This means all of the stitching is hidden inside, making a waterproof seal and a generally much sturdier shoe. This involves sewing the ‘vamp’ (the leather upper) directly to the sole inside-out on a ‘last’ (a shoemaker’s form), and then turning the shoe right-side-out. Types of Medieval Shoes The Turnshoe – The Shoe of the Peopleīy far the most common method of constructing leather medieval shoes was the ‘turnshoe’.
In Occitane (Northern Spain & Southern France), peasants had perfected manufacturing the espadrille from local wood and readily available plant fibres by late Antiquity – imagine them watching the Roman legions passing through whilst disapprovingly sipping espresso and stroking their hipster moustaches.Īll of these influences and manufacturing techniques – Classical hobnailed sandalmaking, Celtic leatherwork derived from earlier styles, and rustic slipper manufacture, all met and melded into a melange of magnificent medieval shoes over the following millennium. Outside of the Classical world’s borders, ‘barbarian’ peoples were busy creating their own astonishingly beautiful footwear: for example, the stunning bog-preserved Irish leather shoe found in a Co. Greek footwear was also heavily loaded with social meaning: only freemen were permitted to wear Hellenic sandals. The demand for footwear, particularly the heavy caligae military sandal, kickstarted the cobbling trade across the Empire. For example, the thinner the sole and the more laces up the calf (indicating finer craftsmanship), the higher the status. Romans did not split footwear by gender - both wore sandals – but they were differentiated by status. Everyone could tell you what a ‘Roman’ sandal looks like – a hard sole, usually leather-covered wood, secured by thongs and laces up the leg. Mediterranean Antiquity is where we begin to see something more closely resembling medieval shoes. The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has a jaw-dropping pair of solid-gold s andals which accompanied Thutmose III, one of Egypt’s greatest Pharaohs, into the afterlife. In warmer climes, shoes were only occasionally worn, though from ancient Egypt we have functional flip-flops woven from papyrus reeds – all the way up to intricately plaited papyrus shoes of great status. They were astonishingly prolific crafters: their surviving rock art and decorative objects show us that even though they had not mastered tanning animal hides into leather, they shaped and sewed skins that would soften into comfortable, warm boots over time. 20,000 BCE), and as anyone who has ever been to Yorkshire knows, chilly feet are no fun. These hunter-gatherer residents of Europe lived during the last Ice Age (c. Perhaps some of the earliest shoes we can point to in the historical record belonged to Early European Modern Humans, better known as the Cro-Magnon people. If you can incorporate those hidden cues into your impression, then you’re on the fast-track to authenticity. They encompass social class, wealth, gender roles and changing identities, as well as shedding light upon the material cultures which produced them. To build a fully-realised re-enactment impression or a fantasy character, we have to do the same! Building an impression from the ground up can often be the way into the medieval psyche: it was as true in the medieval period as it is today that someone’s shoes tell you everything you need to know about them. Then if he’s still your enemy, he’s a mile away and he’s got no shoes on.
There’s an old saying: to understand your enemy, you have to walk a mile in his shoes.
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