# Capirote

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Christian pointed hat of conical form

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[Procession of the Reales Cofradías Fusionadas in Malaga](/source/Holy_Week_in_Malaga)

[Brotherhood with green capirotes in Malaga](/source/Holy_Week_in_Malaga)

Brotherhood of Saint Rochus with velvet capirotes

Brotherhood with silk capirotes

A **capirote**[1] is a [Christian](/source/Christianity) [pointed hat](/source/Pointed_hat) of conical form that is used in [Italy](/source/Italy), [Spain](/source/Spain) and [Hispanic](/source/Hispanic) countries by members of a [confraternity of penitents](/source/Confraternity_of_penitents), particularly those of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church). It is part of the uniform of such brotherhoods including the *[Nazarenos](/source/Nazareno_(Spanish_confraternity))* and *Fariseos* during [Lenten](/source/Lent) observances and reenactments during [Holy Week in Spain](/source/Holy_Week_in_Spain) and its [former colonies](/source/Hispanic_America), though similar [hoods](/source/Hood_(headgear)) are common in other [Christian countries](/source/Christian_countries) such as [Italy](/source/Italy). Capirote are worn by penitents so that attention is not drawn towards themselves as they [repent](/source/Repentance_in_Christianity), but instead to God.

## History

Historically, the [flagellants](/source/Flagellant) are the origin of the current traditions, as they flogged themselves with a [discipline](/source/Discipline_(instrument_of_penance)) to do penance. [Pope Clement VI](/source/Pope_Clement_VI) ordered that flagellants could perform penance only under control of the church; he decreed *Inter sollicitudines* ("inner concerns" for suppression).[2] This is considered one of the reasons why flagellants often hid their faces.

The use of the capirote or coroza was prescribed in Spain by the holy office of [Inquisition](/source/Inquisition). Men and women who were arrested had to wear a paper capirote in public as sign of [public humiliation](/source/Public_humiliation). The capirote was worn during the session of an [Auto-da-fé](/source/Auto-da-f%C3%A9). The colour was different, conforming to the judgement of the office. People who were condemned to be executed wore a red coroza. Other punishments used different colours.

When the Inquisition was abolished, the symbol of punishment and penitence was kept in the Catholic brotherhood, however, the capirotes used today are different; they are covered in fine fabric, as prescribed by the brotherhood. To this day, they are still worn during the celebration of the Holy Week/Easter most notably in Andalusia, by [penitentes](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penitentes) (who perform public penance for their sins) who walk through streets with the capirote.

The usage of the capirote during the Holy Week was once common throughout Spain's colonies, but this custom has since died out in most of them by the late 19th century. Notable exceptions to this are some parts of Mexico, Guatemala, and the Philippines.

In the [Philippines](/source/Philippines), a former Spanish colony, male Catholic penitents of the Tais-Dupol [confraternity](/source/Confraternity_of_penitents) wear capirotes during [Holy Week](/source/Holy_Week) in [Palo, Leyte](/source/Palo%2C_Leyte). The group's name comes from [Waray](/source/Waray_language) *tais*, meaning "pointed", and *dupol*, meaning "blunt", referring to the shape of the hood. The tradition has been followed since the late 1800s when the group was organized by the [Franciscan](/source/Franciscan) friar Pantaleon de la Fuente. The wearing of the hood is based on [Matthew 6:16](/source/Matthew_6%3A16)-[18](/source/Matthew_6%3A18) which advocates for anonymity during [fasting](/source/Fasting).[3]

The capirote is today the symbol of the Catholic penitent: only members of a confraternity of penance are allowed to wear them during solemn processions. Children can receive the capirote after their first holy communion, when they enter the brotherhood.

## Design

Historically the design is called the capirote, but the brotherhoods cover it with fabric together with their face, and the medal of the brotherhood that is worn underneath. The cloth has two holes for the penitent to see through. The insignia or crest of the brotherhood is usually embroidered on the capirote in fine gold.

The capirote is worn during the whole penance.

## Use outside of the Catholic Church

Early Klan members in capirote-like uniforms

The capirote was [appropriated](/source/Cultural_appropriation) by the early 20th-century American [Ku Klux Klan](/source/Ku_Klux_Klan), a [white supremacist](/source/White_Supremacist) and [anti-Catholic](/source/Anti-Catholicism) group.[4] Alison Kinney of *[New Republic](/source/The_New_Republic)* traces the modern uniform to the popularity of the film *[The Birth of a Nation](/source/The_Birth_of_a_Nation)*, whose costume inspiration was not credited.[5]

## In popular culture

- The Penitent One, the protagonist of the video games *[Blasphemous](/source/Blasphemous_(video_game))* and *[Blasphemous 2](/source/Blasphemous_2)*, wears a metal helmet that combines a capirote with a [face mask](/source/Nijmegen_Helmet), wrapped in [thorns](/source/Crown_of_thorns).

- In the 1979 *[Lupin III](/source/Lupin_III)* film *[The Castle of Cagliostro](/source/The_Castle_of_Cagliostro)*, during the wedding of the Count and Clarisse, as they approach the altar, they are accompanied by a procession of his armored assassins, all wearing black capirotes and robes over their usual armor.

- In the tabletop skirmish game *[Trench Crusade](/source/Trench_Crusade)*, many of the Trench Pilgrims wear an iron capirote as military equipment, said to render them utterly fearless.

- The Neo Atlantean soldiers from the 1990s anime *[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water](/source/Nadia%3A_The_Secret_of_Blue_Water)* wear capirote like hoods with a face mask, the color and design of the face masks differ to signify different ranks and professions within the organization.

## Gallery

		- A [confraternity of penitents](/source/Confraternity_of_penitents) in Italy mortifying the flesh with [disciplines](/source/Discipline_(instrument_of_penance)) in a seven-hour procession; hoods similar to the capirote are worn by penitents in order to not draw attention to themselves, but to God (2010)

		- [The Inquisition Tribunal](/source/The_Inquisition_Tribunal)

		- *A Procession of Flagellants*, [Goya](/source/Francisco_Goya), 1812–1819

		- *Prisoner wearing capirote and Sanbenito*, [Goya](/source/Francisco_Goya)

		- Execution of [Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal](/source/Francisca_Nu%C3%B1ez_de_Carabajal), Mexico City, 1601

## See also

- [Christianity portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Christianity)
- [Spain portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Spain)

- [Dunce § Dunce cap](/source/Dunce#Dunce_cap)

- [List of hat styles](/source/List_of_hat_styles)

- [List of headgear](/source/List_of_headgear)

- [Sanbenito](/source/Sanbenito)

## References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Capirotes](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Capirotes).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Diccionario de la lengua castellana

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years Door Diarmaid MacCulloch

1. **[^](#cite_ref-gma_3-0)** ["'Tais-Dupol' in Palo, Leyte stirs netizens"](https://www.gmanetwork.com/regionaltv/news/101174/taisdupol-in-palo-leyte-stirs-netizens/story/). *GMA Regional TV News*. 30 March 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Michael K. Jerryson, Religious Violence Today: Faith and Conflict in the Modern World, 2020, 217](https://books.google.com/books?id=pfjtDwAAQBAJ&dq=Capirote+kkk&pg=PA217)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Kinney, Alison (8 January 2016). ["How the Klan Got Its Hood"](https://newrepublic.com/article/127242/klan-got-hood). *The New Republic*. Retrieved 29 November 2022.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Capirote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capirote) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capirote?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.