A–Z Of Great Scots
D 13th-century scholar John Duns gave us the dunce’s cap and was buried alive
John Duns was the unfortunate 13th-century scholar who lent his name to the dunce’s hat
FOR decades, a tall paper cone emblazoned with the letter “D” lurked in the corner of classrooms across Europe and America. The dunce’s cap was dreaded by Victorian schoolchildren, who had to wear one whenever they struggled with their work or misbehaved.
This hat of humiliation has been consigned to the history books, but it wasn’t always a symbol of stupidity and slowness – in fact, it was once worn to signify great intelligence. And it was a very clever Scotsman who invented it.
John Duns – more commonly known as Duns Scotus – was a hugely influential 13th-century thinker and theologian.
Considered one of the most important philosophers of High Scholasticism, Duns Scotus and Scotism – as his brand of thinking is known – had many followers, called Dunsmen or Dunses.
His work is notoriously complicated and nuanced, and his impressive theories led to him being given the grand papal accolade of Doctor Subtilis, or the Subtle Doctor. Among his most famous writings are arguments for the existence of God and the Immaculate Conception.
But he was also big in the world of millinery or hat design, and lent his name to the headgear his devotees wore to mark them as intellectuals.
Duns Scotus was a fan of pointy hats, which he believed could funnel knowledge into the wearer’s brain. The Dunsmen wore these thinking caps long after the philosopher’s death in 1308 as a mark of respect. Scotism fell from grace, however, when the Renaissance Humanists swept aside medieval Scholasticism in favour of classical texts.
By the 16th century, those loyal to
“He lent his name to the headgear his devotees wore ”
Duns Scotus’s complex ideas were considered wildly stupid. The word dunse or dunce no longer stood for intelligence and wisdom – instead it became synonymous with those who stubbornly opposed classical studies.
When Duns Scotus went to his grave – possibly still alive, legend has it he was in a coma when buried – he couldn’t have suspected that one day his name would be mud.
He’s had a comeback in recent times, though, and in 1993 Duns Scotus added the ultimate feather to his ridiculous conical cap when he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
Hats off to him.