The Protestant Church vested the supreme authority in the sovereign of each country, who, however, exercised it from a secular standpoint alone. The actual administration was distributed among secular and spiritual officers, but the further determination of doctrines was based upon entirely different foundations; indeed, authority was jealously for bidden to meddle therewith. The grades and distinctions of the clergy were simplified, but not organized alike in all countries.
The Greek Church also recognized the sovereign as supreme bishop, owing to the fact that in the Byzantine empire he actually exercised some of the functions of the priesthood. The second rank in its hierarchy was occupied by the patriarchs (p1. 53, fig. 9), who practically governed the Church. Below the patriarchs stood the remaining clericals, who were divided in a manner similar to the Catholic clergy, but not so systemati cally. As there was no development of doctrine in that Church, the ad ministration of its spiritual concerns was from the earliest times purely a matter of form, and consequently attended by numberless ceremonies.
Ecclesiastical regard to the appearance of the secular clergy—of whom only we have been speaking—Plate 53 presents a view of their ecclesiastical costumes. In the priest of ancient Byzantium (fig. 1) we recognize the late Roman costume, from which, as we have already said (p. 204), the festal robes of the Catholic Church were developed. He wears a long tunic, a sack-like sleeveless upper garment (the original of the special mass-garment of the medieval Church), and the remains of the ancient toga in the form of a narrow stripe decorated with crosses and worn in a manner similar to that of the later consuls (fil. 29, fig. 4).
I'estments of the Catholic costumes of the Roman Cath olic clergy varied widely, and still vary, according to rank, place, and occasion. We shall limit ourselves to a few remarks concerning their official vestments and ordinary house-attire, the latter or which has been subject to much change, while the former has remained more stable.
We have already in our description of the imperial coronation (p. 307) met with the most important of the official costumes—namely, the vest ments worn during the mass. The officiating clergyman wore the alba
(alb), a white linen garment reaching to the feet and gathered at the waist by a girdle The higher dignitaries wore over the alba two short vestments, the tunic and the dalmatic, the former being scarlet with narrow sleeves, and the latter white with wide sleeves.
The stole, a long, narrow, decorated scarf, was worn in several dif ferent ways: when worn by a priest celebrating the mass, it was crossed over the breast so as to resemble a cross, being retained in that position by the girdle; when administering the other sacraments or when preach ing, he wore it hanging down free, as in Figure 7 (p1. 53); by a bishop celebrating the mass it was worn in the latter manner, but under the tunic, so that only the lower ends were visible (fig. 3). Originally white and without ornament, stoles after a time were of various colors, were enriched with orfrays, and fringed at their ends.
The chief mass-garment was the panda or chasuble (casula, pi. 56, fig. 3), which originally consisted of an oval garment closed all round and provided with an aperture for the head of the wearer to pass through, the chasuble covering the arms as well as the body; but later it was cut out at the sides (fig-. 4), so as to permit a freer use of the arms. It was always made of costly material, and generally elaborately adorned with embroideries, and decorated with a cross on the back, which was turned toward the people. Other mass-garments were the amice, an oblong linen cloth covering the neck and shoulders beneath the alba and chasuble, and the maniple (pi. 53, fig. 3), a short species of stole, attached to the left forearm.
Vestments of the pope wore beneath the mass-vestments the soutane, a long robe of white wool or silk with narrow sleeves, and over this a short mantle of red velvet or flesh-colored silk. The orate, a colored silk cloth, was worn around his neck, wound about the shoulders, and fastened on the breast. Another special article worn by him on great ceremonies was the tiara, or triple crown; but in private he wore the cha racteristic red skull-cap and carried a double cross like that in the hand of the cardinal in Figure 5.