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Hat wars of early modern England reveal how manners make the rebel
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hat-wars-early-modern-england.htmlCambridge University Press
More interesting tidbits than I would have thought at first glance.
Hat battles at the trial of King Charles I. Image from A true copy of the journal of the High Court of Justice, for the tryal of K. Charles I (1684). Both Charles I and the judges keep their hats on, showing no respect to the other side. Credit: State Library Victoria, Melbourne
From refusing to doff hats in court to resisting hat-snatching highway robbers, England's relationship with hats goes far deeper than fashion, new research shows.
"Hatiquette" is a matter of personal choice in modern Britain, but 400 years ago social conventions were very different and refusing to doff ("do off" ) one's hat could be a potent act of political defiance, according to a new study published in The Historical Journal.
In 1630, a feisty oatmeal maker hauled before England's supreme church court was informed that some of his judges were privy councilors as well as bishops. Unimpressed, he replied, "as you are privy councilors ... I put off my hat; but as ye [bishops] are rags of the Beast, lo!--I put it on again."
He was just one of many hat-wearing rebels to emerge during the turbulent reign of Charles I. Refusal to doff one's hat became a widespread act of political defiance throughout the civil war era and beyond.
. . .
"Hatiquette" is a matter of personal choice in modern Britain, but 400 years ago social conventions were very different and refusing to doff ("do off" ) one's hat could be a potent act of political defiance, according to a new study published in The Historical Journal.
In 1630, a feisty oatmeal maker hauled before England's supreme church court was informed that some of his judges were privy councilors as well as bishops. Unimpressed, he replied, "as you are privy councilors ... I put off my hat; but as ye [bishops] are rags of the Beast, lo!--I put it on again."
He was just one of many hat-wearing rebels to emerge during the turbulent reign of Charles I. Refusal to doff one's hat became a widespread act of political defiance throughout the civil war era and beyond.
. . .