Editing Celtic Christianity (section)

===Monastic tonsure===
[[File:Fra Angelico 052.jpg|left|thumb|The Roman [[tonsure]], in the shape of a crown, differing from the Irish tradition, which is unclear but involved shaving the hair from ear to ear in some fashion]]
All monks of the period, and apparently most or all clergy, kept a distinct [[tonsure]], or method of cutting one's hair, to distinguish their social identity as men of the cloth. In Ireland men otherwise wore longish hair, and a shaved head was worn by [[Slavery in the Early Middle Ages|slave]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Ryan|1931|p=217}}</ref>

The prevailing Roman custom was to shave a circle at the top of the head, leaving a halo of hair or ''corona''; this was eventually associated with the imagery of Christ's [[crown of thorns]].<ref>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|p=146}}</ref> The early material referring to the Celtic tonsure emphasizes its distinctiveness from the Roman alternative and invariably connects its use to the Celtic dating of Easter.<ref>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|p=140}}</ref> Those preferring the Roman tonsure considered the Celtic custom extremely unorthodox, and associated it with the form of tonsure worn by the [[heresiarch]] [[Simon Magus]].<ref>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|pp=141–143}}</ref> This association appears in a 672 letter from Saint [[Aldhelm]] to King [[Geraint of Dumnonia]], but it may have been circulating since the Synod of Whitby.<ref name=McCarthy141>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|p=141}}</ref> The tonsure is also mentioned in a passage, probably of the 7th century but attributed wrongly to Gildas: "''Britones toti mundo contrarii, moribus Romanis inimici, non solum in missa sed in tonsura etiam''" ("Britons are contrary to the whole world, enemies of Roman customs, not only in the Mass but also in regard to the tonsure").<ref>A. W. Haddan and W. Stubbs (ed.), ''Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents Relating to Great Britain and Ireland'', 3 vols (Oxford, 1869–78), I, 112-3</ref>

The exact shape of the Irish tonsure is unclear from the early sources, although they agree that the hair was in some way shorn over the head from ear to ear.<ref name="McCarthy">{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|pp=140–167}}</ref> In 1639 [[James Ussher]] suggested a semi-circular shape, rounded in the front and culminating at a line between the ears.<ref>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|pp=147–148}}</ref> This suggestion was accepted by many subsequent writers, but in 1703 [[Jean Mabillon]] put forth a new hypothesis, claiming that the entire forehead was shaven back to the ears. Mabillon's version was widely accepted, but contradicts the early sources.<ref name="McCarthy149">{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|p=149}}</ref> In 2003 Daniel McCarthy suggested a triangular shape, with one side between the ears and a vertex towards the front of the head.<ref name="McCarthy"/> The ''[[Collectio canonum Hibernensis]]'' cites the authority of Saint Patrick as indicating that the custom originated with the swineherd of [[Lóegaire mac Néill]], the king who opposed Patrick.<ref>{{harvnb|McCarthy|2003|pp=142–143}}</ref>