Shoes. Klaus H. Carl

early 18th century

      Elsewhere, gilded bronze shoe buckles decorated with stylized animals discovered in a leader’s tomb at Hordaim, are proof of the attention given to shoe ornamentation during this period. Shoes were very costly during the Middle Ages, which is why they appear in wills and are among the donations made to monasteries.

      Woman’s shoe

      Toe upturned in the eastern style

      Louis XV period, France, 18th century

      International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris

      Expense also explains why a fiancé would offer his future wife a pair of embroidered shoes before marriage, a lovely tradition dating to Gregory of Tours (538–594). The strapped or banded shoe continued into the Carolingian period, although the woman’s model became more embellished. As for the wooden-soled gallique or galoche, it too remained in use.

      Woman’s shoe

      England, 18th century

      Guillen Collection, International Shoe Museum, Romans

      From this time forward, soldiers protected their legs with leather or metal leggings called “bamberges”. In the 9th century, a shoe called the heuse made out of supple leather extending high on the leg announced the arrival of the boot.

      Emperor Charlemagne wore simple boots with straps intertwining the legs, although for ceremonies he wore laced boots decorated with precious stones.

      Carved, lacquered and painted wooden clogs

      Louis XVI period, France, 18th century

      International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris

      But frequent contact between France and Italy helped develop a taste for regalia and increasingly the shoe became an object of great luxury. At the same time, religious councils were ordering clerics to wear liturgical shoes while performing mass. Called sandals, these holy shoes were of cloth and completely covered the cleric’s foot.

      Clogs typical of the Bethmale Valley, Ariège

      Gift from a fiancé to a younger woman; apparently the higher the toe the stronger the love

      18th century

      Rural Museum of Popular Arts, Laduz, Yonne

      Regarding shoemaking, the French word cordouanier (which became cordonnier or shoemaker) was adopted in the 11th century and signified someone who worked with Cordoba leather and by extension, all kinds of leather. As in Antiquity, shoes were patterned separately for the right and left foot.

      Clog-shaped snuffbox

      Rural Museum of Popular Arts, Laduz

      Shoes made out of Cordoba leather were reserved for the aristocracy, whereas those made by çavetiers, or cobblers (shoe repairmen) were more crudely fashioned. The wearing of shoes began to expand in the 11th century. The most common medieval type was an open shoe secured by a strap fitted with a buckle or button.