The hennin was a headdress in the shape of a cone, steeple, or truncated cone worn in the late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They were most common in Burgundy and France, but also elsewhere, especially at the English courts, and in Northern Europe, Hungary and Poland. They are little seen in Italy.

What does hennin mean in English?

: a high cone-shaped headdress usually with a thin veil pendent from the top worn by European women in the 15th century. — called also steeple headdress.

What is the purpose of a hennin?

The term is therefore used by some writers on costume for other female head-dresses of the period. In the actuality and thanks to characters or stories of the Pop culture, the Hennin is the element used to identify princesses of any kind, as well as that of courtesans or any important woman of royalty.