A rochet is a vestment generally worn by a Catholic or Anglican Bishop in choir dress. The rochet is unknown in the Eastern Churches. Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican Churches. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...

The word stems from the Latin rochettum (from the late Latin roccus, connected with the Old High German roch, roc and the A.S. rocc; French rochet, Italian rocchetto, Spanish roquete, German RocheU, Chorkleid), means an ecclesiastical vestment.

Roman Usage

In the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinals, Bishops and certain other dignitaries use a rochet, a garment similar to the surplice that is worn over the cassock for non-eucharistic functions. Also made of white linen, the rochet is differentiated from the surplice mainly by the narrower sleeves, and is frequently trimmed with lace. In the Roman Catholic Church the rochet is a tunic of white, and usually fine linen or muslin (battiste, mull) reaching about to the knee, and distinguished from the surplice by the fact that its arms are narrow and tight-fitting. The lower edge and the sleeves are usually garnished with lace, lined with violet or red silk in the case of prelates, ormore rarely with embroidered borders. The Roman Catholic Church (commonly known as the Catholic Church) is the Christian Church which is led by the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that it is the one holy catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ... An Anglican priest wearing a surplice as part of his choir dress. ... An Anglican priest wearing a single-breasted cassock. ... An Anglican priest wearing a surplice as part of his choir dress. ...

The rochet is proper to, and distinctive of, prelates and bishops: but the right to wear it is sometimes granted by the Pope to others, especially the canons of cathedral churches. It is not a vestis sacra, and cannot therefore be used as a substitute for the surplice, e.g. in the administering of the Sacraments (Decree of the Congregation of Rites of January 10, 1852). None the less, since it is used at choir services and is ordered to be worn over the everyday dress at Mass (Missa rom. Rit. celebr. i. 2), it may be included among liturgical vestments in the widest sense. An Anglican priest wearing a surplice as part of his choir dress. ...

The earliest notice of the use of the rochet is found in an inventory of the vestments of the Roman clergy, dating from the 9th century. In this it is called camisia, a name which it retained at Rome until the 14th century, and it seems to have been already at that time proper to particular members of the clergy. Other Roman names for the vestment were succa, sucta; it was not till the 14th century that the name rochettum appeared at Rome, but it was not long before it had superseded all the native designations.

Outside Rome, too, the vestment is early met with, e.g. in the Frankish empire (9th century) as alba clericalis, in contrast to the liturgical alb, and in England (10th century) under the name of oferslip in the 46th canon of the ecclesiastical laws of Edgar. At the beginning of the 12th century the rochet is mentioned, under the name of camisia, by Gilbert of Limerick and by Honorius, and, somewhat later, by Gerloh of Reichersperg as tunica talaris~ From the 13th century onward it is frequently mentioned. The name rocheltum is first traceable in England; in Germany and northern France the rochet was also called sarohi (Latinized sarrotus) or sarcos (Latinized sarcotium). The alb, one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and many Protestant churches, is an ample garment of white linen coming down to the ankles and usually girded with a cincture. ...

Outside Rome the rochet was, until well into the 14th century, a vestment common to all the clergy, and especially to those of the lower orders; and so it remained, in general, until the 16th century, and even, here and there, so late as the 19th. Moreover, in further contrast to the Roman use, it had, especially in the German dioceses, a liturgical character, being used instead of the surplice.

The rochet was originally a robe-like tunic, and was therefore girdled, like the liturgical alb. So late as 1260 the provincial synod of Cologne decreed that the vestis camisialis must be long enough entirely to cover the everyday dress. A good example of the camisia of the 12th century is the rochet of Thomas Becket, preserved at Dammartin in the Pas de Calais, the only surviving medieval example remarkable for the pleating which, as was the case with albs also, gave greater breadth and more elaborate folds. In the 15th century the rochet only. reached half-way down the shin; in the 16th and 17th to the knee; in the 18th and 19th often only to the middle of the thigh.

In the middle ages it was always plain.

Anglican Use

In the Anglican Church the rochet is a vestment peculiar to bishops, and is worn by them in choir dress, with the chimere, both at all times of their ministration in church and also on ceremonial occasions outside, e.g. in the House of Lords or at a royal levee. It is worn with a stole, cope, and mitre, usually all in the same liturgical color, for more dignified occasions (such as royal weddings and for the coronation of the Soverign). The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organisation of Anglican Churches. ... A chimere is a garment that can be worn as part of academic dress, or by Anglican bishops in choir dress. ... The stole (a liturgical vestment of various Christian denominations) is an embroidered band of cloth, formerly usually of silk, about two and one-half to three metres long and seven to ten centimetres wide, whose ends are usually broadened out. ... a priest wearing a cope The cope is a liturgical vestment, which may be of any liturgical colour, and is like a very long mantle or cloak, fastened at the breast by a clasp. ... MITRE is a US not-for-profit corporation that manages three federally-funded research and development centers whose main activities are applying computer-based automation to large and complex tasks. ... The coronation of Empress Farah, of Iran in 1967. ... This article treats the generic title monarch. ...

In general it has retained the medieval form more closely than the Roman rochet and more resembles the alb, in so far as it is of plain, very fine linen (lawn), and reaches almost to the feet. The main modifications have been in the (usually) baggy 'lawn' sleeves that are gathered at the wrists with a band of black or scarlet cloth. At the time of the Reformation these were still narrow, though already showing a tendency to expand. The portrait of Archbishop Warham at Lambeth, for instance, shows a rochet with fairly wide sleeves narrowing towards the wrists, where they are confined by fur cuffs. This fashion continued until, in the 17th century, the sleeves became much fuller; only in the 18th century they developed into the familiar exaggerated balloon shape, confined at the wrists by a ribbon, beyond which a ruffle projected. About the same period, too, arose the custom of making the rochet sleeveless and attaching the lawn sleeves to the chimere. This remained the fashion most of the 19th century, but there has since been a tendency to revert to the earlier less exaggerated form, and the sleeves have been reattached to the rochet. The ribbon by which the wrist is confined is black, except when convocation robes are worn, when it is scarlet. The alb, one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and many Protestant churches, is an ample garment of white linen coming down to the ankles and usually girded with a cincture. ...

The rochet is worn without the chimere under the cope by those bishops who use this vestment. At his consecration the bishop-elect is, according to the rubric, presented to the consecrating bishops vested in a rochet only; after the laying on of hands he retires and puts on the rest of the episcopal habit; i.e. the chimere.

Exceptions to the normal Anglican-style are the rochets worn by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Frank Griswold, having open-ended narrow sleeves in the manner of the Roman rochet. Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... Dr Rowan Williams Lord Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Douglas Williams, FBA (born 14 June 1950) is the Archbishop of Canterbury, a theologian, poet, and lecturer. ... The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity. ... The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Washington DC is the National Cathedral of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ... The Most Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United Stated of America The Most Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold III is the 25th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. ...

Sources

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication in the public domain. Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...