shoes&pattens4

114

Shoes and Pattens

wearing such shoes (Zarnecki et al. 1984, 60, No. 93), as is the figurę of Aminadab on the west window of the same cathedral, dated c.1180-1205 (ibid., 144-5, No. 94a). A low-cut shoe from London, with an opening over the instep as on a modern bar shoe, can be seen in Fig. 10 (p. 12), but this was probably fastened with a drawstring. Buttoned - that is, toggle-fastened - shoes do occur within the present collection but not until the late 13th century, and then without open areas over the foot. Whereas manuscripts show mainly buttoned shoes, Iow boots, and slip-on shoes, the excavated shoes are predominantly drawstring, a type which remains unidentified in manuscript illustrations. The Iow boots, however, which feature prominently in these illustrations, form approximately one third of each of the early exca-vated groups (see above, Tables 1 & 2). The collection contains only one decorated 13th-cen-tury shoe (Fig. 115a and pp. 79-80) - which may be an example of what was being worn at this time by the wealthier sectors of society - but funerary monuments, such as the tomb of Henry III (Fig. 153), indicate how elaborate such footwear could be.

Before 1300, to judge by illustrative evidence, boots seem to have been the most common form of footwear, and this impression is reinforced by the 13th-century materiał in the collection, amongst which boots and ankle-shoes predomin-ate. After c.1300 boots in particular are shown exceptionally, and are mostly worn by mounted travellers and huntsmen. These boots were usu-ally shaped to the leg, and fastened by lacing or buckles in the smali of the leg. On looser boots, the fullness below the knee was caught back from the front to the outside of the knee and hooked or buckled down in a broad fold. The Merchant in The Canterbury Tales is described as having His botes clasped faire and fetisly (‘elegantly’) (ed. Skeat 1912, 273). Morę commonly, people are shown with Iow boots (Fig. 154) and buttoned shoes, although the shoes illustrated as buttoned are freąuently open over the foot, which those in the present collection are not (see above, pp. 21-2).

By the 14th century, shoes shown in manuscripts seem to be simple in cut but richer in materiał and ornament than was seen previously. They may be embroidered or decorated in open-work with reticulated, diapered or floral designs, and it is probably no coincidence that most of the

153 Detail of the shoes of Henry III, from his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The decoration, which consists of lions framed by lozenges, was probably embroidered.

155 Detail of the shoes of Edward III, from his tomb in Westminster Abbey. The decoration consists of embroidered leaves divided into panels by a central stylised cross.