style="font-size:15px;"> International Shoe Museum, Romans, deposit of the Musée National du Moyen Age, Thermes de Cluny, Paris
Crimson or gold slippers were worn in the eastern Mediterranean basin, in particular in the area around Alexandria and in the Nile valley. Excavations at Achmin have yielded many examples that belonged to women. The arrival of Christian shoemakers in this region revived the craft of shoemaking, as Christian symbols were added to the geometric decorative tradition.
Woman’s mule
France, c. 1789
Guillen Collection, International Shoe Museum, Romans
A silver sandal discovered in an Egyptian tomb and now in the collection of the Bally Museum is a good example. Dating to the 6th century AD, it is embellished with the image of a dove symbolizing Christ.
As the Middle Ages dawned in the West, footwear remained under the influence of ancient Roman models. The Franks wore shoes equipped with straps that rose to mid-thigh height. Only their leaders wore shoes with pointed tips.
Shoe of Marie-Antoinette collected on the 10th August 1792
Carnavalet Museum, Paris
Thanks to the extraordinary degree of preservation of certain burials, we have an idea of what Merovingian shoes looked like. The tomb of Queen Arégonde, wife of King Clotaire I (497–561), discovered at Saint-Denis has enabled us to reconstruct an image of her shoes as made up of supple leather sandals with straps intertwining the leg.
Embroided mules
France, 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.
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