80454 shoes&pattens0c

Shoes and Pattens

possible — though arguable - that all multipart soles are the result of translation or repair.

Another matter which, with hindsight, should have received morę attention is that of terminology. Indeed the very word ‘Pattens’ was applied with some incaution: for the items discussed on pp 91-100 overshoes’ might have been preferable, and for those on p 101 (which were worn without shoes) sandals. ‘Button rather than toggle’ is morę generally used for the fastening method depicted in Figs 32-4, and Figs 103-4 show ‘instep tie straps rather than ‘latchets (here used anachronistically). In the Glossary (p 125), the definition of ‘welt’ is incorrect: a welt is not stitched between the upper and the insole but placed along the outside of the lasting margin.

The concluding chapter attempts to assess the London fmds within a wider context of knowledge about medieval shoe fashion, but it was written too early to take account of the great progress that Continental European scholars madę during the 1980s and 90s (for earlier work, see Schnack 1992, 12-17). Exciting new opportunities for comparative research are now available. For the North Sea littoral, there are comprehensive publications from sites such as Svendborg (Groenman-van Waateringe 1988), Schleswig (Schnack 1992), Haithabu (Groenman-van Waateringe 1984) or Bergen (Larsen 1992); for Southern Germany, there is an important report from Konstanz (Schnack 1994), and for the Netherlands, Olaf Goubitzs definitive survey will appear soon (Groenman-van Waateringe, van Driel-Murray & Goubitz, in press).

The Continental groups feature some types of footwear that have rarely been found so far in London deposits. Particularly noticeable absentees from London are boots or high shoes reaching almost to the knee (Groenman-van Waateringe 1988, 16; Schnack 1994, 31-2). Their absence has traditionally been explained in terms of translation or reuse, but by plotting the distribution of known finds, Christiane Schnack has proposed the intriguing alternative that the boot was originally an east European style, which only slowly spread westwards; it is found as far east as Novgorod but rarely west of Schleswig (Schnack 1992, 141-2). In many cases it may have been taste, social factors or local traditions that account for differences in distribution. Take slip-on shoes. Never common in London, these were comparatively modest items, mostly appearing in 13th-century deposits (Tables 1-2); there is just one from the 15th century (Fig 61), whereas in Germany during the late I4th and 15th centuries slip-ons were high-fashion shoes with an extravagant heel and vamp (Schnack 1994, 20; Fingerlin 1995, 161-4). Overall, one is still struck by the manner in which broadly similar styles ranged across Europę at similar times, but the evidence now permits us to analyse their distribution at a regional level. To what extent, indeed, can particular characteristics be recognised - in the choice of materials, stitching or pattern cutting - that would denote local implementations of universal styles?

As this last point reminds us, Shoes and Pattens was never intended to be morę than a starting point for further research. The hundreds of fragments - many of which are merely summarised here — have the potential for revealing the finer points of the shoemakers craft. They should be studied too in conjunction with fmds madę in London in the 19th century (Smith 1854, 125-8; now in the British Museum), for these extend considerably the rangę of I4th-century decorative styles. Let such a research programme be our manifesto for the futurę.

BARWASSER, M & GOUBITZ, O, 1990 Leder, hout en textiele vondsten, in H Clevis & M Smit, Verscholen in vuil: archaeologische vondsten uit Kampen 1375-1925, Kampen, 70-99

EGAN, G & PRITCEŁARD, F, 1991 Dress Accessories, Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, 3 (HMSO)

FINGERLIN, I, 1995 Der Lederabfall, in M Untermann (ed), Die Latrine der Augustinereremiten-Klosters in Freiburgim Bresgau, Materialhefte zur Archaologie in Baden-Wiirttemberg, 31 (Stuttgart)

GROENMAN-YAN WAATERINGE, W, 1984 Die Lederfunde von Haithabu, Berichte iiber die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, 21 (Neumunster)

GROENMAN-VAN WAATERINGE, W, 1988 Leather from Medieval Svendborg, The Archaeology of Medieval Svendborg, Denmark, 5 (Odense University Press)

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