Editing Tonsure (section)

==Christianity==
[[File:Stone sculpture of celtic hero2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mšecké Žehrovice Head|Celtic stone head]] from ancient [[Bohemia]] (150–50 BC), possibly depicting the form of the later Celtic Christian tonsure]]

===History and development===
Tonsure was not widely known in antiquity. There were three forms of tonsure known in the 7th and 8th centuries:

* The [[Eastern Roman Empire|Oriental]] consisted of shaving the whole head. This was observed in the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern churches]], including the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]. Hence [[Theodore of Tarsus]], who had acquired his learning in [[Byzantine]] [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]] and bore this tonsure, had to allow his hair to grow for four months before he could be tonsured after the Roman fashion, and then ordained [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] by [[Pope Vitalian]] in 668.
* The [[Celtic tonsure]], the exact shape of which is unclear from the sources, but in some way involved shaving the head from ear to ear.<ref name="McCarthy">{{Cite journal|last= McCarthy|first= Daniel|year= 2003|title= On the Shape of the Insular Tonsure|journal= Celtica |volume= 24|pages= 140–167|url= http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c24/c24-140-167.pdf|access-date=June 18, 2009 }}</ref> The shape may have been semicircular, arcing forward from a line between the ears, but another popular suggestion, less borne out in the sources, proposes that the entire forehead was shaved back to the ears.<ref>McCarthy, pp. 147–150</ref> More recently a triangular shape, with one point at the front of the head going back to a line between the ears, has been suggested.<ref name="McCarthy"/> The Celtic tonsure was worn in [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain]] and was connected to the distinct set of practices known as [[Celtic Christianity]].<ref>McCarthy, p. 140.</ref> It was opposed by the Roman tradition, but many adherents to the Celtic tradition continued to maintain the old way well into the 8th and 9th centuries.<ref>McCarthy</ref> Some sources have also suggested links between this tonsure and that worn by [[druids]] in the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]].<ref>Churchill, Winston S., "A History of the English Speaking Peoples The Birth of Britain", Book 1, "The Island Race", 1956, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, p. 55</ref><ref>Carver, 2009</ref>
* The [[Western Roman Empire|Roman]]: this consisted of shaving only the top of the head, so as to allow the hair to grow in the form of a [[Crown (headgear)|crown]]. This is claimed to have originated with [[Saint Peter]], and is the practice of the [[Latin Church]] of the [[Catholic Church]].

===Ancient and medieval usage===

====Eastern Christianity====

=====Clerical tonsure=====
[[Germanus I of Constantinople|St. Germanus I]], [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] from 715 to 730, writes "The double crown inscribed on the head of the priest through tonsure represents the precious head of the chief-apostle Peter.  When he was sent out in the teaching and preaching of the Lord, his head was shaved by those who did not believe his word, as if in mockery.  The Teacher Christ blessed this head, changed dishonour into honour, ridicule into praise.  He placed on it a crown made not out of precious stones, but one which shines more than gold, topaz, or precious stone &ndash; with the stone and rock of faith.” In the Eastern Orthodox Church today, priests, deacons, readers, and other tonsured offices do not have their heads shaved. Rather, four locks of hair are clipped from the top of the head in the shape of a cross to mark their obedience to the Church.

=====Monastic tonsure=====
St. Germanus I writes "The total tonsuring of the head is in imitation of the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, and the Apostle Paul, and of the rest."<ref>St. Germanus:69</ref>

====Western Christianity====
[[File:Carlo Crivelli 052.jpg|thumb|right|150px|St Bartholomew (by [[Carlo Crivelli]], 1473, in the [[Ascoli Piceno Cathedral]])]]

=====Clerical tonsure=====
In the [[Latin Church]] of the [[Catholic Church]], "first tonsure"  was, in medieval times, and generally through to 1972,<ref name="Motu_Poprio">[http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6MINORS.HTM] "motu proprio", Retrieved 2011-08-14</ref> the rite of inducting someone into the clergy and qualifying him for the civil benefits once enjoyed by [[cleric]]s. Tonsure was a prerequisite for receiving the [[minor orders|minor]] and [[major orders]]. Failing to maintain tonsure was the equivalent of attempting to abandon one's clerical state, and in the [[1917 Code of Canon Law]], any cleric in minor orders (or simply tonsured) who did not resume the tonsure within a month after being warned by his [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|Ordinary]] lost the clerical state.<ref>[http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0813/_PC.HTM#GE Canon 136 par 3], [[1917 Code of Canon Law]]</ref> Over time, the appearance of tonsure varied, ending up for non-monastic clergy as generally consisting of a symbolic cutting of a few tufts of hair at first tonsure in the Sign of the Cross and in wearing a bare spot on the back of the head which varied according to the degree of orders. It was not supposed to be less than the size of a communicant's [[Host (liturgy)|host]], even for a tonsuratus, someone simply tonsured, and the approximate size for a priest's tonsure was the size of a priest's host. Countries that were not Catholic had exceptions to this rule, especially in the English-speaking world. In England and America, for example, the bare spot was dispensed with, likely because of the persecutions that could arise from being a part of the Catholic clergy, but the ceremonious cutting of the hair in the first clerical tonsure was always required. In accordance with [[Pope Paul VI]]'s ''[[motu proprio]]'' ''Ministeria quaedam'' of 15 August 1972, "first tonsure is no longer conferred".<ref name=Motu_Poprio/>

