The footwear worn in the Middle Ages (c. 500–c.
1500) follows the trend of fashion in general over this period, moving
from very crude in the early years to highly refined and even frivolous
by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In fact, the evolution of
footwear tracks very nicely the larger social changes that marked this
fascinating period in European history.Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 c.e., Europe was
without any form of unifying order. Isolated communities of European
barbarians (the name originally used by the Romans to describe
foreigners) began to develop permanent settlements, but frequent warfare
and little trade kept these communities isolated. For several hundred
years, European footwear showed the influence of both the early Romans'
and Europeans' former nomadic lifestyle. Shoes were generally made of
stiff pieces of leather, stitched together and tied at the ankle. In the
north, such as Britain, these shoes might have fur inside and reach up
the leg. Such simple styles held up until the twelfth century.As isolated European communities consolidated into more powerful
kingdoms, technology and trade expanded, and so did the range of
footwear styles. Beginning late in the eleventh century, Christian kings
sent knights and soldiers on the Crusades, holy wars fought to reclaim
Holy Lands in the Middle East. These crusaders were exposed to new
footwear fashions in the Byzantine Empire (476–1453)
and beyond, and they brought those styles back with them. One of the
most popular styles brought back from the Middle East involved shoes
with long points, called crackowes or poulaines. These were popular
throughout Europe from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.
No comments:
Post a Comment