Category: Male clothing > medieval headwear

Chaperon

Chaperon

A medieval chaperon is a type of court headwear made of wool without lining.

How does a medieval chaperon look like?

Our chaperons are made of wool of the highest quality. This medieval headwear consists of a thick border (bourrelet/rondel), a tail (cornette/liripipe) and a loosely hanging piece of fabric (cape/patte).

There is an option of making a cut-out in our chaperon for an additional charge. Available patterns can be seen here.

We offer two standards of finishing this historical court headwear. Medium standard means machine sewing with hand finishing. High standard means product sewn all by hand.

Check our chaperons available in stock and chaperons with cut-out.

History of a chaperon and historical sources

Medieval chaperon is known in Europe since the beginning of 14th century. However, it gained its greatest popularity at the turn of 14th and 15th century. This elegant historical headgear was worn mainly in Western Europe, especially in Burgundy.

This court headwear derives from a hooded cape, worn from the 13th century. A hood was bundled up in a form of a turban. Next, wearers started to use the "wrong" opening, so the tail and a cape were hanging loosely from the top of a head.

Chaperon is presented on the portrait of Philip the Good, the Prince of Burgundy, by Rogier van der Weyden (~1450).

An example of a tied up hooded cape in a form of a chaperon can be found in "Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry".

Similarly to the outer garment, head wears speaks of the social status and in case of women of their marital status. In medieval iconography hardly ever can we find figures without any headwear. During all the period of the Middle Ages a hood was the most widespread headwear. Its functions were protective and sometimes symbolic, ritual or representative. Medieval headwear includes: caps, hats, coifs, hoods, kerchiefs and others. Hoods were often made of cloth, however caps and hats were made of felt.

Similarly to the outergarment, head wears speaks of the social status and in case of women of their marital status. In medieval iconography hardly ever can we find figures without any head wear. During all the period of the Middle Ages a hood was the most widespread head wear. Its functions were protective and sometimes symbolic, ritual or representative. Medieval headwear includes: caps, hats, coifs, hoods, kerchiefs and others. Hoods were often made of cloth, however caps and hats were made of felt.

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