Why did some Bulgarian women wear head coverings like this in the 19th century?
Posted by ChampionshipEven3948@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 93 comments
Why did some Bulgarian Christian women in Western Bulgaria wear head coverings like this in the 19th century? These are Bulgarian Christian women from Breznik, in Western Bulgaria. To modern eyes, these coverings may look somewhat similar to a hijab, but they were part of local traditional dress. What was their function or meaning?
Desperate_Role_3940@reddit
All Europeans did
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
I don’t think so. I haven’t seen such vails in any other European Christian country outside the Balkans
HumanMan00@reddit
Poland 19th century
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
The ones I posted have parts of their mouths and noses covered too. The one on the picture is just the head.
HumanMan00@reddit
Scarf? They were cold? Generally Slavic women did not cover their face like muslim women if thats what you are aiming for here.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Yes, that’s exactly what I am trying to imply! You are so smart!
HumanMan00@reddit
Thank you.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Salt_Fennel8876@reddit
Fashion. Style of wearing the headscarf.
bosquelero@reddit
Meybe they were cold
HumanMan00@reddit
Czechia 19th century
HumanMan00@reddit
Germany 19th century
Jack55555@reddit
Because you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not true. In Germany and the Netherlands it was very normal. Even in the 70s you would see it every now and then.
IllGold3207@reddit
Yeah, I saw old video from Bayern where women (especially old) cover their heads. Then the Winter war real, and they wore more like a scarf.
Fast_Advantage_9790@reddit
Literally all European women covered their head except high nobility and educated upper classes which made up 5% of the population.
Head covering was completely normal in the Netherlands, England, France, Sweden, Poland etc
It was a normal femal outfit piece, some women continued wearing it occasionally up to the 1960s.
The late British Queen Elizibeth would wear one in private, that is when not wearing a crown or a hat.
No_Magazine_6806@reddit
Even in Finland which is far away from Balkans, still in 50's or 60's women might use those, especially in the countryside.
Hefty_Jaguar4305@reddit
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. Danube Swabian (Germans in Hungary, Croatia, Romania). Look, the women all wore headscarves as soon as they were married. And mostly black clothing.
Old_Bowler_465@reddit
No gueniunly all of europe was like that until ww1. Search pictures of 19th century corsican or ukrainian women
ShiftingBaselines@reddit
This rare video from UK shows more than 100 years ago all the women in the video were all covering their heads.
https://youtu.be/9G1bn-XS5eM?si=eTasZ3eTwlC4ECzb
BissmarkMC@reddit
What do you mean did? Older women still wear head scarves and it is not just in the Balkans. It was also the case for Austrian rural areas for example. It has to do with culture and piety mostly to symbolize decency. Often women still enter churches with head scarves. Showing your hair openly is a rather modern concept amplified with the introduction of socialism and the modernist era.
MB4050@reddit
I wouldn't really tie it to socialism.
In the upper classes, it was acceptable for a woman to not wear a veil already in the 16th/17th century in western Europe.
Also, the concept of veiling was never as defined or prescribed as it sadly is in the Islamic world. A woman wouldn't have been executed for showing her hair in Europe in the middle ages.
kikogamerJ2@reddit
Neither would she in north Africa or arabia. The whole women can't even show her, in Muslim countries is very recent, and comes from wanahhabis or whatever it's called and new radical Islamists. Check for example pics of those countries from late 19th century or early 20th century.
MB4050@reddit
Do you mean like these women in Egypt in 1919?
Or maybe these women in french Algeria in the 1950s?
Or do you prefer an oriental flair, like these women in british India
Or even these women in SARAJEVO mind you under NDH?
.
Please, spare me. It is definitely true that there has been a phase, in the post-war era, when women in Islamic countries started experiencing liberation and many women dressed a lot more freely than before, but it was only that, a phase.
Historically, in Islamic societies women have been discriminated a lot more than in Christian societies, and we're definitely forced to wear veils. A 20th century trend that unfortunately might have been inverted by the 1979 islamic revolution (hopefully not) does not change centuries of history.
That_North_994@reddit
Romanian here. There is a Romanian novel about a woman whose husband disappears, and before going to search for him she is fasting and, if I remember well, she is tying her head cover in such a way to cover her mouth (probably to keep her mouth shut, not eating and not talking too much). Maybe it's a similar meaning. 🤷
GrgaPrticRomanul@reddit
Fefeleaga călare pe Bathor?
That_North_994@reddit
Baltagul.
GrgaPrticRomanul@reddit
Aoleu.... Așa e, Fefeleaga-i Agârbiceanu, Vitoria Lipan era cu baltagul la scandal... A trecut prea mult de când le-am citit, s-a făcut o ciorba de personaje.
OakvilleCab@reddit
They still do. Go to the country side or to the Aegean islands.
No_Magazine_6806@reddit
Finland in 60's. Second one is from communist march.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Beautiful, but not similar to the Bulgarian one at all
No_Magazine_6806@reddit
This is from Finnish countryside.
GrgaPrticRomanul@reddit
You could have fooled me and said it's from 2010, România, somewhere in a village around Suceava.
No_Magazine_6806@reddit
I have a theory that all older ladies at countryside look the same everywhere in Europe. :-) This picture is probably from 50's? But I think they are still used in Finland although much less than 60's or 70's.
GrgaPrticRomanul@reddit
Sounds about right. I mean in that picture you can see exactly the kind of marks staying out 12 hours a day for more than half an year, every year, are left on your face.
SnooCrickets6019@reddit
Maramures (Romania) still going strong...
.
