The hennin was a headdress in the shape of a cone

Cone (geometry)

A cone is an n-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a base to a point called the apex or vertex. Formally, it is the solid figure formed by the locus of all straight line segments that join the apex to the base...

 or "steeple", or truncated cone worn in the late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

. They were most common in Burgundy

Duchy of Burgundy

The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

 and France

France in the Middle Ages

France in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Louis the Pious in 840 to the middle of the 15th century...

, but also elsewhere, especially at the English courts, and in Northern Europe, Hungary and Poland. They are little seen in Italy. It is unclear what styles the word hennin described at the time, though it is recorded as being used in French in 1428, probably before the conical style appeared. The word does not appear in English until the 19th century. The term is therefore used by some writers on costume for other female head-dresses of the period.

Conical hennins

These appear from about 1430 onwards, especially after the mid-century, initially only among aristocratic women, though later spreading more widely, especially in the truncated form. Typically, the hennin was 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) high, but might be considerably higher, as much as 36 inches according to some sources. The tops of some of these conical hat

Pointed hat

Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Though often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Japanese, the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and the Huastecs of Veracruz...

s were pointed while others were truncated, ending in a flat top. It was generally accompanied by a veil

Veil

A veil is an article of clothing, worn almost exclusively by women, that is intended to cover some part of the head or face.One view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space...

 that usually emerged from the top of the cone and was allowed to fall onto the woman's shoulders or even to the ground, or was pulled forward over the hennin, often reaching over the woman's face.

The hennin was worn tilted backward at an angle. It was made of light material, often card or a wire mesh over which a light fabric was fixed, although little is known of the details of their construction. There was often a cloth lappet

Lappet

A lappet is a decorative flap or fold in a ceremonial headdress or garment. They were a feature of women's headgear until the early 20th century. They remain strongly associated with religion. A bishop's mitre has two lappets sewn to the back of it. The most famous usage of lappets occurs on the...

, or "cornet" in French, in front of the hennin covering part of the brow, and sometimes falling onto the shoulders to either side. There is very often a "frontlet" or short loop seen on the forehead (right), to adjust the hennin forward, and perhaps even to hold it on in wind.
The most fashionable women plucked their necks and brow hairline so that no stray hairs escaped from the edge of the hennin. The hair was tied tightly on the scalp and usually hidden inside the cone (possibly one end of the veil was tied to the hair and wrapped round, with the free end being pulled through the hole at the tip of the cone). However some images show long hair worn loose behind the hennin.

Nowadays, the hennin forms part of the costume of the stereotypical fairy tale

Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 princess

Princess

Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....

. There are some manuscript illuminations that show princesses or Queens wearing small crowns either round the brim or at the top of the hennin; it is likely that the very small crown of Margaret of York

Margaret of York

Margaret of York – also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy – was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Duchy after his death. She was a daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the sister of...

, Duchess of Burgundy (now in the Treasury of Aachen Cathedral

Aachen Cathedral

Aachen Cathedral, frequently referred to as the "Imperial Cathedral" , is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany. The church is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was known as the "Royal Church of St. Mary at Aachen" during the Middle Ages...

) was worn like this for her famously lavish wedding celebrations in 1468.

Definition

Various writers on costume history use hennin to cover a variety of different styles. Almost all agree that the steeple-cone style was a hennin, and the truncated ("flowerpot") versions, and many also include the heart-shaped open-centred fabric tubes of the earlier part of the century. Some also use the term to cover beehive-shaped fabric head-coverings of the mid-century (as in the Van der Weyden workshop painting in the Gallery). Others also use it for the head-dresses divided to right and left of the early part of the century, such as those in which Christine de Pisan is usually depicted (see Gallery). In some of these only white cloth is visible, but in later examples worn by aristocrats rich fabric can be seen through translucent veils. Some use it for the horned hairstyle with a wimple

Wimple

A wimple is a garment worn around the neck and chin, and which usually covers the head. Its use developed among women in early medieval Europe . At many stages of medieval culture it was unseemly for a married woman to show her hair...

 on top.

The Chronique of Enguerrand de Monstrelet

Enguerrand de Monstrelet

Enguerrand de Monstrelet , French chronicler, belonged to a noble family of Picardy.In 1436 and later he held the office of lieutenant of the gavenier at Cambrai, and he seems to have made this city his usual place of residence...

 records that in 1428, in what seems to be the first record of the term "hennin", the radical Carmelite

Carmelites

The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...

 friar Thomas Conecte

Thomas Conecte

Thomas Conecte , French Carmelite monk and preacher, was born at Rennes.He travelled through Cambrai, Tournai, Arras, Flanders, and Picardy, his sermons vehemently denouncing the vices of the clergy and the extravagant dress of the women, especially their lofty head-dresses, or hennins...

  railed against extravagant headdresses of...

...the noble ladies, and all others, who dressed their heads in so ridiculous a manner, and who spent such large sums on such luxuries of fashion.

Thomas urged street boys to chase after such ladies and pluck off their headdresses, crying "Au hennin!", even granting indulgence

Indulgence

In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...

s to those who did so, although as so often in medieval documentary records, no clue as to the form of the "hennins" is given. Based on the evidence from visual records, they were probably not conical head-dresses, which are first seen slightly later. The Catalan poet Gabriel Mòger

Gabriel Móger

Gabriel Móger or Mòger was a Majorcan painter, sculptor, and poet. He was employed primarily for work on retables and altarpieces by the churches of Majorca. Though Móger's active painting career can be dated to 1426–38 on the basis of surviving documents, his poetic encounter took place...

 mocked the "tall deformed hat" (lonch cap deformat) that was popular with Majorcan women of the time.

External links

• Images of Burgundian conical hennins
• Castle Garden Creations — Hennin Ensemble designed from historical manuscripts
• Constructing the Headdresses of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, paper by Marie Vibbert (Lyonnete Vibert), Known World Costume Symposium Proceedings (2005). Coiffures féminines — Le Hennin
• Burgundian wedding c.1470, from the Getty, with a great variety of head-dresses.