MITTARELLI
406
MITTARELLI
is distinguished from its predecessor, not actually l)y
its shape, but only by its position on the head. While
retaining its form, the mitre was henceforth so placed
upon the head that the contua no longer arose aliove
the temples but above the forehead and the back of
the head. The lappets had, naturally, to be fastenetl
to the under edge below the horn at the back. The
first example of such a mitre ajipeared towards 11 .iO.
Klabonite mitres of this kind tiad not only an orna-
mental iiaiid (circiilux) on llie lower edge, but a similar
ornamental band (liliiliis) went vertically over the
middle of the horns. In the fourteenth century this
form of mitre Ix-gan to be distorteil in shape. I'p to
ornamented with about five hundred more or less
costly precious stones; it weighs over five and a half
pounds. Similar mitres are also mentioned in the
inventory of 12'.).") of Boniface V'lII. Eight medieval
mitres are preserved in the (Mthfdral of Halberstadt.
In the sevenleenlh and ci;;!!!!'!!!! Ij cciiluries the mitre
was ornamented with rit-li. Iir;i\y mibroidery in gold,
which gave it a still muie ini|H).snig appearance. .\
mitre of the eighteenth century preserved in thecatlie-
dral treasury at Limburg-on-the-Lahn is reinarkalile
for the large number of precious stones that atlorn it.
The original material of the mitre appears to have been
white linen alone, but as early as the thirteenth cen-
then the mitre had been somewhat broader than high
when folded together, but from this period on it began,
slowly indeed, hut steadily, to increase in height until,
in the seventeenth century, it grew into an actual
tower. Another change, which, however, did not
appear until the fifteenth century, was that the sides
were no longer made vertical, but diagonal. In the
sixteenth century it began to \>e customary to curve,
more or less decidedly, the diagonal sides of the horns.
The illustration gives a summary of the development
of the shape of the mitre. It should, however, be said
that the changes did not take place everywhere at the
same time, nor did the mitre everywhere pass through
all the shapes of the development. A large number
of mitres of the later Middle .\ges have been preserved,
but they all belong to the tliird form of mitre. Many
have very costly oniamcntation. For even in medie-
val times it was a favourite custom to ornament es-
pecially the mitre with embroidery, rich Ijands ((iiiri-
frisia), pearls, precious stones, small ornamental disks
of the precious metals: and even to use painting.
Besides several hundred large and small pearls, a mitre
of the late Middle .Vges in St. Peter's at Salsburg is also
tury (with the exception of course of the simple mitre)
it was generally made of silk or ornamented with silk
embroidery.
The Liturgical Head-Covering in the Greek Rite. — In the Orthodox Greek Rite (the other Greek Kites need not here be considered) a liturgical head-covering was not worn until the sixteenth century. Before this only the Patriarch of Alexandria, who wore one as eariy as the tenth century, made use of a head-cover- ing, and his was only a simple cap. The Greek pontif- ical mitre is a high hat which swells out towards the top and is spanned diagonally by two hoops; on the highest point of the dome-shaped top is a cross either standing upright or placed flat.
Dk Linas. A>n-i,tis r.tnnents saccrdoiaux, 2' sfrie (Paris, 1882); Bock. (,-.;,,,/,(. ,1,-r liturg. Gewiindi-r, II (Bonn. 1866); RoHAULT 111 I'll < ,:-,. In Mf.w. VIII (Parfs. 1889); BnACN, n-ie vonlifikiiUu Ii.:ru7„l.r dcs Abendlandes (Freiburg im Br, 1898); Idkm. Die lilurgische Gncandung im Occident und Orient (Freiburg im Br., 1907). Joseph BraUN.
Mittarelli, Nicola Giacomo (in religion Gian Bf.nkdetto), monastic historian, b. 2 .September, 1707, at Venice; d. 4 August, 1777, in the monastery of
