Here I am, asking another question of the board...

We've all heard about how slippery medieval turn-shoes were, how useful they are in combat as opposed to the thick clunky modern footwear, etc.

However, I came across something interesting in an Osprey "Warrior" book entitled: English Medieval Knight 1400-1500.

In it, on page 9 there is the following quote:

Quote:

On his feet he wore shoes designed to prevent skidding, described in detail: 'Also a payre of shone [shoes] of thikke Cord-wene and they muste be frette [fretted] with smal uhipcorde thre knottis up on a corde and thre cordis muste be faste swoid [sewn] on to the hele of the shoo and fyne cordis in the mvdill of tin- soole of the same shoo and that ther be betwene the frettis of the hele and the frettis of the mydill of the shoo the space of three fvngris.'

This was interesting to me because I hadn't heard of it before, but it sounded like a good idea and something our ancestors would have thought of.

Thus I began my quest. First I turned to the almighty Google, which proved to be less than almighty on this topic. Undaunted I tried the myArmoury.com search function, which also came up with nothing. I finally decided I must call for aid.

Waxing poetic drama aside, I am curious to see if anyone knows anything about this. As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'd like some of those if reasonably possible.

Oh, and if anyone can spell out exactly what is said in the above quote, I'd appreciate that. I'm not sure I understand it.

It's from the famous 'How a man shall be armed', a mid 15th century account of how and in what order a man should be armed for a foot tournament.

You can read a full translation here:-


http://www.chronique.com/Library/Armour/armyd1.htm

Basically what it's saying is that he should wear stout shoes which have knotted cords sewn onto the heel and fine cords sewn onto the sole. The gap between the cords on the heel and those of the sole should be three fingers breadths wide (to leave a gap under the instep). It doesn't specify the direction that the threads should run in but common sense dictates that they should run across the heel and sole, rather than from front to back.

Does anyone know if any of the many medieval shoes found have any indication of this type of sole ?

I'm thinking that the rope-soled " Boating Shoes" available today might be using the similar style of thing for non-skid work on wet decks ??

A fret is a specific form in heraldry, a sort of diagonal cross hatch. You can see my interpretation here:

http://www.hippeis.com/forum/index.php?topic=606.0

The fret provides grip while still allowing a slide that a modern rubber sole does not.

Enjoy,
Cole

to N Cioran: why you didn't cover the point with the cord? Too much wear?

Gabriele,

I didn't cover the toe because the source material said the heel and the middle of the sole. Having worn them until the cord was literally worn off, I suspect this is to allow a slight shift in weight onto the toes that will allow you to literally skate forward or back. I can mv a pace further with the slide than in a rubber soled shoe...

Cole

Gdansk (Danzig) museum has a pair of shoes from second half of the 15th century (if I remember correctly) with thick leather strips sewn across the sole. Can't find the original picture, here's the repro:

http://www.fotosik.pl/pokaz_obrazek/o6pr7ue34o3odnwi.html
http://www.fotosik.pl/pokaz_obrazek/wytatvvh7q2kvx13.html

This is interesting stuff. Thanks for the replies, if I ever make myself a pair of turnshoes, I'll think I'll try the "frette" version.

It's interesting that the cords go on the heel and the middle of the shoe. This would still allow the wearer to pivot smoothly on the balls of his feet, while giving him some traction when he's just walking.

You will need a curved awl to stitch in and out of the sole, without perforating the inner surface. Then use a curved upholstery needle (they are not sharpened) to sew the cord onto the leather. :idea:

http://www.lederkram.de/lederkram/leder/werkz...erahle.jpg such a thing mounted on a haft

I sewed the cord through a clout sole, which was then sewn on using tunnel stitches as per shoes and pattens. Note that this is ver hard to do on old hardened soles, much better to do with new supple ones...

Have fun!
Cole

Kel,

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't even thought to try... Next time :)

Thanks for the comments on Marathon Kel. it was a hell of a challenge, and unqualifiedly the greatest re-enacting experience of my life. So we;ll have to do it again, and even better (and hairier :)

We should get together for a pint and I can bore you with the whole album of photos!

Have fun!
Cole