The uniform of boarders: not just a question of style

In the Colleges of the Society of Jesus, today as in the past, it was customary to have a uniform for all boarders, an element that avoided the use of different clothing among the boys and made it possible to immediately identify the link with the Society of Jesus.

In the Collegio dei Nobili in Rome, an institute of long tradition founded by the Jesuits, the uniform adopted was revised in the mid 19th century, we reconstruct the episode below.

The questio vestis

At the beginning of 1840, the Secretariat of State received a petition from Father Gaetano Rossi, Rector of the Collegio dei Nobili in Rome, with which the Pope was asked about the question of clothing.

In the College, in fact, the use of a short habit for boarders was in force, as the Rector specified, however, the letter showed the need to change the clothing in favour of a long habit “such as is now universally used not only among people free in themselves, but also in all the communities of young seculars” because “it makes it unpleasant and singular to dress in the short habit that young boarders currently use”.

The Rector reminded the Pontiff – Gregory XVI – that even the parents of the boarders had long expressed perplexity about the short dress: many were reluctant to enrol their children at the College precisely because of the uniform, judged unfashionable and above all unsuitable for boys.

The letter highlights the Rector’s attention, not so much to a mere question of style, but to the damage that the desire to follow a traditional habit, now outdated and unsuitable, could generate for the institute.

The plea, in addition to requesting permission to change the length of the gown, was also harboured by a second request: to add a distinctive feature to the gown.

In fact, there were numerous Colleges in Rome, both of the Society of Jesus and of other religious orders, and the Rector feared that the long habit would not allow the immediate identification of its boarders with the Society and with the College of Nobles of Rome in particular.

Permission was granted by the Pontiff and a further missive on the question of the habit reached the Rector, in which it was made clear that the distinctive feature of the uniforms would be the letters NC “Noble College”. That letter was signed by Gaetano Moroni, then assistant to the Pontiff, known for his work Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica.

The uniform in the second half of the 19th century

Only one photo is preserved in the College papers, where it is possible to see what was probably the “reformed” uniform: it is a group of boarders around Fr Motti.

The photo is not dated, from the catalogues we know that Fr. Motti was at the Convitto dei Nobili in 1843, but at this time photography was not yet widespread, perhaps the image dates from later decades when the Jesuit was at the Collegio Romano and not far from the Collegio dei Nobili. No photos or drawings of the first – criticised – uniform are therefore preserved.

The choice of the uniform therefore, far from being a mere formal aspect, reveals what the social implications were for the college, so much so that it also suffered an economic loss if it did not adapt to the times.

Maria Macchi