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MANUFACTURING & MATERIALS INNOVATION
T
here are many branches of
archaeology that, over the
years, have given us a greater
understanding of our past in
terms of the way we lived, what we ate,
how we socialised and what we wore.
Calceology is a branch that specialises
in the study of ancient footwear, its
fashions and technology, based on
artefacts retrieved from archaeological
digs. Although complete shoes are
rarely found, sufficient evidence has
been accumulated over the years from
sites spread throughout Europe to
provide a good picture of what took
place in the past.
Shoes from the Medieval period
follow a steady pattern until around
1500
when
a
technological
breakthrough seems to have occurred.
It also happened quite suddenly and
though we cannot be entirely sure as
to why, it nevertheless caused a major
change in the way shoes were made
and set the pattern for the evolution of
shoemaking as we know it today. This
‘big bang’ also affected shoe fashion,
shoe guilds, mobility, and general
culture. It in fact played a major part
in the way Europe developed during
that period.
Leather shoes recovered from the
10th through to the 15th centuries show
that shoemakers at the time all used the
turn shoe construction. The techniques
employed were in fact dictated by the
guild system that effectively controlled
all trades and where knowledge was
handed down from person to person
within each particular specialist
occupation.
The
first
written
documentation in regard to how shoes
were made did not appear until the late
18th century. For anything earlier, we
are forced to rely on fragments of shoes
recovered from archaelogical sites.
Reconstructions based on these
finds rely on the accurate identification
of the fragments themselves. For
example, the chronological period for a
particular set of fragments is based on
other archaeological evidence from the
site, similar examples already dated
and from contemporary illustrations
and paintings. Compared to most other
archaeological artefacts, footwear had
a short life and, due to rapidly
changing fashions, is therefore
extremely time sensitive.
TURN SHOES
Following the Roman period with
nailed and sewn shoe constructions, the
early Middle Ages through to the early
sixteenth century as we have seen, used
only the turn shoe method of
construction. It requires a thin, flexible
sole and an upper design that allows the
last to be removed and re-inserted after
the shoe has been turned right side out
so that the seam joining the upper to the
sole can be flattened and polished. In
this instance, the last should be
regarded merely as a ‘sewing support’
since it does not give the shoe its final
shape whereas a true last does. The thin
soles wore out quickly (15th century
domestic inventories indicate five pairs
per year for men) and were repaired
with fore and rear half soles sewn on
with a tunnel stitch.
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WORLD FOOTWEAR | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
Shoemaking’s ‘big bang’
MARQUITA VOLKEN, LAUSANNE SHOE MUSEUM
Stages in making a Medieval
child’s turn shoe.
CREDIT:
MARQUITA VOLKEN