A chaperon (/ˈʃæpəroʊn/ or /ˈʃæpərɒn/; Middle French: chaperon) was a form of hood or, later, a highly versatile hat worn by men throughout all parts of Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
Originally a practical garment, it first gained a long, partly decorative tail at the back (a liripipe), and then evolved into a complex, versatile and expensive headgear when the original vertical opening for the face was used as a horizontal opening for the head.
The chaperon was especially fashionable in the mid-15th century in Burgundy, before gradually falling out of fashion at the end of the 15th century and returning to its practical function. It is the most worn male headgear in early Dutch painting, but the complicated construction is often misunderstood.
The chaperon started before 1200 as a hood with a short cloak, which was pulled over the head or fastened at the front. The hood could be removed from the head to hang at the back, while the short cloak remained around the neck and shoulders.
The edge of the cloak was often decorated, cut or waved for decorative effect. There were woollen versions for cold weather and lighter ones for summer. In this form it remained in use until the end of the Middle Ages, worn by lower classes, often by both women and men, especially in Northern Europe. The hood hung loose at the back and sometimes ended in a tail that tapered to a point.
The word chaperon is a diminutive of chape, which, like the English cap, cape and cope, derives from the Late Latin cappa, which could already mean a hat, cape or hood. The tail of the hood, often quite long, was called in English the tippit or liripipe, and in French liripipe or cornette. The cloak part was called in French patte, in English cape, or sometimes cockscomb when it was decoratively cut. Later, a round bourrelet (or roundel dagger) could be part of the construction.
Patte, cornette and bourrelet were the usual terms at the Burgundian court in the 15th century. In Italian the equivalent terms were foggia, becchetto and mazzocchio. Chaperon was sometimes used in English and German for both the hood and hat forms. In the Italian language the word was cappuccio, or the diminutive cappuccino, from which the Capuchin monks are also named.
Little Red Riding Hood is called in the earliest published French version Le Petit Chaperon rouge, and French images of the story naturally prefer to show a chaperon rather than a long riding hood as in the English version.
In falconry, chaperon was also the term for the hood placed over a falcon's head to prevent it from flying away. From this meaning, it later figuratively evolved into chaperon (in English usually chaperone), which means a protective escort, especially for women.
Around 1300, people began wearing the chaperon by placing the hole intended for the face over the head, possibly in warm weather. This caused the cornette tail and the patte or cape to hang loosely from the head.
This became fashionable, and chaperons were made to be worn this way. Some authors use the term chaperon only for this style, while the earlier forms were simply called hoods. A padded round bourrelet emerged, sitting around the head, while the cornette became longer and increasingly resembled a scarf, until around 1430 it mostly hung straight down the sides and had a square endpoint.
Especially in Italy, the cornette was sometimes omitted, leaving only an unflared, cylindrical patte, attached to the bourrelet and hanging down one side of the head.
By 1400–1416, the period of famous illuminated manuscripts such as Gaston Phoebus's Livre de Chasse and the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, chaperons can be seen on many figures. In the Très Riches Heures peasants wear their chaperons in the original form, both men and women, and hunters.
Court staff wear the new form, often coloured and waved, probably made of silk. However, the duke himself and the most prominent court dignitaries do not wear them.
By the 1430s most chaperons were simpler, the cornette was long and plain, while the patte could still be decorative. By the mid-15th century the evolving chaperon (worn on the head, with bourrelet) was common among the upper and middle classes, and was worn in portrait paintings, including those of the Dukes of Burgundy.
The amount of fabric was considerable; a silk or damask example clearly displayed wealth.
The cornette now reached almost to the ground and the patte had also grown; both were now plain and unadorned. Bourrelets could be very large or modest. The largest were worn by high-ranking men around 1445–1450.
There were many ways to wear and carry the chaperon:
A) Cornette and patte could be tied together on top of the head for a turban-like effect.
B) The patte could be tied under the chin and attached to the bourrelet, while the cornette hung loose.
C) The patte could hang loose at the back, with the cornette on top or loose.
D) The patte could be tied at the top, while the cornette hung loose.
E) The patte could hang loose at the back or be tucked into clothing, while the cornette was wrapped around the head.
F) In warm weather or in the presence of higher-ranking persons, the chaperon could be worn over the shoulder with patte and cornette on opposite sides.
The only surviving miniature by Rogier van der Weyden shows Philip the Good with a chaperon in style B, next to chancellor Nicolas Rolin with a less exuberant version. High-ranking persons wear it indoors, others do not.
Chaperons were also used in France and Burgundy to indicate political loyalty through colour; the factions themselves were sometimes called chaperons. During the trial of Jeanne d'Arc in 1431, the chaperon was mentioned as part of her clothing, which was meant to demonstrate her alleged male behaviour.
In 15th-century Florence, cappucci were associated with republicans, in contrast to courtiers. A Florentine adviser recommended in 1516 that young men wear "the courtier's hat" instead of cappucci.
Besides portraits, many of the best, less formal depictions of the chaperon can be found in paintings of the birth and early scenes from the life of Christ.
By around 1480 the chaperon went out of fashion, but remained in use. By around 1500 the evolved chaperon was out of fashion in Northern Europe, but the original hood form remained useful for shepherds and peasants.
By that time, the chaperon also became part of some civic uniforms, for example for lawyers, academics and members of knightly orders such as the Order of the Golden Fleece.
In this context it often shrinks in size and becomes permanently attached to the underlying garment, effectively as an ornament, in its current academic form called epitoge. In Italy it remained more current until around the 1520s.
