2/20/2024 0 Comments Medieval hairdosIf hair was an important part of expressing your social identity, then it might explain why archaeologists find so many combs in Early Medieval graves. Perhaps we could imagine free Frankish men wearing something of a bowl cut! Indeed, we find a very similar hairstyle on the Germanic bodyguards of the Roman emperor Theodosius on the so-called Missorium of Theodosius. ![]() Long hair may, therefore, have been the status signal of the freeman, although the commoner's hair would have been shorter than the royal hairdo, probably above the shoulders. Meanwhile, the Burgundian law code puts a hefty fine on giving a criminal or slave even so much as a wig ( Liber Constitutionem 6.4), implying slaves had to remain short-haired or bald. Source: Wikimedia.īut if Merovingian royals wore their hair long, how did common people wear their hair? There are some clues hidden in law-texts: the Salic law considers the shearing of a puer crinitus (long-haired boy) without consent of his parents a serious offence ( Lex Salica 24.2). Seal of Childeric, copy of the original found in his tomb (now lost). Finally, the last Merovingian king (Childeric III) was deposed and then tonsured by the short-haired Carolingians who replaced him. When queen Chrodegildis was forced to choose between having her grandsons tonsured or killed, she preferred the boys dead rather than shorn (Gregory, Historiae, 3.18). The act of tonsure was apparently so humiliating that the rival lost his royal aura ̶̶ At least until his hair grew back. Rival claimants to the throne were often tonsured and sent into a monastery. We know from the histories of Gregory of Tours that long hair indeed played an important role for the Merovingian family. ‘the practice of the Frankish kings never to have their hair cut… Custom has reserved this practice for royalty as a sort of distinctive badge and prerogative’ (Agathias, Historiae 1.3.4). According to a Byzantine historian, Agathias, it was On the seal of king Childeric (fifth century), we see his hair parted in the middle and flowing down his back. But is it really that simple?īy far the most famous for their coiffure are the Merovingian kings of Gaul (modern France), known as the ‘long-haired kings’ ( reges criniti) in medieval sources. ![]() For the Early Middle Ages, the arrival of long-haired kings and moustachio’d monarchs has often been seen by scholars as the replacement of the old Roman order by new Germanic invaders. Long hair, unkempt beards and moustaches, on the other hand, were often seen as a hairstyle for barbarians. ![]() If not freshly shaven, a well-trimmed beard in Greek style was fashionable at some times, especially for philosophers and other learned men. The stereotype goes that the Romans liked their hair short and their faces cleanly shaven. But here I want to zoom in on another hairy subject: the 'Germanic' haircut of various Early Medieval rulers. For the Middle Ages, most well-known is the act of shearing, or tonsuring, the hair of clerics. From the clean-shaven middle class office worker, the long-haired hippy of the 60s, to the hipster with a well-kept beard, hairstyles are an important part of our personal expression and social group. Just like the clothes on a person’s body, head hair and facial hair gives us important cues about someone’s identity.
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