Biretta

(Ital., from πυρρός red) is a cap so called from the color of the fur, its original material. The cappa was also called a birrus, and worn with a fur hood to cover the head. In 1281 copes were ordered by archbishop Peckham not to be worn biretted behind and before, that is, without folds (another meaning of birrus), and not slit down the back or the centre in front. The earlier birrus, a cloak, as Sozomen explains it, loose and of woollen material, was usually red in color, and common to all the clergy. St. Cyprian wore a beros; together with his tunic, and the habit is alluded to under the same name by the Council of Gangra. St. Austin speaks of a precious birrus, probably made of rich silk. At the coronation of William and Mary some of the clergy wore square caps, resembling flat-topped birettas. The biretta, a skull-cap, is mentioned in 1298 as the instrument of investiture of a rector by the archbishop of Canterbury. Birrus was also a tippet worn on the tunic, and sometimes buttoned over the chest, or else flowing over the shoulders: it was used by the clergy, of a ruddy black or brown, or more usually fire-red color, as its name, purros, as an adjective, implies; but as a substantive, indicating a dress, it was spelled beros. It had sometimes a hood attached to it, and is represented by the modern mozzetta. A covering, similar in many respects to that represented in the illustration, was universally used by clerics about the 16th century, but afterwards was changed and modified in different countries, though retaining all its main and marked features. The ordinary Roman biretta is a square, stiff-sided cap, with curved ridges, and a tassel at the top, commonly made of black cloth or stuff, and of the same material as the cleric's cassock. Hence it is usually of black for priests, violet for bishops, and scarlet for cardinals. Birettas with four ridges are sometimes assumed by professors of theology; and those worn by doctors of canon law in some parts of Spain and Germany are made of black velvet. SEE BIRRUS.