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Clothing the Clergy: Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200. By Maureen C. Miller. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 2014. Pp. xviii, 286. $39.95 paperback. ISBN 978-0-8014-7943-4.)
This wonderfully researched and amply illustrated work plots the emergence of a distinct clerical garb between the ninth and the twelfth century. Weaving-together historical descriptions, councils, and ritual admonition with the testimony of material culture, Miller successfully "explores clothing as an expressive language" (p. 9). The ideology behind the clothes provides important insight into the clergy's aspirational identity.
Drawing upon conciliar legislation, papal decrees, and liturgy, chapter 1 traces the emergence of an apparel that both differentiates the clergy from the laity and articulates clerical hierarchy. It also anticipates an important change in emphasis: ninth-century legislators did little more than require clean and appropriate liturgical garb; their twelfth-century counterparts legislated against opulent street-wear, leading to the emergence of the cleric's familiar cappa clausa.
Chapter 2 examines the increasingly Christological symbolism of the fabrics, colors, and articles of...