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A bishop's special hat is called a mitre.

HISTORY OF THE BISHOP'S MITRE

The Jewish priesthood in the Old Testament were distinguished by a special headdress, which, in the King James Version of the Bible, is called a mitre. Most modern bible translations render this word as 'turban', it being a linen headwrap. However, in the first century, when Christianity was first established, it appears that Christians looked to Jesus Christ as their High Priest, (Hebrews 3:1; 7:26-28 etc) rather than to any man appointed under the Jewish Law covenant, and consequently the wearing of religious 'turbans of office' ceased to be practiced.

Evidently Christianity was marked by a break from many of the customs of Judaism (Hebrews 7:18); the priesthood under the Law of Moses had been fulfilled, (Hebrews chapter 7) and consequently Christian bishops did not need to wear any a mitre or special official head-covering or robe of office to indicate any perpetuation of the Levitical priesthood. (Galatians 3:23 - 4:10)

The word 'bishop' does appear five times in the King James Version of the New Testament, (Phillipians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:1,2; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 2:25) but there is no mention of any mitre or special headdress being worn by those bishops.

Outside of biblical Judaism the mitre/turban was also worn as a symbol of office. These mitres had different shapes. It has been asserted that the priesthood of Dagon (the fish god?) wore a tall clefted mitre that resembled a fish's head, but this seems to more conjecture than substantiated historical fact.

The first mention of bishops in the Christian church wearing mitres is in the 11th century, in a letter written in 1049 by Pope Leo IX, granting a bishop the right to wear a mitre. The first illustrations of bishops wearing mitres also appear from around this time period, in two miniatures which show Catholic bishops wearing mitres. This special style of headdress for bishops became widespread in the Catholic church, and is now seen, in different forms, in both the Western and Eastern Orthodox churches.

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Q: What is the history of a bishop's hat called mitre?
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