The Bishop Andrewes cap is a modern reinvention of the ancient style of academic cap as part of academic dress, before it developed into the modern mortarboard as it is known today. [1] The cap is named after the 17th-century Bishop Lancelot Andrewes who may or may not have worn this style of cap at all.
The cap is similar to the mortarboard save that it does not have a hard board to stiffen the top square. Instead, it is soft and floppy. Instead of a tassel and button, there is a tump or pompom of silk at the centre of the apex. It is usually made of black velvet.
The cap is currently prescribed for the full academical dress for a Doctor of Divinity (DD) at the University of Cambridge as well as the official dress of certain learned societies such as the Burgon Society.
