Tonsure is the practice of some Christian churches of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem. There were three forms of tonsure known in the seventh and eighth centuries: The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Hair with a round cross-section will fall straight, as opposed to curly hair, which has a flat cross-section Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of the skin found only in mammals. ... The scalp is the skin on the head from which head hair grows. ...

(1) The Oriental, which claimed the authority of St. Paul and consisted in shaving the whole head. This was observed by churches owing allegiance to Eastern Orthodoxy. Hence Theodore of Tarsus, who had acquired his learning in Byzantine Asia Minor and bore this tonsure, had to allow his hair to grow for four months before he could be tonsured after the Roman fashion, and then ordained Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Vitalian in 668. An early portrait of the Apostle Paul. ... ... Theodore (602–September 19, 690) was the eighth archbishop of Canterbury. ... 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. ... Vitalianus (died January 27, 672) was Pope from 657 - 672. ... Events Childeric II succeeds Clotaire III as Frankish king Constantine IV becomes Byzantine Emperor, succeeding Constans II Theodore of Tarsus made archbishop of Canterbury. ...

(2) The Celtic, which consisted of slicing the whole front of the head from ear to ear, the hair being allowed to hang down behind. An alternate explanation (apparently first described in the modern day in the article On The Shape Of The Insular Tonsure) describes the "delta" tonsure cut as a triangle with the apex at the forehead, and the base from ear to ear at the back of the head. The Roman party in Britain attributed the origin of the Celtic tonsure to Simon Magus, though some traced it back to the swineherd of Lóegaire mac Néill, the Irish king who opposed St. Patrick; this latter view is refuted by the fact that it was common to all of the Celts, both insular and continental. Some practitioners of Celtic Christianity claimed the authority of St. John for this, as for their Easter practices. It is entirely plausible that the Celts were merely observing an older practice which had become obsolete elsewhere. The death of Simon Magus. ... Lóegaire (Loeguire, Láegaire, Laoghaire, sometimes anglicised as Leary), son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. ... Statue of Saint Patrick Saint Patrick (died March 17?, 492/493) is the patron saint of Ireland, along with Saint Brigid and Saint Columba. ... The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article are disputed. ... St John the Evangelist, imagined by Jacopo Pontormo, ca 1525 (Santa Felicità, Florence) John the Evangelist (? - c. ... Easter is the most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred after his death by crucifixion in AD 30-33 (see Good Friday). ...

Roman tonsure

(3) The Roman: this consisted in shaving only the top of the head, so as to allow the hair to grow in the form of a crown. This is claimed to have originated with St. Peter, and was the practice of the Catholic church until obligatory tonsure was abolished in 1972. Tonsure (monks with bald haircut) From the book The Clip Art Book, 1980, compiled by Gerard Quinn The Clip Art Book is a compilation of illustrations that are in the public domain. ... Tonsure (monks with bald haircut) From the book The Clip Art Book, 1980, compiled by Gerard Quinn The Clip Art Book is a compilation of illustrations that are in the public domain. ... According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down, as shown in this painting by Caravaggio. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Tuesday. ...

These claimed origins are unhistorical; the early history of the tonsure is lost in obscurity. This practice is not improbably connected with the Roman idea that long hair is the mark of a freeman, while the shaven head marks the slave. Freeman can mean: A person who has been awarded Freedom of the City. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ...

• Based on Charles Plummer's essay, "Excursus on the Paschal Controversy and Tonsure" (in his edition of Bede's Opera Historica, 1898).

Charles Plummer was an 18th century English historian, best known for editing Sir John Fortescues The Governance of England, and for coining the term bastard feudalism. Categories: History stubs | People stubs | English historians ... Bede depicted in an early medieval manuscript Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Bede (Latin Beda), also known as Saint Bede or, more commonly, the Venerable Bede (ca. ...

Tonsure today

Today in Eastern Orthodoxy and in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, there are three types of tonsure: baptismal, monastic, and clerical. It always consists of the cutting of four locks of hair in a cruciform pattern: at the front of head as the celebrant says "In the Name of the Father", at the back of head at the words "and the Son", and on either side of the head at the words "and the Holy Spirit". In all cases, the hair is allowed to grow back; the tonsure as such is not adopted as a hairstyle. Baptismal tonsure is performed during the rite of Holy Baptism as a first sacrificial offering by the newly baptized. Monastic tonsure (of which there are three grades: Rassophore, Stavrophore and the Great Schema) is the rite of initiation into the monastic state. Clerical tonsure is done prior to ordination to the rank of reader. This has lead to the common usage that one is "tonsured a reader", although technically the rite of tonsure occurs prior to the actual ordination by laying on of hands. ... The term Eastern Rites may refer to the liturgical rites used by many ancient Christian Churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that, while being part of the Roman Catholic Church, are distinct from the Latin Rite or Western Church. ... A Catholic baptism Baptism is any water purification ritual practiced in any of various religions including Christianity, Mandaeanism, and Sikhism, and has its origins with the Jewish ritual of mikvah. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... In some Christian churches, the Reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of the scripture at a liturgy. ...

In the "Latin" or Western Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, tonsure referred to the rite of inducting a person into the clergy. Once a seminarian received the tonsure, which for most consisted of a symbolic cutting of a few tufts of hair or at most a small bald spot toward the back of the head, he was officially considered a cleric, and in medieval times obtained the civil benefits of clerics. He could then also receive the minor orders which were prerequisites to the major orders. Today, though, one becomes a cleric only when one is ordained deacon. Paul VI adopted this rule in 1972 while simultaneously suppressing obligatory tonsure, the minor orders, and the subdiaconate. It is still maintained, however, by Traditional Catholics including the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, and by some monastic orders, including the Carthusians and Trappists, who have traditionally employed a very full version of tonsure. The Roman Catholic Church (also known as the Catholic Church) is that 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. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... A cleric is: A member of the clergy of a religion, especially one that has trained or ordained priests, preachers, or other religious professionals; or A member of a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy role-playing games. ... The minor orders were formally a part of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The term major orders was a part of the clerical terminology of the Roman Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. ... Deacon is a role in the Christian Church which is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. ... Paul VI, Giovanni Battista Enrica Antonia Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), served as Pope from 1963 to 1978. ... Subdeacon is a title used in various branches of Christianity. ... Traditional Catholic is a broad term used to describe many groups of Roman Catholics who follow more traditional aspects of the Catholic Faith. ... Pope Benedict XVI (then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) at an ordination of FSSP priests in Wigratzbad-Opfenbach, Germany in 1990. ... A Carthusian Monastery in Jerez, Spain The Carthusians are a Christian religious order founded by St Bruno in 1084. ... Trappist can refer to: a religious order - see Trappists some of the products, made by the order - see Trappist beer This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...