ROCHET (Lat. rochettum, from the late Lat. roccus, connected with the O.H.Ger. rock, roc and the A.S. rocc; Fr. rocket, Ital. rocchetto, Sp. roquete, Ger. Rochett, Chorkleid)

This article appears in Volume V23, Page 432 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: RHY-RON

ROCHET (Lat. rochettum, from the late Lat. roccus, connected with the O.H.Ger. rock, roc and the A.S. rocc; Fr. rocket, Ital. rocchetto, Sp. roquete, Ger. Rochett, Chorkleid) , an ecclesiastical
vestment. In the Roman Catholic Church the

rochet

ROCHET (Lat. rochettum, from the late Lat. roccus, connected with the O.H.Ger.
rock
, roc and the A.S. rocc; Fr. rocket, Ital. rocchetto, Sp. roquete, Ger. Rochett, Chorkleid)

is a tunic of white, and usually fine linen or muslin (battiste, mull) reaching about to the knee, and distinguished from the surplice by the fact that its arms are narrow and tight-fitting. The lower edge and the sleeves are usually garnished with lace, lined with violet or red silk in the case of prelates, ormore rarelywith embroidered borders.
The

rochet

ROCHET (Lat. rochettum, from the late Lat. roccus, connected with the O.H.Ger.
rock
, roc and the A.S. rocc; Fr. rocket, Ital. rocchetto, Sp. roquete, Ger. Rochett, Chorkleid)

is proper to, and distinctive of, prelates and bishops: but the right to

wear

WEAR

it is sometimes granted by the

pope

to others, especially the canons of cathedral churches. It is not a vestis sacra, and cannot therefore be used as a sub.-stitute for the surplice, e.g. in the administering of the Sacra-merits (Decree of the Congregation of Rites of Jan. 10, 1852). None the less, since it is used at choir services and is ordered to be worn over the everyday dress at Mass (Missy rem. Rit. celebr. i. 2), it may be included among liturgical vestments in the widest sense.
The earliest notice of the use of the rochet is found in an inventory of the vestments of the Roman clergy, dating from the 9th century. In this it is called camisia, a name which it retained at Rome until the 14th century, and it seems to have been already at that time proper to particular members of the clergy. Other Roman names for the vestment were succa, sucta; it was not till the 14th century that the name rochettum appeared at Rome, but it was not long before it had superseded all the native designations. Outside Rome, too, the vestment is early met with, e.g. in the Frankish empire (9th century) as elba clericalis, in contradistinction to the liturgical alb, and in England (loth century) under the name of oferslip in the 46th canon of the ecclesiastical laws of Edgar. At the beginning of the 12th century the rochet is mentioned, under the name of camisia, by Gilbert of Limerick and by Honorius, and, some-what later, by Gerloh of Reichersperg as tunica talaris. From the 13th century onward it is frequently mentioned. The name rochettum is first traceable in England; in Germany and northern France the rochet was also called saroht (sarrotus) or sarcos (sarcotium).
Outside Rome the rochet was, until well into the 14th century, a vestment common to all the clergy, and especially to those of the lower orders; and so it remained, in general, until the 16th century, and even, here' and there, so

late

LATE

as the 19th. Moreover, in further contradistinction to the Roman use, it hadespecially in the German diocesesa liturgical character, being used instead of the surplice.
The rochet was originally a robe-like tunic, and was therefore girdled, like the liturgical alb. So

late

LATE

as 126o the provincial synod of Cologne decreed that the vestis camisialis must be long enough entirely to cover the everyday dress. A good example of the camisia of the 12th century is the rochet of

Thomas

Becket, preserved' at Dammartin in the Pas de Calais, the only surviving medieval example remarkable for the pleating which, as was the case with albs also, gave greater breadth and more elaborate folds. In the 15th century the rochet only reached' half-way down the shin; in the 16th and 17th to the knee; in the 18th and 19th often only to the middle of the thigh. In the middle ages it was always plain. The rochet is unknown in the Eastern Churches. (J. BRA.)
Church of England.In the English Church the rochet is a vestment peculiar to bishops, and is worn by them, with the chimere (q.v.) both " at all times of their ministration " in church and also on ceremonial occasions outside, e.g. in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Lords or at a royal levee. In general it has retained the medieval form more closely than the Roman rochet, in so far as it is of plain, very fine linen (lawn), and reaches almost to the feet. The main modifications have been in the sleeves. At the time of the Reformation these were still narrow, though already showing a tendency to expand. The portrait of Arch-bishop Warham at Lambeth, for instance, shows a rochet with fairly wide sleeves narrowing towards the wrists, where they are confined by fur cuffs. This fashion continued until, in the 17th century, the sleeves became much fuller; but it was not till the 18th century that they developed into the familiarexaggerated

balloon

BALLOON

shape, confined at the wrists by a ribbon, beyond which a ruffle projected. About the same period, too, arose the custom of making the rochet sleeveless and attaching the " lawn sleeves " to the chimere. This fashion survived throughout most of the 19th century, but there has since been a tendency to revert to the earlier less exaggerated form, and the sleeves have been reattached to the rochet. The ribbon by which the wrist is confined is' black, 'except when convocation robes are worn, when it is scarlet. The rochet is worn without the chimere under the cope by those bishops who use this vestment. At his consecration the. bishop-elect is, according to the 'rubric, presented to the consecrating bishops vested in a rochet only; after the " laying on of hands " he retires and puts on " the rest of the episcopal habit;" i.e. the chimere. (W. A. P.)

End of Article: ROCHET (Lat. rochettum, from the late Lat. roccus, connected with the O.H.Ger. rock, roc and the A.S. rocc; Fr. rocket, Ital. rocchetto, Sp. roquete, Ger. Rochett, Chorkleid)

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