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GLOVE (O. Eng. glof, perhaps connecte...

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 137 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GLOVE (O. Eng. glof, perhaps connected with See also:Gothic lofa, the See also:palm of the See also:hand)  , a covering for the See also:hand, commonly with a See also:separate sheath for each See also:finger . The use of gloves is of high antiquity, and apparently was known even to the pre-historic See also:cave dwellers . In See also:Homer Laertes is described as wearing gloves (xeipicdas _Errl xepo'i) while walking in his See also:garden (Od. See also:xxiv . 230) . See also:Herodotus (vi . 7.2) tells how See also:Leotychides filled a See also:glove (xeipis) with the See also:money he received as a bribe, and See also:Xenophon (Cyrop. viii . 8 . ,7) records that the Persians wore See also:fur gloves having separate sheaths for the fingers (xetpZbas boo-etas ,cai baervxilOpas) . Among the See also:Romans also there are occasional references to the use of gloves . According to the younger See also:Pliny (Ep. iii . 5 . 15) the secretary whom his See also:uncle had with him when ascending See also:Vesuvius wore gloves (manicae) so that he might not be impeded in his See also:work by the See also:cold, and See also:Varro (R.R. i .

55.1) remarks that See also:

olives gathered with the See also:bare fingers are better than those gathered with gloves (digitabula or digilalia) . In the See also:northern countries the See also:general use of gloves would be more natural than in the See also:south, and it is not without significance that the most See also:common See also:medieval Latin word for glove (guantus or wantus, Mod . Fr: gant) is of See also:Teutonic origin (0 . H . Ger. want) . Thus in the See also:life of Columbanus by See also:Jonas, See also:abbot of See also:Bobbio (d. c . 665), gloves for protecting.the hands in doing manuallabour are spoken of as tegumenta See also:monition quae Gatti wanton vocant . Among the Germans and Scandinavians, in the 8th and 9th centuries, the use of gloves, fingerless at first, would seem to have been all but universal; and in the See also:case of See also:kings, prelates and nobles they were often elaborately embroidered and bejewelled . This was more particularly the case with the gloves which formed See also:part of the pontificalvestments(see below) . In See also:war and in the See also:chase gloves of See also:leather, or with the backs armoured with articulated See also:iron plates; were See also:early worn; yet in the See also:Bayeux See also:tapestry the warriors on either See also:side fight ungloved . The fact that gloves are not represented by contemporary artists does not prove their non-existence, since this might easily be an omission due to lack of observation or of skill; but, so far as the records go, there is no See also:evidence to prove that gloves were in general use in See also:England until the 13th See also:century . It was in this century that ladies began to See also:wear gloves as ornaments; they were of See also:linen and sometimes reached to. the See also:elbow .

It was, however, not till the 16th century that they reached their greatest elaboration, when See also:

Queen See also:Elizabeth set the See also:fashion for, wearing them richly embroidered and jewelled . The symbolic sense of the See also:middle ages early gave to the use of gloves a See also:special significance . Their liturgical use by the See also:Church is dealt with below (Pontifical gloves); this was imitated from the usage of See also:civil life . Embroidered and jewelled gloves formed part of the insignia of the emperors, and also, and that quite early, of the kings of England . Thus See also:Matthew of See also:Paris; in recording the See also:burial of See also:Henry II. in 1189, mentions that he was buried in his See also:coronation See also:robes, with a See also:golden See also:crown on his See also:head and gloves on his hands . Gloves were also found on the hands of See also:King See also:John when his See also:tomb was opened in 1797, and on those of King See also:Edward I. when his tomb was opened in 1774 . See W . B . See also:Redfern, Royal and Historic Gloves and Shoes, with "'numerous examples . Gages.—Of the symbolical uses of the glove one of the most widespread and important during the middle ages was the practice of tendering a folded glove as a See also:gage for waging one's See also:law . The origin of this See also:custom is probably not far to seek . The promise to fulfil a See also:judgment of a See also:court of law, a promise secured by the delivery of a wed or gage, is one of the See also:oldest, if not the very oldest, of all enforceable contracts .

