Tonsure
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Tonsure is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word tonsura and referred to a specif
Celtic stone head from ancient Bohemia (150–50 BC), possibly depicting the form of the later Celtic Christian tonsure
St Bartholomew (by Carlo Crivelli, 1473, in the Ascoli Piceno Cathedral)
Clerical tonsure (note the scissors in the bishop's hands) of an Orthodox man in conjunction with ordination to minor orders.
A baby's first haircut, which is often a head shave, is a common rite of passage in Hinduism.
Celtic Christianity
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Celtic Christianity is a term previously used by historians for a form of Christianity which was held to have been common across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term is dep
Tonsure
…to grow for four months before he could be tonsured after the Roman fashion, and then ordained Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Vitalian in 668. The Celtic tonsure, the exact shape of which is unclear from the sources, but in some way involved shaving the head from ear to ear. The shape may have been semicircular…
A Celtic Cross in Knock, Ireland
Modern icon of Aristobulus of Britannia
Amphibalus baptizing converts, from The Life of St. Alban, written and illustrated by Matthew Paris († 1259)
The discovery of St. Alban's bones, illustrated in The Life of St. Alban