=====Monastic tonsure=====
Apart from this general clerical tonsure, some [[Latin liturgical rites|Western Rite]] monastic orders, for example [[Carthusian]]s and [[Trappist]]s, employed a very full version of tonsure, shaving the head entirely bald and keeping only a narrow ring of short hair, sometimes called "the monastic crown" (see "Roman tonsure", above), from the time of entrance into the monastic [[novitiate]] for all monks, whether destined for service as priests or brothers.

===Contemporary practice===
====Eastern Christianity====<!-- This section is linked from [[Prayer rope]] -->
[[File:TonsureOfOthodoxReader.jpeg|thumb|right|300px|Clerical tonsure (note the scissors in the bishop's hands) of an Orthodox man in conjunction with ordination to [[minor orders]].]]

Today in [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] and in the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] of [[Byzantine Rite]], there are three types of tonsure:  [[baptism]]al, [[monk|monastic]], and [[ordination|clerical]].  It always consists of the cutting of four locks of hair in a cruciform pattern: at the front of head as the celebrant says "In the Name of the Father", at the back of head at the words "and the Son", and on either side of the head at the words "and the Holy Spirit".  In all cases, the hair is allowed to grow back; the tonsure as such is not adopted as a hairstyle.

=====Baptismal tonsure=====
Baptismal tonsure is performed during the rite of Holy Baptism as a first sacrificial offering by the newly baptised. This tonsure is always performed, whether the one being baptised is an infant or an adult.

=====Monastic tonsure=====
Monastic tonsure (of which there are three grades: [[Rassophore#Eastern Orthodox monks|Rassophore]], [[Stavrophore]] and the [[Great Schema]]), is the rite of initiation into the monastic state, symbolic of cutting off of self-will. Orthodox monks traditionally never cut their hair or beards after receiving the monastic tonsure as a sign of the consecration of their lives to God (reminiscent of the Vow of the [[Nazirite]]).

=====Clerical tonsure=====
Clerical tonsure is the equivalent of the "first tonsure" in the Latin church.  It is done immediately prior to ordination to the minor order of [[reader (liturgy)|reader]] but is not repeated at subsequent ordinations.<ref>In the [[Latin liturgical rites|West]], the [[minor orders]] were those of [[Ostiarius|porter]], [[reader (liturgy)|lector]], [[exorcist]] and [[acolyte]], and the major orders were [[subdeacon|subdiaconate]], [[deacon|diaconate]] and [[priest]]hood, with the rank of [[bishop]] usually being considered a fuller form of priesthood. In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|East]], the minor orders are those of reader and [[subdeacon]], (and, in some places, acolyte); the orders of doorkeeper (porter) and exorcist (catechist) now having fallen into disuse.</ref> This led to a once common usage that one was, for instance, "tonsured a reader", although technically the tonsure occurs prior to the prayer of ordination within the ordination rite.

====Western Christianity====

=====Clerical tonsure=====
Since the issuing of ''Ministeria quaedam'' in 1972,<ref name=Motu_Poprio/> certain institutes have been authorized to use the first clerical tonsure, such as the [[Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter]] (1988), the [[Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest]] (1990), and the [[Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney]] (2001).

Although the tonsure itself is obsolete, the wearing of a skull cap, called a [[zucchetto]], in church to keep the head warm, which the fuller form of clerical tonsure led to, still survives.  The zucchetto is worn by the [[pope]] (in white), [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] (in red) and [[bishop]]s (in purple) both during and outside of formal religious ceremonies. Priests may wear a simple black zucchetto, only outside of religious services, though this is almost never seen except on abbots, who continue to wear the black zucchetto, or abbots of the Order of Canons Regular of Premontre, who wear white. Another congregation of Canons Regular, the Canons Regular of the Lateran, wear a white zucchetto as part of their proper habit. Some priests who held special titles (certain ranks of [[monsignori]] and some canons, for instance) formerly wore black zucchettos with red or purple piping, but this too has fallen out of use except in a few, extremely rare cases.

=====Monastic tonsure=====
Some monastic orders and individual monasteries{{which|date=April 2020}} still maintain the tradition of a monastic tonsure. While not required, it is still a common practice of Latin Church friars, such as the [[Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word]].{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}<!-- that article has a picture where none of the monks appear to be tonsured--> Some references compare the tonsure to the [[Crown of Thorns]] worn by [[Jesus|Christ]] at the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Reilly |first1=Jennifer |title=Early Medieval Text and Image Volume 2: The Codex Amiatinus, the Book of Kells and Anglo-Saxon Art |date=19 June 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-00872-2 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ch-eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sherrow |first1=Victoria |title=Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33145-9 |page=272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&dq=tonsure+christs+thorns&pg=PA272 |language=en}}</ref>