This gage was originally a See also:

chattel of value, which had to be deposited at once by the See also:defendant as See also:security into his adversary's hand; and that the glove became the formal See also:symbol of such See also:deposit is doubtless due to its being the most convenient loose See also:object for the purpose . The custom survived after the See also:contract with the vadium, wed or gage had been superseded by the contract with pledges (See also:personal sureties) . In the rules of See also:procedure of a baronial court of the 14th century we find: " He shall wage his law with his folded glove (de son gaunt plyee) and shall deliver it into the hand of the other, and then take his glove back and find pledges for his law." The delivery of the glove had, in fact, become a See also:mere ceremony, because the defendant had his sureties See also:close at hand.' Associated with this custom was the use of the glove in the See also:wager of See also:battle (vadium in duello) . The glove here was thrown down by the defendant in open court as security that he would defend his cause in arms; the accuser by picking it up accepted the See also:challenge (see WAGER) . This See also:form is still prescribed for the challenge of the king's See also:champion at the coronation of See also:English sovereigns, and was actually followed at that of See also:George IV . (see CHAMPION) . The phrase " to throw down the See also:gauntlet " is still in common use of any challenge . Pledges of Service.—The use of the glove as a See also:pledge of fulfilment is exemplified also by the not infrequent practice of enfeoffing vassals by investing them with the glove; similarly the emperors symbolized by the bestowal of a glove the concession of the right to found a See also:town or to establish markets, mints and the like; the " hands " in the armorial See also:bearings of certain See also:German towns are really gloves, reminiscent of this See also:investiture . Conversely, fiefs were held by the render of presenting gloves to the See also:sovereign . Thus the See also:manor of Little See also:Holland in See also:Essex was held in Queen Elizabeth's See also:time by the service of one See also:knight's See also:fee and the See also:rent of a pair of gloves turned up with See also:hare's skin (See also:Blount's Tenures, ed . See also:Beckwith, p . 130) .

The most notable instance in England, however, is the See also:

grand See also:serjeanty of finding for the king a glove for his right hand on coronation See also:day, and supporting his right See also:arm as See also:long as he holds the See also:sceptre . The right to perform this " See also:honourable service " was originally granted by See also:William the Conqueror to See also:Bertram de See also:Verdun, together with the manor of Fernham (See also:Farnham Royal) in See also:Buckinghamshire . The male descendants of Bertram performed this serjeanty at the coronations until the See also:death of See also:Theobald de Verdun in 1316, when the right passed, with the manor of Farnham, to See also:Thomas See also:Lord Furnival by his See also:marriage with the heiress See also:Joan . His son William Lord Furnival performed the ceremony at the coronation of See also:Richard II . He died in 1383, and his daughter and heiress See also:Jean de Furnival having married See also:Sir Thomas Nevill, Lord Furnival in her right, the latter performed the ceremony at the coronation of Henry IV . His heiress Maud married Sir John See also:Talbot (1st See also:earl of See also:Shrewsbury) who, as Lord Furnival, presented the glove embroidered with the arms of Verdun at the coronation of Henry V . When in 1541 See also:Francis earl of Shrewsbury exchanged the manor of Farnham with King Henry VIII. for the site and precincts of the priory of See also:Worksop in See also:Nottinghamshire he stipulated that the right to perform this serjeanty should be reserved to him, and the king accordingly transferred the See also:obligation from Farnham to Worksop . On the 3rd of See also:April 1838 the manor of Worksop was sold to the See also:duke of See also:Newcastle and with it the right to perform the service, which had hitherto always been carried out by a descendant of Bertram de Verdun . At the coronation of King Edward VII. the earl of Shrewsbury disputed the duke of Newcastle's right, on the ground that the serjeanty was attached not to the manor but to the priory lands at Worksop, and that the latter had been subdivided by See also:sale so that no single See also:person was entitled to perform the ceremony and the right had therefore lapsed . His See also:petition for a regrant to himself as lineal See also:heir of Bertram de Verdun, however, wasdisallowed by the court of claims, and the serjeanty was declared to be attached to the manor of Worksop (G . See also:Woods See also:Wollaston, Coronation Claims, See also:London, 1903, p . 133) .

