On the dress of clergy in medieval Catholicism

王召軍 王嬌嬌

（青島大學，山東 青島266071）

Abstract：through the analysis of the church background of medieval Catholicism and the study of the dress of medieval Catholic clergy,this paper combs the changes of the dress of medieval Catholic clergy,and then analyzes the relationship between the dress development and the Catholic tradition.We can better interpret the diversified relationship between the evolution and development of Medieval Costume and Catholicism from a new perspective.As well as through the time vicissitude and the baptism,the medieval period's clergy clothing has the profound influence to the modern clothing inquiry.

Keywords：Middle Ages;Catholicism;clergy;dress;modern dress

一、About Catholicism in the Middle Ages

In the middle ages,almost all European life was closely related to religion.No matter what social class they belonged to,no matter what status they were,they could only live a life of faith in Christ,which is beyond doubt.And the church has seven kinds of religious rituals corresponding to each stage.

二、The dress style of Catholic clergy in the Middle Ages

For the clergy,the clothes on the surface are just things used to wrap the body and cover up shame.It is a taboo against the status of a clergyman to accumulate gold,silver and jewelry in life and wear luxuriant clothes.Clergy are worshipped and respected by believers in religion,and their status is relatively noble.With the progress of time,the scale of the church is gradually expanding,and the number of believers is also increasing.The church gradually began to improve its internal organizational structure,and developed a strict hierarchy for the clergy.Through these reforms, the clergy began to change their clothes and began to dress themselves up with gorgeous costumes.The highest rank among the clergy is the Pope of Rome.Naturally,it can be learned that the clergy has a high weight,is the highest representative of the clergy,and the costumes they wear are also the most gorgeous.

三、The influence of the dress of clergy on modern dress in medieval Catholicism

In the middle ages,the overall shape of clothing was exaggerated and highly decorative,which gave people a gorgeous feeling and emphasized the beauty of decoration.Eventually,it led to a morbid clothing thought,which regarded clothing as the main body,ignored people's feelings of wearing,and regarded people as slaves of clothing to adapt to clothing.Due to the influence of religious abstinence thought at that time,people expected clothing to change constantly from the structure and decoration,which just contributed to the breakthrough in clothing fabric,color and modeling.It was not affected by personal factors,and became an eye-catching factor,so it was favored by designers and expanded the creative space of designers'imagination.It makes the design consciousness get new inspiration and breaks the traditional thinking limitation of dressing.In the current fashion trend,the design influence of medieval clothing is still of great significance.Catholicism flourished for a reason.In the age of material desires,although people's lives were guaranteed by materials,the spiritual world was not satisfied because of the lack and confusion of ideas.The belief life of Catholicism was that people who were lost at that time got the spiritual support they could rely on.On the other hand,the canon of Catholicism also put heavy spiritual shackles on people.Carefully following the etiquette rules greatly reduces people's creativity,and due to religious piety,it promotes the development of handicraft industry.In this conflict of negative and positive effects,clothing has been developed.By exploring the dress of the middle ages,we can see that the language of dress conveys a kind of spiritual realm that people are trying their best to break away from the bondage of the early cage,trying to escape from the bondage of the dark asceticism and the thought of poverty cultivation advocated by Catholicism, and striving to run to the happy sunshine.

At this brilliant moment of the Renaissance,people's aesthetic has been greatly improved,and new changes have been made in the development of clothing.In addition,from the perspective of the origin of Catholicism,we can see the influence on the costume culture.In the religious atmosphere of Catholicism,light is indispensable,and Catholicism's love for light is special.They believe that light is the symbol of God and represents holiness.This comes from the Hebrew super cosmology in Catholic philosophy.They believe that God is eternal and absolute in this universe.Therefore,light has become the embodiment of the highest aesthetic value in religion,which is confirmed by the colorful glass in the church.This kind of optical concept is projected into clothing,which means that designers pay more attention to the application of color and luster in clothing,and religious ideas give clothing new significance.Under the influence of Catholic culture at that time,the appearance of all the churches showed a kind of spire shape,giving people a dignified and straight image.

There is no uniform and rigid regulation on the regular clothes of the clergy.In daily life,the clergy can freely choose suitable clothes,which is no different from ordinary people. However, priests(priests)who participate in the sacrament(religious services)must wear specific clothes that meet the requirements of specific sacraments.Catholicism mainly includes seven sacraments: baptism, Jianzhen, marriage,anecdote,confession,final Fu and sacrament.One of the most frequent and important is the sacrament,which is mass.Here we focus on the different dress codes for mass.For mass under different circumstances,the priest should wear different colors of coats,including white,red,black,green,purple and yellow.Although the coats are different,the clothes inside are the same white gown,commonly known as big white.There are the following styles,but there is little difference.There is no strict requirement on which species to use.It is generally decided by local preference.

四、Conclusion

From the perspective of historical development,we can see that the influence of Catholicism on the dress culture in the middle ages can not be ignored.The costume culture of Catholicism played an important role in the middle ages.And reflected in the current fashion trend,in the development of today's clothing culture,we need to take the social foundation as the criterion.Medieval clothing is always showing the influence of religious culture on people.In the rolling process of historical progress and the formation of social moral standards,religious thought plays an important role and gives clothing culture fresh blood.Any kind of breakthrough,whether it is product,home or clothing,is not an easy and casual behavior.Every design is filled with the soul of design.Moreover,it is often associated with deeper social values and moral concepts.It represents the expression of people's thoughts in a specific historical period,which is reflected in the basic necessities of life and reflects the emergence of ideas in a specific period.The emergence of Catholicism is the inevitable result of the changes of the times,and every step is the concentrated shadow of history and culture. In essence,Westerners can not get rid of the brand of this belief in a short time.The formation of religious culture is deeply rooted in people's hearts and rooted in daily life.Clothing as a product of culture,through design in the creation,represents the specific stage of people's ideological and social concepts.The material and cultural life in a certain historical stage is inseparable from the dependence of religious and cultural beliefs.To sum up,clothing culture is influenced by social history,religious belief and culture,and continuously infuses new blood.