Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 18093
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Leyser , Conrad.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: Long-haired Kings and Short-haired Nuns: Writing on the Body in Caesarius of Arles [The rule of the convent of St. John’s, founded by Bishop Caesarius of Arles in 512, specifies that the nuns have short hair. Futhermore, the nuns’ hair must be no longer than the specific length of a certain mark written in the regula manuscripts themselves. This hair length mandate may have arisen out of a desire to distinguish people in monastic orders from the kings in Germaic cultures, who commonly wore long hair. Rather than being a misogynist requirement derived from Scriptural passages on women’s appearance, this hair rule encourages a monastic identification between men and women and builds a tightly-knight community of religious women that resists outside social pressures. Title note supplied by Feminae.].
  • Source: Studia Patristica 24, ( 1993): Pages 143 - 150. Papers presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1991. Historica, Theologica et Philosophica, Gnostica
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Arles, Bouches du Rhone, France- Convent of St. John's Body Caesarius, Bishop of Arles, Saint Hairstyles Kings Merovingian Kingdoms Monasticism Manuscripts Nuns Regula Social Groups Social History Social Roles Women in Religion
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 6
  • Primary Evidence:
  • Illustrations:
  • Table:
  • Abstract:
  • Related Resources:
  • Author's Affiliation:
  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1993.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: Not Available