Phoenix-squares

Presentations.—From the ceremonial and symbolic use of gloves the transition was easy to the custom which See also:

grew up of presenting them to persons of distinction on special occasions . When Queen Elizabeth visited See also:Cambridge in 1578 the See also:vice-See also:chancellor offered her a " paire of gloves, perfumed and garnished with embroiderie and goldsmithe's wourke, See also:price 6os.," and at the visit of See also:James I. there in 1615 the See also:mayor and See also:corporation of the town " delivered His See also:Majesty a See also:fair pair of perfumed gloves with See also:gold laces." It was formerly the custom in England for bishops at their consecrations to make presents of gloves to those who came to their See also:consecration dinners and others, but this See also:gift became such a See also:burden to them that by an See also:order in See also:council in 1678 it was commuted for the See also:payment of a sum of £5o towards the rebuilding of St See also:Paul's . Serjeants at law, on their See also:appointment, were given a pair of gloves containing a sum of money which was termed " regards "; this custom is recorded as early as 1495, when according to the See also:Black See also:Book of See also:Lincoln's See also:Inn each of the new serjeants received £6, 13s . 4d. and a pair of gloves costing 4d., and it persisted to a See also:late See also:period . At one time it was the practice for a prisoner who pleaded the king's See also:pardon on his See also:discharge to See also:present the See also:judges with gloves by way of a fee . Glove-See also:silver, according to See also:Jacob's Law See also:Dictionary, was a name used of extraordinary rewards formerly given to See also:officers of courts, &c., or of money given by the See also:sheriff of a See also:county in which no offenders were See also:left for See also:execution to the clerk of See also:assize and See also:judge's officers; the explanation of the See also:term is that the glove given as a See also:perquisite or fee was in some cases lined with money to increase its value, and thus came to stand for money ostensibly given in lieu of gloves . It is still the custom in the See also:United See also:Kingdom to present a pair of See also:white gloves to a judge or See also:magistrate who when he takes his seat for criminal business at the appointed time finds no cases for trial . By See also:ancient custom judges are not allowed to wear gloves while actually sitting on the See also:bench, and a See also:witness taking the See also:oath must remove the glove from the hand that holds the book . (See J . W . See also:Norton-Kyshe, The Law and Customs See also:relating to Gloves, London, 1901.) Pontifical gloves (See also:Lat. chirothecae) are liturgical ornaments See also:peculiar to the Western Church and proper only to the See also:pope, the cardinals and bishops, though the right to wear them is often granted by the See also:Holy See to abbots, See also:cathedral dignitaries and other prelates, as in the case of the other episcopal insignia . According to the present use the gloves are of See also:silk and of the liturgical See also:colour of the day, the edge of the opening ornamented with a narrow See also:band of See also:embroidery or the like, and the middle of the back with a See also:cross .

They may be worn only at the celebration of See also:

mass (except masses for the dead) . In vesting, the gloves are put on the See also:bishop immediately after the See also:dalmatic, the right hand one by the See also:deacon, the other by the subdeacon . They are worn only until the See also:ablution before the See also:canon of the mass, after which they may not again be put on . At the consecration of a bishop the consecrating See also:prelate puts the gloves on the new bishop immediately after the See also:mitre, with a See also:prayer that his hands may be kept pure, so that the See also:sacrifice he offers may be as acceptable as the gift of See also:venison which Jacob, his hands wrapped in the skin of kids, brought to See also:Isaac . This symbolism (as in the case of the other See also:vestments) is, however, of late growth . The liturgical use of gloves itself cannot, according to See also:Father Braun, be traced beyond the beginning of the loth century, and their introduction was due, perhaps to the See also:simple See also:desire to keep the hands clean for the holy mysteries, but more probably merely as part of the increasing pomp with which the Carolingian bishops were surrounding themselves . From the Frankish kingdom the custom spread to See also:Rome, where liturgical gloves are first heard of in the earlier See also:half of the 11th century . The earliest See also:authentic instance of the right to wear them being granted to a non-bishop is a See also:bull of See also:Alexander IV. in 1070, See also:con-ceding this to the abbot of S . Pietro in Cielo d' Oro . During the middle ages the occasions on which pontifical gloves (often wanti, guanti, and sometimes manicae in the inventories) ' F . W . See also:Maitland and W .

