English edit

Etymology edit

See vestiary.

Adjective edit

vestiarian (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to a vestiary or vestments.
    • 1990, Leo F. Solt, Church and State in Early Modern England, 1509-1640, page 83:
      The Puritan threat—indeed the term "Puritan" itself—emerged outside of Parliament during the vestiarian controversy of the mid-1560s.
    • 2007, W. J. Torrance Kirby, The Zurich Connection and Tudor Political Theology, page 213:
      Against this background of Edwardine vestiarian strife antagonists on both sides of the Elizabethan debate of the mid-1560s honed their polemics.

Noun edit

vestiarian (plural vestiarians)

  1. (historical) During the vestiarian controversy, a supporter of the wearing of vestments by the clergy (as opposed to an anti-vestiarian who considered the wearing of vestments a form of idolatry).
    • 1949, Donald Joseph McGinn, The Admonition Controversy, page 587:
      Throughout his even career of promotion there is only one single wayward note [the signing of the petition for leniency toward the vestiarians at Cambridge in 1566 —see abte., ppp. 15-16];
    • 1968, Theology - Volume 71, page 274:
      However, instead of trying to classify puritans according to their opinions ( vestiarians, presbyterians, etc.) as previous historians have tended to do, Dr Collinson suggests that it is more useful to recognize the existence of two conflicting strains within puritanism which were there from the beginning and which together explain both the widespread popularity of puritan thinking and the comparative weakness of puritanism as a political force.
  2. A member of a monastery responsible for making, caring for, and distributing habits.
    • 2016, Monica Baldwin, I Leap Over the Wall:
      When, every six weeks or so, there was a great 'wash' of some part of the habit, the vestiarians had to ensure that each garment was properly dealt with before being put carefully away.