Hennin

The hennin /ˈhɛnᵻn/ (Dutch: henninck ‘cock’ > French: hennin) was a headdress in the shape of a cone or "steeple", or truncated cone worn in the late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They were most common in Burgundy and France, but also elsewhere, especially at the English courts, and in Northern Europe, Hungary and Poland. They are little seen in Italy. It is unclear what styles the word hennin described at the time, though it is recorded as being used in French in 1428, probably before the conical style appeared. The word does not appear in English until the 19th century. The term is therefore used by some writers on costume for other female head-dresses of the period.

These appear from about 1430 onwards, especially after the mid-century, initially only among aristocratic women, though later spreading more widely, especially in the truncated form. Typically, the hennin was 30 to 45 cm high, but might be considerably higher, as much as 80 cm according to some sources. The tops of some of these conical hats were pointed while others were truncated, ending in a flat top. It was generally accompanied by a veil, formally termed a cointoise, that usually emerged from the top of the cone and was allowed to fall onto the woman's shoulders or even to the ground, or was pulled forward over the hennin, often reaching over the woman's face.

The hennin was worn tilted backward at an angle. It was made of light material, often card or a wire mesh over which a light fabric was fixed, although little is known of the details of their construction. There was often a cloth lappet, or "cornet" in French, in front of the hennin covering part of the brow, and sometimes falling onto the shoulders to either side. There is very often a "frontlet" or short loop seen on the forehead (right), to adjust the hennin forward, and perhaps even to hold it on in wind.

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