P . Baildon, The Court See also:

Baron (See also:Selden Society, London, 1891), p . 17 . Maitland wrongly translates gaunt plyee as " See also:twisted " glove, adding " why it should be twisted I cannot say." An earlier instance of the delivery of a folded glove as gage is quoted from the 13th-century Anglo-See also:Norman poem known as The See also:Song of Dermolt and the Earl (ed . G . H . Orpen, See also:Oxford, 1892) in J . H . See also:Round's See also:Commune of London, p . 153 . were worn were not so carefully defined as now, the use varying in different churches . Nor were the liturgical See also:colours prescribed .

The most characteristic feature of the medieval pontifical glove was the See also:

ornament (tasellus, fibula, monile, paratura) set in the middle of the back of the glove . This was usually a small See also:plaque of See also:metal, enamelled or jewelled, generally round, but sometimes square or irregular in shape . Sometimes embroidery was substituted; still more rarely the whole glove was covered, even to the fingers, with elaborate See also:needlework designs . Liturgical gloves have not been worn by See also:Anglican bishops since the See also:Reformation, though they are occasionally represented as wearing them on their See also:effigies . See J . Braun,S.J.,See also:Die liturgische Gewandung (See also:Freiburg See also:im See also:Breisgau, 1907), pp . 359-382, where many beautiful examples are illustrated . Manufacture of Gloves.—Three countries, according to an old See also:proverb, contribute to the making of a See also:good glove—See also:Spain dressing the leather, See also:France cutting it and England sewing it . But the manufacture of gloves was not introduced into See also:Great See also:Britain till the loth or 11th century . The See also:incorporation of glovers of See also:Perth was chartered in 1165, and in 1190 a glove-makers' gild was formed in France, with the object of regulating the See also:trade and ensuring good workmanship . The glovers of London in 1349 framed their ordinances and had them approved by the corporation, the See also:city regulations at that time fixing the price of a pair of common sheepskin gloves at Id . In 1464, when the gild received armorial bearings, they do not seem to have been very strong, but apparently their position improved subsequently and in 1638 they were incorporated as a new See also:company .

In 158o it is recorded that both See also:

French and See also:Spanish gloves were on sale in London shops, and in 1661 a company of glovers was incorporated at See also:Worcester, which still remains an important seat of the English glove See also:industry . In See also:America the manufacture of gloves See also:dates from about 176o, when Sir William See also:Johnson brought over several families of glove makers from Perth; these settled in See also:Fulton county, New See also:York, which is now the largest seat of the glove trade in the United States . Gloves may be divided into two distinct categories, according as these are made of leather or are See also:woven or knitted from See also:fibres such as silk, See also:wool or See also:cotton . The manufacture of the latter kinds is a See also:branch of the See also:hosiery industry . For leather gloves skins of various animals are employed—See also:deer, calves, See also:sheep and See also:lambs, goats and kids, &c.—but kids have had nothing to do with the See also:production of many of the " kid gloves " of See also:commerce . The skins are prepared and dressed by special processes (see LEATHER) before going to the glove-maker to be cut . Owing to the elastic See also:character of the material the cutting is a delicate operation, and long practice is required before a See also:man becomes See also:expert at it . Formerly it was done by See also:shears, the workmen following an outline marked on the leather, but now See also:steel See also:dies are universally employed not only for the bodies of the gloves but also for the thumb-pieces and fourchettes or sides of the fingers . When hand sewing is employed the pieces to be sewn together are placed between a pair of jaws, the holding edges of which are serrated with See also:fine saw-See also:teeth, and the See also:sewer by passing the See also:needle forwards and backwards between each of these teeth secures neat See also:uniform stitching . But sewing See also:machines are now widely employed on the work . The labour of making a glove is much subdivided, different operators sewing different pieces, and others again embroidering the back, forming the See also:button-holes, attaching the buttons, &c . After the gloves are completed, they undergo the See also:process of " laying off," in which they are See also:drawn over metal forms, shaped like a hand and heated internally by See also:steam; in this way they are finally smoothed and shaped before being wrapped in See also:paper and packed in boxes .

Gloves made of thin indiarubber or of white cotton are worn by some surgeons while performing operations, on See also:

account of the ease with which they can be thoroughly sterilized .

End of Article: GLOVE (O. Eng. glof, perhaps connected with Gothic lofa, the palm of the hand)
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