Judenhut
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The Judenhut (German for "Jew hat"; Latin: pilleus cornutus, or "horned skullcap") was a yellow cone-shaped pointed hat that was required for adult male Jews to wear while outside a ghetto in Medieval Europe in order to distinguish them from others.
In 807 Harun al-Rashid ordered all Jews living as dhimmi under Muslim rule to wear yellow, pointed hats and yellow belts. With frequent variations (yellow veil, wearing a wooden golden calf around the neck) these orders remained in force well into the 19th century, when Mahmud II issued them anew (and for the last time) in 1837.
In Europe, the Fourth Council of the Lateran of 1215 ruled that Jews must bear this stigma. This decision was upheld by the Council of Vienne. Pope Paul IV determined in 1555 that it must be a yellow, peaked hat.
A Judenhut could also be used as a stigma for usurers and magicians, not necessarily Jews. As an outcome of the Jewish Emancipation its use was discontinued.
Another medieval stigma was the yellow badge, reintroduced later by the Nazis.
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Parts of this article are translated from de:Judenhut of 13 July 2005
