Poulaine

Poulaines, also known by other names, were a style of unisex footwear with extremely long toes that were fashionable in Europe at various times in the Middle Ages. The poulaine proper was a shoe or boot of soft material whose elongated toe (also known as a poulaine or pike) frequently required filling to maintain its shape. The chief vogue for poulaines spread across Europe from medieval Poland in the mid-14th century and spread across Europe, reaching upper-class England with the 1382 marriage of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia and remaining popular through most of the 15th century. Sturdier forms were used as overshoes and the sabatons of the era's armor were often done in poulaine style.

Contents

• Names
• History
• Design
• Toe length
• Stuffing
• Tying up the toes
• Health effects
• Related footwear
• Pattens
• Sabatons
• See also
• Notes
• References
• Citations
• Bibliography

Poulaines were periodically condemned by Christian writers of the time as demonic or vain. Kings of the era variously taxed them as luxuries, restricted their use to the nobility, or outright banned them.

Poulaines seem to have been unhealthy; archeaological evidence shows that people who wore them were more likely to have bunions, and broken bones from falls.

After becoming more common as women's footwear and expanding to awkward lengths, poulaines fell from fashion in the 1480s (see duckbill shoe) and were seldom revived, although they are considered an influence on some later trends such as the 1950s British winklepicker boots.

Names

The usual English name poulaine ^{[1] [2]} ( /puˈleɪn/ ) is a borrowing and clipping of earlier Middle French soulers a la poulaine ("shoes in the Polish fashion") from the style's supposed origin in medieval Poland. ^[3] They have also been known as pikes ^{[2] [4]} from the common weapon of the era; as piked, peaked, or copped shoes; ^[1] as cracows, crakows, ^[5] and krakows ^[6] from the former Polish capital; ^[5] or simply as pointed shoes, pointy shoes, or long toed shoes. ^[7] Poulaine, ^[3] pike, ^[8] crakow, ^[9] and liripipe ^[10] can also be used particularly for the elongated toe itself, causing some writers to mistakenly restrict the usage of poulaine to only the toe and to insist on crakow as the name of the footwear itself. ^[7] Despite appearing in a 2014 Vogue article, ^[6] however, use of crakow for the shoe is now so uncommon as to be marked obsolete in the Oxford English Dictionary . ^[5] The elongated toe was also known as a beak, ^[11] although this was not generally applied to the shoe itself. ^[12]

History

Shoes with pointed, curled, and/or elongated toes are documented in the archeological record back to at least 3000 BC ^{[13] [14]} and have passed in and out of fashion over time. In classical antiquity, the Etruscan calceus repandus ("turned calceus") was worn by both genders before becoming particularly associated under the Romans with Juno Sospita and related goddesses. ^[15] In Byzantine fashion, priestly vestments included gilt slippers ending in forward point from at least the 5th century. ^[16]

Pointed-toed shoes first became a major trend in Western fashion with the late-11th-century pigache. ^[17] They were ridiculed by poets and historians and censured by the clergy, who compared them to scorpion's tails and ram's horns ^[18] and repeatedly connected them to effeminacy and homosexuality ^{[19] [20]} while simultaneously condemning how most courtiers adopted the fashion to "seek the favors of women with every kind of lewdness". ^[21] As a returning papal legate, the former professor Robert de Courson banned other faculty of the University of Paris from wearing them in August 1215. ^[22] The same year, the Fourth Lateran Council also banned embroidered and pointed-toe shoes for clergy. ^{[23] [24]} Guibert of Nogent blamed the origin of the pigache on footwear exported from Islamic Cordoba, ^[20] Orderic Vitalis on the promiscuous Fulk of Anjou's attempts to disguise the deformity of his bunions. ^{[18] [19]} The fashion historian Ruth Wilcox offers that it may have been a simple adaptation of the Normans' own sabatons, which they had extended to a point and turned down in the late 11th century to better hold their stirrups during battle. ^[25] After its initial excesses reaching about 2 inches (5 cm) beyond the foot ^[25] and a trend of stuffing and styling the ends started by William Rufus's courtier Robert the "Horny" (Robertus Cornardus), ^[19] the style settled into a more conservative and compact form for a century until the Black Death. ^[17] It was still necessary, however, to restate the injunctions against clerical use of the shoes in 1281 and 1342. ^[24]