OkoMushrooom@reddit
https://youtube.com/shorts/Ib1Mjsz_0X0?si=tB3TeEorF9Fxhkzk
lalla_kat@reddit
Geniuses discovering that hair coverings are not exclusive to Muslims
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
And you are very easy to rage-bait. If you were a fish, you’d be the first one caught.
lalla_kat@reddit
Disappointment baiting more realistically
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
Corinthians 11 :2-7
2 I praise you[a] because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman,[b] and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. 6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God.
We men should not cover our head cuz we are the image and glory of God !!😎😎
Difficult-Routine929@reddit
I don't understand, are you saying the Bible commands women to cover their heads?
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
Im not saying anything ,I just posted a bible verse talking about it
Difficult-Routine929@reddit
So, is there a command in the Bible for women to cover their heads?
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
Do you think there is ?based on these verses?
Difficult-Routine929@reddit
I don't know anything about Christianity, that's why I asked.
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
You know how to read,what do those verses say?
Difficult-Routine929@reddit
According to the verse, there is such a command, but it also resembles a troll post.
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
What resembles troll post?those are authentic bible verses
Difficult-Routine929@reddit
I told you I knew nothing about Christianity, and this verse is ridiculous.
GrgaPrticRomanul@reddit
So are a lot more versets in the Bible.
Fast_Advantage_9790@reddit
The thing about Christianity a lot of people don’t understand is that it isn’t legalistic, there is no such belief that the Bible is the Holy book dictated by God word for word, like it is in Islam.
Christianity mostly believes in divine inspiration of the human authors of the Bible as well as the Church tradition through the centuries which was guided by God. Hence the numerous councils and practice standardization events which shaped Christianity of today.
Additional-Gur7915@reddit
Yes. Most of Quran is a copy paste of the Bible, and the Quran says so itself.
Jews and Arabs had the similar traditions. Muhammed removed those he didn't like, and added some Arabic traditions and wrote the Quran.
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
He added also some ancient fairy tales cuz they were cool af
Additional-Gur7915@reddit
The Bible had plenty of them, too, no?
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
Ofc but Muhammed added some new ones
scousinho@reddit
12aq11@reddit
1 Corinthians 11:13-16 KJV [13] Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? [14] Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? [15] But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. [16] But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
It’s not righteous to use the Gospel to spread sexism and hate, you know that right?
MB4050@reddit
But...
He literally just copied and pasted the actual gospel? That is the gospel.
Deal with it: either admit you're not really following the gospel, or be a proper Christian and be sexist.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
See his personal comment below the vers lol
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
My comment was ironic ,the gospel’s message is not ironic.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Oh okay. Sorry then!
Fasula@reddit
Christian Ortodox women have to wear those even today especially when going to church
South-Cantaloupe-814@reddit
För the same reason they wear miniskirts today
DueProfessional8828@reddit
Jesus, is mother, Mary, or a head cover. Come on guys read your history.
Guarante2b@reddit
It was cold 🥶 my ma relax
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
I am asking a normal question, drama queen
pppktolki@reddit
It signified the status of the woman -- married women covered their heads. The style of the head-scarf also conveyed information -- region, social standing, etc. A black scarf, for example, would signify that the woman has recently lost her husband. No scarf would signify that the woman is not yet married. Most of those women would've been engaged in hard manual labour, usually agriculture, and the head-scarf served as protection from the sun, the dust, etc.
Hefty_Jaguar4305@reddit
rich balkan Muslim woman with her daughters, not veiled
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Very beautiful! Not all women in Bulgaria wore veils either. That’s why I was wondering specifically for Breznik.
gargara_s_hui@reddit
To keep warm.
Ok_Deal2442@reddit
I don't actually believe you can find a real photo of a village woman anywhere in Europe without a head covering until the early 1900s. I'm referring to daily outfit. There will be exceptions like wedding pictures or portraits. Even in England
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Yes, other people shared photos from other countries. I was just wondering about this one because it looks very different than anything else I’ve seen.
JufffoWup@reddit
Would.
CockamouseGoesWee@reddit
This is true throughout the Balkans tbh. Head coverings are not exclusively a Muslim thing and there's a reason why such head coverings such as hijabs and head scarves are so common across cultures.
Fast_Advantage_9790@reddit
Not hijabs, headscarves. There is a difference.
CockamouseGoesWee@reddit
That's why I said "hijabs and head scarves"
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
All Europe did ,at some point almost evey woman was covered like nuns nowadays
MB4050@reddit
Or rather, at the time nuns dressed just like the average woman
Fast_Advantage_9790@reddit
Not really. Nuns have a different monastic clothing that covers a lot more than a headscarf.
ThickCaterpillar9867@reddit
Also true
CockamouseGoesWee@reddit
That's nun of your business
ViscountBuggus@reddit
Realistically our ancestorsdid
Hefty_Jaguar4305@reddit
Muslim woman from the Balkans also not veiled
chillbill1@reddit
Orthodox women have to wear head covering in the church for example. I would guess it has something to do with this.
BeaAlighieri@reddit
No bad hair days. Apart from modesty, it's practical- caring for hair is exhausting and having it protected from dust and dirt , braided to keep it neat and tangle-free - not a bad practice.
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
Absolutely! This is a good guess!
ExoticAd7546@reddit
Hiding your face from the sun when working in the fields
ChampionshipEven3948@reddit (OP)
That’s a good point!
Hefty_Jaguar4305@reddit
Not every woman in the Balkans was veiled, here look:
Slow-Loan-9041@reddit
Because they’re Christian.
General-Anywhere7168@reddit
It’s the religious element as well. in Croatian villages older women were wearing head coverings as well. In the last 20-30 years it’s almost gone.
In the 19th century, almost everybody was wearing head coverings in the villages.
Think-Refrigerator-8@reddit
Cold weather