SUSA
344
SUSA
the alb; it differs further from the alb inasmuch as
it is shorter and is never girded. It is ornamented
at the hem and the sleeves either with embroidery,
with lace-Uke insertions, or with lace. The lace
should never be more than fifteen inches wide, as
otherwise the real vestment is necessarily too much
shortened by tliis merely ornamental addition. The
surplice belongs to the hturgical vestment in the
strict sense, and is the vestment most used. It is
the choir dress, the vestment for processions, the
official priestly dress of the lower clergy, the vest-
ment worn by the priest in administering the sacra-
ments, when giving blessings, at Benediction of the
Blessed Sacrament, etc.; in the last-mentioned cases
it is the substitute for the alb, which, according to
present custom, is worn only at M:xss and a few other
functions. The blessing of the surpUce by the bishop
or by authorized priest is proper, but not strictly
prescribed. As the distinctive sacerdotal dress of the
lower clergy the bishop, after giving the tonsure,
places it on the candidate for orders with these words:
"May the Lord clothe thee with the new man, who
is created in righteousness and true hoUness after
the image of God."
History. — The time of the introduction of the surplice cannot be exactly determined. Without doubt it was originally merely a choir vestment and a garment to be worn at processions, burials, and on similar occasions. As a liturgical dress in this sense it is met outsitle of Italy (in England and France) as early as the eleventh century, but is not found in Italy until the twelfth century. The surpUce may have been used in isolated cases during the twelfth century instead of the alb in administering the sacraments and at blessings, but this use did not become general until the thirteenth century; it appeared latest probably in Italy and especially at Rome, where it was harilly customary at these functions before the end of the thirteenth century. Towards the clo.se of the twelfth centiuy the surplice was already the distincti^■e dress of the lower clergy, even though this was not the case everj-where. However, the placing of the surpUce on the clerics after the giving of the tonsure (cf. above), is first testified by the Pontificals of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The name of the surpUce arises from the fact that it was worn by the clergy, especially in northern Europe, over {super) the universally customary fur clothing (i>dliceir). This is stated by Durandus and by the English grammarian Gerlandus, both of whom Uved to the thirteenth century. The fur clothing not only led to the name of the surplice, but w;is probably also the cause of its appearance. For it is evident that a large-sleeved, ungirdled tunic was better suited to go over heavy fur coats tliaii a narrow- sleeved, girded alb. It seems most probable that the surplice first appeared in France or England, whence its use gradually spread to Italy. It is possible that there is a connexion between the surplice and the Galilean alb, an ungirdled Uturgical tunic of the old Galilean Rite, which was superseded during the Carlovingian era by the Roman Rite. The foimding of the Augustinian Canons in the second half of the eleventh century may have had a sjiecial influence upon the spread of the surplice. Among the .\ugu.s- tinian Canons the surplice was not only the choir vestment, but .also a part of the habit of the order. In ad<lition to the surpUce we find frequent early mention of a "cotta". It is possible that b'etw<>en the siipcrpilliniiin and the rnlla there may have be<'n some small difference (perhaps in length or width), but most probably these terms were only different names for the same liturgical vestment (cf. Braun, op. cit. in bibliography, p. 142).
Originally the surplice was a full-length tunic — that is, it reached to the feet. In the thir- teenth century it began to be shortened, although
in the fifteenth century it still reached half-
way between the knee and ankle. In the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries it became steadily shorter
until it fell a Uttle above the knee; in the eighteenth
century, however, it was so short that it frequently
reached only just below the hips. As the length of
the surplice was lessened, the length and breadth
of the sleeves were naturaUy i-educed, so that in
this respect also there is a great difference between
the original surplice and that of the eighteenth cen-
tury. More striking than these mere alterations of
size were other changes made in the surplice, some
of which appeared as early as the thirteenth century,
and by which its entire shape and appearance was
more or less altered, various forms of the surplice
being produced. Thus, surpUces appeared with
slit-up sleeves (thus with wings of materials rather
than sleeves) ; then surplices which, besides being
slit up on the under side of the sleeve, were also open
at the sides, the surpUces being thus like scapulars
in form. Also surplices without sleeves, having mere
slits for the arms; finally surplices resembling the
mecUeval bell-shaped chasuble with only an opening
in the middle for the head — this shape was customary
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially
in Venetian territory. These variations met with the
disapproval of provincial and diocesan synods, but
their prohibitions had no permanent effect. The scap-
ular-like band that took the place of the surplice
among Augustinian Canons on non-liturgical oc-
casions is not a curtailment of the surplice, but a
substitute for it.
Orn.\mentatiom. — In the Middle Ages the surplice apparently seldom received a rich ornamentation. In pictures and sculpture it appears as a garment hanging in many folds, but otherwise jjlain throughout. There is a surplice at Neustift near Brixen in the Tyrol that dates back to the twelfth (or, at least, to the thirteenth) century; it is the only medieval surplice that we possess. This surpUce shows geometrical ornaments in white linen embroidery on the shoulders, breast, back, and below the should- ers, where, ;is in the albs of the same date, large full gores have been inserted in the body of the garment. After the lace industry developed in the sixteenth century the hem and sleeves of the surpUce were often trimmed with lace — at a later period, unfortunately, too often at the expense of the vestment itself. It apparently did not become customary to lay the surplice in folds until the close of the Middle Ages. This custom had vogue especially in Italy, but it frequently degenerated into undignified straining after effect and effeminate display.
Bratjn, Die litnrg. Gewanduitg im OcciderU u. Orient (Freiburg, 1907); RoH.\nLT de Fleury, La Messe, VII (Paris, 18SS) ; Bock, Gesch. der liturg. Gewdnder, II (Bonn, 1866).
Joseph Brattn.
Susa (Heb. ",i'V,^*; Gr. SoCo-oi', SoCa-a), the capital of the Kingdom of Elain, and from the time of Cyrus, or more probably of Darius I, the winter residence of the kings of Persia. It was situated on the River Ulai or Eutous (Dan., viii, 2, 10; Pliny, "Hist. Nat.", VI, 27), which was probably a branch of the Choa.spes, now the Kerkha, formerly connected with the Pasitigris, now the Karun. .\fter an existence of more than fif- teen centuries the city was destroyed by Assurbanipal about 647 b. r., but it rose from its ruins, and under Persian rule enjoyed great pros|)erity. It began to decav under the Seleucids, and after the destruction of the Sassanid monarchy by the .\rabs it was gradu- ally abandoned. The "castle" (II Ksd., i, 1; Dan., viii, 2), or acropolis, was distinct and .separated from the city, though in the Book of Esther the Viilgate neglects the distinction (in i, 2, 5; ii, 3, 5, S.; iii, 15; viii, 14; ix, 6, 11, 12, the "civstle", and not the city, is meant). Here Darius I built a vast palace, in which under his successor occurred the events nar-
