterfly nuns". In the United States, the Daughters of Charity wore wide, white cornettes for 114 years, from 1850 to 1964. With the changes following the apostolic constitution ''
Perfectae Caritatis'' on the adaptation and renewal of religious life of the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
, religious congregations were asked to "return to the sources of the whole of the Christian life and to the primitive inspiration of the institutes, and their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time". This, among others, meant that the Daughters of Charity ceased to wear their cornettes.
In popular culture
Cornette-wearing nuns are common in contemporary films. The 1967 television series ''
The Flying Nun
''The Flying Nun'' is an American fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series about a community of nuns, which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for American Broadcasting Comp ...
'' features the American actress
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has performed in movies, Broadway theater, television, and made records of popular music. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accola ...
as Sister Bertrille, who is able to fly due to her light weight and the heavily starched cornette.
See also
*
List of headgear
Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions. This is a list of headgear, both modern and historical.
Hats
File:Akubra-style hat.j ...
*
Bandeau (headwear)
*
Coif
*
Guimpe
References
External links
*
{{Historical clothing
History of clothing (Western fashion)
Headgear
Catholic religious clothing
Religious headgear