COPE [Med. Lat. cappa], a liturgical vestment of the West ern Church. The word "cope," now confined to this sense, was in its origin identical with "cape" and "cap," and was used until comparatively modern times also for an outdoor cloak, whether worn by clergy or laity. This, indeed, was its original meaning, the cappa having been an outer garment common to men and women whether clerical or lay. The word pluviale (rain-cloak), which the cope bears in the Roman Catholic Church, is exactly parallel so far as change of meaning is concerned. In both words the etymology reveals the origin of the vestment, which is but a glorified survival of a garment worn by all and sundry in ordinary life. When spread out the cope forms an almost com plete semicircle. Along the straight edge there is usually a broad band, and at the neck is attached the "hood" (in Latin, the clypeus or shield) ; i.e., a shield-shaped piece of stuff which hangs down over the back. The vestment is secured in front by a broad tab sewn on to one side and fastening to the other with hooks, sometimes also by a brooch (called the morse, Lat. morsus).
The cope thus preserves the essential shape of its secular original, and even the hood, though now a mere ornamental appendage, is a survival of an actual hood. The evolution of this latter into its present form was gradual; first the hood became too small for use, then it was transformed into a small triangular piece of stuff (13th century), which in its turn grew (14th and centuries) into the shape of a shield, and this again, losing its pointed tip in the 17th century, expanded in the into a flap which was sometimes enlarged so as to cover the whole back down to the waist. In its general effect, however, a cope no longer suggests a "waterproof." It is sometimes elaborately embroidered all over; more usually it is of some rich material, with the borders in front and the hood embroidered, while the morse has given occasion for some of the most beautiful examples of the goldsmith's and jeweller's craft.
The use of the cope as a liturgical vestment can be traced to the end of the 8th century. Before this the so-called cappa choralis, a black, bell-shaped, hooded vestment with no liturgical significance, had been worn by the secular and regular clergy at choir services, processions, etc. This was in its origin identical with the chasuble, and if, as Father Braun seems to prove, the cope developed out of this, cope and chasuble have a common source. In the loth century, partly under the influence of the splendour-loving community of Cluny, the use of the cope be came widespread; in the 11th century it was universally worn, though the rules for its ritual use had not yet been fixed. It was at this time, however, par excellence the vestment proper to the cantors, choirmaster, and singers.
By the beginning of the 13th century the liturgical use of the cope had become finally fixed. The substitution of the cope for the chasuble in many of the functions for which the latter had been formerly used was primarily due to the comparative convenience of a vestment opened at the front, and so leaving the arms free. A natural conservatism preserved the chasuble (q.v.) as the vestment proper to the celebration of Mass ; but the cope took its place in lesser functions ; i.e., the censing of the altar dur ing the Magnificat and at matins (whence the German name Rauchmantel, smoke-mantel), processions, solemn consecrations, and as the dress of bishops attending synods. It is clear from this that the cope, though a liturgical, was never a sacerdotal vest ment. If it was worn by priests, it could also be worn by laymen, and it was never worn by priests in their sacerdotal, i.e., their sacrificial, capacity. For this reason it was not rejected with the "Mass vestments" by the English Church at the Reformation, in spite of the fact that it was in no ecclesiastical sense "primitive." A cope was worn by the prelate who consecrated Archbishop Parker, and by the "gentlemen" as well as the priests of Queen Elizabeth's chapel; and, finally, by the 24th canon (of 1603) a "decent cope" was prescribed for the "principal minister" at the celebration of Holy Communion in cathedral churches as well as for the "gospeller and epistler." Except at royal coronations, how ever, the use of the cope, even in cathedrals, had practically ceased in England before the ritual revival of the 19th century restored its popularity.
It will be convenient here to note other vestments that have developed out of the cappa. The cappa choralis has already been mentioned; it survived as a choir vestment that in winter, took the place of the surplice, rochet (q.v.) or almuce (q.v.).