Tonsura is a word that refers to church vocabulary. It comes from the Latin noun tōnsūra, meaning haircut. Catholic monks and priests on their heads shaved or cut a place that indicated their belonging to the church. Initially, it was located above the forehead, and subsequently - on the top of the head. More information about tonus, the photo of which is below, will be described in the article.
Old custom
The custom according to which repentant sinners shaved their heads baldly has existed since ancient times. Later, he transferred to the monastic fraternity, and from the 6th century he was adopted by all the clergy in Christianity. The legal form of this tradition was given by the fourth Toledo Cathedral, held in 633.
By the end of the 7th century, the custom of cutting the hair on the head of Christian clergy spread almost everywhere and became generally accepted. Among other, earlier confirmations, this is evidenced, for example, by the rule of the Cathedral of Trulla of 692 under number 21 on cutting hair in a special way.
According to this rule, priests who were deposed but repented were ordered to cut their hair “in the image of the clergy”. The moment how exactly the clergy representatives cut their hair, this rule does not specify.
Authoritative comments
A number of authoritative interpreters see here the so-called Gumenzo. This is a place that was cut on the crown of the head. Similar comments about this rule are found in the Slavic Kormchi book dating back to the 13th century. It speaks of a presbyter and deacon, erupted from the dignity, who must be cut "on the head of the Humen."
The clergyman’s hairstyle suggested that the hair should, firstly, be cut at the top, on the crown of the head, and secondly, should be cut from below “in a circle”.
Regarding why toning is needed, the Jerusalem Patriarch Sofroniy wrote the following: “On the head of a priest, circular hair cutting means a crown of thorns. Whereas the double crown that is formed by hair is a picture of the honest head of the Supreme Apostle (Peter). who did not believe, and Jesus Christ blessed her. "
Thus, according to one version, the purpose of tonus is to show belonging to the Church of Christ.
Varieties of church haircuts
In the church tradition, there were two main types of tonus. It:
- Like the Apostle Paul. In this case, the front of the head was sheared baldly. This view was characteristic of the Greek church. In a slightly modified configuration, it was also used by the Irish and the British. This form was called the tonus of the Apostle James.
- Like the apostle Peter. It came into use after the fourth cathedral, held in Toledo in 633. It was done on the top, cutting hair in a circle. The second view was generally accepted among priests and monks belonging to the western church.
At the beginning of the 19th century, tonsil of the Catholic clergy was usually cut at the same time as production in the lower rank. Moreover, it was the size of just a small coin. For those who had the priesthood, she was like a guest in size (Eucharistic bread in the Latin rite).
The bishops had even greater tonus. As for the dads, they only had a narrow strip of hair, which was located above the forehead. It should be noted that the described tradition has existed for a long time. The abolition of tonsure is a matter of a very recent time. Its wearing was abolished from January 1973 by Pope Paul VI.
Russian analogue of tonus
In Russia, the clipped head of the clergy ministers was called the "Humenets." This word comes from the Old Slavonic “gomnets” and is associated with the “threshing floor”. The latter denotes a plot of land that is leveled, cleaned and intended for threshing. Even the Russians called tonzura “fusion” - from the verb “fade”, which means “to lose hair”, “to make baldness”.
In common parlance, there was such an option as "priest baldness." In written documents belonging to the pre-Petrine era, the word "baldness" sometimes appeared as an analogue of the name of a clergyman. There was another name - “haircuts”, which is probably tracing paper taken from Latin tonsurātus.
Frosting of the head was carried out during initiation into a lower spiritual degree. After the bishop made a cross-shaped hair cut, that is, tonsure, one of the clergy took up the trimming of the Humens. As an external attribute of a person belonging to a clergy, a gumenzo was required to be worn all his life or until the day of deprivation of dignity. When this tradition in Russia was canceled, it is not known for sure. According to some information, this happened at the end of the 17th century, according to others - at the end of the 18th.