Biretta
What Is a Biretta?
A biretta is a adjust cap with three or four directed ridges, often decorated with a pom or tassel at the top center. It is dressed as a ceremonial hat by Catholic clerics of many ranks, from cardinal down to seminarian. Priests traditionally wore the biretta during High Masses, more elaborate ceremonies that included singing and the participation of deacons and sub-deacons.
The biretta like to that seen today likely first looked in the 16th century, having step by step developed from earlier ecclesiastical garb. The first part of the word comes from “byrrus,” an earlier Latin word that may have been appropriated from an ancient Celtic language. The cap was worn under larger hats for a simple reason protection against the cold. Given its practical benefit, church clerks and secular officials began to wear the early biretta in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The hat also determined favor in academia, and although it has developed into the flat hat and other styles, it still is sometimes concerned to as a biretta. The word biretta is Italian, although it likely evolved from the Medieval Latin word “birrettum.” This word literally means hooded cloak.
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