Poulaines proper spread across Europe in the mid-14th century ^[17] before falling out of fashion in the 1480s. ^{[26] [27]} It spread from the Polish court of Casimir the Great to France and thence to Burgundy, Germany, England, and Scotland. ^[28]

The arrival—or resumption—of this fashion in England is traditionally associated with the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the emperor Charles IV, in 1382. ^[29] In his entry for the year 1394, the Evesham monk who wrote the History of the Life and Reign of Richard II claimed that "with this Queen there came from Bohemia into England those accursed vices, namely shoes with a long beak—the English cracows or pikes—taking up 0.5 yards (46 cm) in length so that it is necessary to tie them to the shin with silver chains before they can be used to walk forward". ^{[29] [lower-alpha 1]} In fact, the style had reached England before Anne's birth. In his entry for the year 1362, the Malmesbury monk who wrote the Eulogium Historiarum states that "Moreover they have beaked shoes a finger in length that they call cracows. They are better called demons' claws than decorations for men." ^{[31] [lower-alpha 2]} Similarly, John of Reading complained in the 1360s of Englishmen's "shoes... with sideways beaks". ^{[33] [lower-alpha 3]} It seems more likely, instead, that Anne's entourage further popularized the style or simply that the monastic author at Evesham was using the fiction for political ends. ^[35]

The 14th-century poulaines so far recovered in London have only been found only in men's sizes, ^{[27] : 88–9} although depictions of Lora St. Quintin—wife of John de Grey's son Robert de Marmion—show her wearing shorter poulaines with their points curved to the sides. ^[18] By the 15th century, art shows frequent use by both men and women, with the toes of men's shoes being the most extravagantly long.

They were a controversial fashion and faced criticism from several quarters. In 1368, Charles V of France issued an edict banning their construction and use in Paris. An English poem from 1388 complained that men were unable to kneel in prayer because their toes were too long. ^[36] The c. 1440 morality play Castle of Perseverance includes the footwear in the "advice" that Humanum Genus ("Mankind") gets from Superbia ("Pride"): "Look that thou blow mickle boasts with long crakows on thy shoes". ^{[37] [lower-alpha 4]}

In 1463, Edward IV passed a sumptuary law that "no knight under the state of a lord, esquire, gentleman, nor other person shall use nor wear after the... feast of Saint Peter any shoes or boots having pikes passing the length of two inches" (5 cm). ^{[38] [39]} In 1465, they were banned in England altogether, so that all cordwainers and cobblers within the City of London and environs were prohibited from making shoes with pikes more than 2 inches long. ^{[27] : 117  [40]}

By the 1480s, poulaines had generally fallen from fashion in favor of the wide duckbill shoes supposedly popularized by Charles VIII of France owing to his own six-toed foot. ^[11] The poulaine inspired later footwear fashions, such as the 1950s winklepicker boots.

Design

Health effects

A 2005 study of early and late medieval remains found bunions exclusively in corpses from the poulaine era. ^[42] A 2021 study of 177 corpses from four cemeteries around Cambridge, England, affirmed this, finding that those who lived in more fashionable neighborhoods during the height of the poulaine fashion were far more likely to have bunions, misshapen feet, and FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand) bone fractures associated with injury from falling. ^{[43] [44] [24]} One of the coauthors, Piers Mitchell, noted "People really did wear ridiculously long, pointy shoes, just like they did in Blackadder ". ^[43] Of the remains that could be dated, 27% from the 14th and 15th centuries had bunions pronounced enough to cause skeletal deformation versus only 6% prevalence during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. ^[43] Emma McConnachie of the College of Podiatry noted that the findings "highlight these have been around for quite some time" and "the fashion choices of the 14th century inflicted similar issues from footwear as we see presenting in clinics today." ^[43]

Related footwear

Pattens

Pattens were protective overshoes frequently worn in the late medieval and early modern period to protect footwear from mud and filth while outdoors. They were typically made from wood and fitted to the shoe with leather straps. The name poulaine was sometimes used for the elongated pattens necessary to protect the full length of the long-toed shoes of the period. ^[45]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Poulaine .

• Pointed shoe (disambiguation)
• 1300–1400 in European fashion
• 1400–1500 in European fashion

Notes

Related Research Articles

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but over time, shoes also became fashion items. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots, which are required footwear at industrial worksites.

Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature.

A bunion, also known as hallux valgus, is a deformity of the MTP joint connecting the big toe to the foot. The big toe often bends towards the other toes and the joint becomes red and painful. The onset of bunions is typically gradual. Complications may include bursitis or arthritis.

Fulk IV, better known as Fulk le Réchin, was the count of Anjou from around 1068 until his death. He was noted to be "a man with many reprehensible, even scandalous, habits" by Orderic Vitalis, who particularly objected to his many women and his influential footwear, claiming he popularized the pigaches that eventually became the poulaine, the medieval long-toed shoe.

Clogs are a type of footwear that has a thick, rigid sole typically made of wood, although in American English, shoes with rigid soles made of other materials are also called clogs.

A cordwainer is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is not universally observed, as the word cobbler is widely used for tradespersons who make or repair shoes.

Sandals are an open type of shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can sometimes be blurry, the common understanding is that a sandal leaves all or most of the foot exposed. People may choose to wear sandals for several reasons, among them comfort in warm weather, economy, and as a fashion choice. Usually, people wear sandals in warmer climates or during warmer parts of the year in order to keep their feet cool and dry. The risk of developing athlete's foot is lower than with enclosed shoes, and the wearing of sandals may be part of the treatment regimen for such an infection.

Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.

Mule is a style of shoe that has no back or constraint around the foot's heel. The English word mule—originally written moyle—comes from French, which was using it specifically for women's slippers with an open heel since at least 1556. There, mules were bedroom slippers and not worn in public. Through the centuries, mules have changed in style and purpose and are no longer just boudoir shoes but are worn at any time, for any occasion. In addition to Western examples, mules come from cultures such as Turkey and Egypt, and appear in popular culture, from famous paintings to iconic celebrities' shoes.

A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armor that covers the foot.

Winklepickers or winkle pickers are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward, especially popular with British rock and roll fans such as teddy boys. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long pointed toe, reminiscent of medieval poulaines and approximately the same as the long pointed toes on some women's high-fashion shoes and boots in the 2000s. They are still popular in the goth, raggare and rockabilly subcultures.

High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an upward-angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the calf muscle.

A liripipe is an element of clothing, the tail of a hood or cloak, or a long-tailed hood. The modern-day liripipe appears on the hoods of academic dress.

Fashion in 15th-century Europe was characterized by a surge of experimentation and regional variety, from the voluminous robes called houppelandes with their sweeping floor-length sleeves to the revealing giornea of Renaissance Italy. Hats, hoods, and other headdresses assumed increasing importance, and were draped, jeweled, and feathered.

Pattens, also known by other names, are protective overshoes that were worn in Europe from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. In appearance, they sometimes resembled contemporary clogs or sandals. Pattens were worn outdoors over a normal shoe, had a wooden or later wood and metal sole, and were held in place by leather or cloth bands. Pattens functioned to elevate the foot above the mud and dirt of the street, in a period when road and urban paving was minimal. Women continued to wear pattens in muddy conditions until the 19th or even early 20th century.

Pointed or pointy shoe or shoes may refer to:

The pigache, also known by other names, was a kind of shoe with a sharp upturned point at the toes that became popular in Western Europe during the Romanesque Period. The same name is also sometimes applied to earlier similar Byzantine footwear.

A duckbill, bearpaw or cow's mouth was a style of shoe with a broad toe which was fashionable in the 15th and 16th centuries. This style started with Charles VIII of France, who had an extra toe, and was later worn by Henry VIII of England. It replaced the excessively long toe of the poulaine but also tended to become impractical, as it became enlarged with stuffing and horns and so could be a foot wide, giving the wearer a waddling gait. It might also be adorned with slashes to show the fine lining and sumptuary laws were introduced to restrict all these excesses. Duckbill shoes were rounded like a duck's bill; cowsmouth shoes widened abruptly at the toes; and bearsclaw shoes had slashes parallel to the toes, so the toe could expand laterally.

The toe box is the section of footwear that surrounds the toes on closed-toe shoes. Toe boxes that are too tight can cause injuries and foot deformities, whereas wider toe boxes may be used to treat or prevent common foot conditions such as broken toes, bunions, and Morton's neuroma. Toe boxes come in a variety of shapes and styles of construction, some of which are a matter of fashion, and some of which are designed for specialized functions.

References