Sartorial Adventure — ancientorigins: The pair of poulaine, or crakow,…
The pair of poulaine, or crakow, shoes shown below are probably from 15th century France.
Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta and Phyllis Tortora define poulaines in the Dictionary of Fashion” (2013) as being a:
“long-toed shoe of soft material- either a separate shoe or cut in one piece with the hose- introduced from Poland during reign of Richard II in England. During the 14th and 15th cs., toes of shoes became so long [and easy to trip over] that they were stuffed and fastened by gold and silver chains to bracelets below the knees. Also called copped, piked, or peaked shoe. Der. After Cracow, Poland. Later called poulaine (pooh-lane’). Also spelled poulain, pullayne.” (169)
The arrival of this fashion in England is traditionally associated with the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia in 1382. An anonymous ‘monk of Evesham’ recorded in 1394: “With this queen there came from Bohemia into England those accursed vices (English Cracowys or Pykys) half a yard in length, thus it was necessary for them to be tied to the shin with chains of silver before they could walk with them.”
However, there are indications they were worn as early as the 1360s. The author of the Eulogium Historiarum describes men of this period as wearing “points on their shoes as long as your finger that are called crakowes; more suitable as claws… for demons than as ornaments for men.”
Although there is no archaeological or medieval iconographic evidence to support the idea that the toes were ever tied up to the leg, as noted earlier, there is direct literary evidence dating from 1394 which states that this was the practice at the time these shoes were introduced into England.
^ Loyset Liedet (Netherlandish, born 1420). The Marriage of Renaud of Mantauban and Clarisse, 1460-7. Paris: Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Ms.5073, f.117v.. Source: Wikimedia
There is clear evidence from the Battle of Sempach that in certain periods soldiers on campaign wore shoes with toes so long as to interfere with the wearer’s ability to run. In that battle, it became necessary for the knights of Leopold III, Duke of Austria to dismount and fight on foot, and because they did not have time to prepare for the engagement, they were forced to cut off the tips of their poulaines. The Swiss chroniclers report how a huge pile of these shoe-tips was found in a heap after the battle, and they are also depicted in the background of the battle scene in the Luzerner Schilling of 1513.
A surviving pair of sabatons belonging to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor have extremely long poulaines, but they were used only on horseback, and in this case the long points were detachable from the sabatons for foot combat. The catches can be seen over the area of the big toe:
Armoured shoes of Maximilian I, 1485
See more posts like this on Tumblr#medieval#medieval fashion#shoes#men’s fashion#armor
“Dittmar and her colleagues analyzed a total of 177 skeletons from the 11th to the 15th centuries buried in and around Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The research team found that 27% of the skeletons dating from the 14th and 15th centuries suffered from bunions, compared with only 6% that dated back between the 11th and 13th centuries.
“The 1300s saw the arrival of new styles of dress and footwear in a wider range of fabrics and colors, the researchers said, and the remains of shoes excavated in London and Cambridge by the late 14th century suggest that almost every type of shoe – for adults and children – was at least slightly pointed.
“Wealthier, higher-status individuals living in urban areas were more likely to have suffered from bunions, the study of the skeletons, which came from four different cemeteries around Cambridge, suggested.
“Only 3% of the skeletons in the rural cemetery 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) south of the city and 10% of the parish graveyard in the outskirts of the town, where many working poor were buried, showed signs of bunions.
“In comparison, evidence of bunions was found on 23% of those buried on the site of a charitable hospital that is now part of St. John’s College and 43% of those interred in the grounds of a former Augustinian friary – mainly clergy and wealthy benefactors.”
Wearing tight, narrow shoes might cause bunions or make them worse. Bunions are more common today in women than in men because women are more likely to wear tight-fitting shoes (like high heels or cowboy boots) than men are.
A masterwork armor made by Jeff Wasson, based on the Dennington effigy of Sir William Bardolph, ca. 1445-1450.
Pursuing the Knightly Arts interviewed this armor’s owner, which you can view here.
For all of use writing medieval historical fiction/fantasy/fight scenes with armor/etc
Tom Tierney medieval paper dolls
c. 1200 The woman is wearing a black wool surcoat over a pleated chainse, and a porkpie hat over her hair. This style of a loose, vertical gown was frequent in the earlier Medieval period. The man is wearing a particolored cotehardie and a surgarloaf hat, all over his hose and leather shoes.
c. 1250 The woman is wearing a pale green cotehardie with a full skirt and sleeves over a maroon chainse. Belts were often worn as in this picture to hold up the skirts and allow for freer movements. Low-waisted belts would remain the fashion until the late fourteenth century. She is also wearing a chatelaine to carry household items. She wears a gorget and wimple over her hair and neck. The man wears a fur houppeland with the leather on the outside and a leather belt with another form of a chatelaine.
c. 1300 Here the woman is wearing a sideless/cutaway surcoat laced up the front over a blue cotehardie. This style of surcoat was looked down on by the church because it accentuated the feminine figure. Her hair is worn loose down her back, usually only acceptable for younger women and girls. The man is wearing a short green cotehardie and an orange chaperon with a long liripipe attached. The points of his shoes are a bit more elongated, and they would continue to get more and more so throughout the period.
c. 1350 Here the woman wears a pelicon made from a huge piece of elliptical fabric with slits cuts for the arms and head. A hood is attached to the neck and buttons down the front. She also wears a wimple over her hair. At this point wearing hair loosely and uncovered was considered unacceptable, which eventually gave rise to elaborate headdresses. The man wears a short cotehardie and hose under a tabard faced with fur. His cap is draped with woolen cloth.
c. 1350 The man wears a blue tappert with padded shoulders and slashed sleeves. His hose are particolored white and light blue. The woman wears a rolled and padded hennin worn over a caul and draped with a veil. Her surcoat is worn over a brocade cotehardie and lined with fur, as are the dalmation sleeves. High-waisted gowns became the fashion for the rest of the Medieval period.
c. 1400 The man wears a red houppeland with dagged dalmation sleeves and a chaperon which is also dagged. The woman wears a dress with a style very popular in this period. The neckline forms a deep V to the waistband, with a ruched bib underneath coming up higher to the neckline. The blue gown is trimmed with red velvet. This style of gown was often known as a “Burgundian gown.” She wears a hennin with a butterfly styled veil.
c. 1450 The man wears a short pourpoint jacket lined with fur. His hat is trimmed with a gold coronet. The woman wears an escoffion with a veil and gold ribbon attached. Her brocade gown has fur-lined dalmation sleeves. Jewels and gold were often used to line clothing of the nobility as a means to display wealth.
c. 1450 The man wears a “shockingly” short tunic that became popular in this period. The feet of his hose are pointed and tipped by bells. Bells were often used on many garments, especially belts, purses, and shoes. The woman wears a gown with bag sleeves trimmed in fur. Her headdress is a more modern version of the toque, worn with a butterfly veil.
Portrait of Marchesa Maria Serra Pallavicino by Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640)
