Poulaine

Poulaines or crackowes were a style of shoes with extremely long toes very popular in the 15th century. They were so named because the style was thought to have originated in Kraków, then the capital of Poland. They began in the late 14th century and fell from fashion after about 1480-90. They were worn by men and women, but men's were the most extravagantly long.

Sometimes the point of the shoe would need support from a whalebone or a string tied to the leg (just below the knee) to stop the point getting in the way when they were walking. (Examples from medieval London have the points stuffed with moss. [Grew, F. and de Neergaard, M. 1988. "Shoes and Pattens. Medieval Finds from Excavations in London": 2. London: HMSO, pp. 88-9.] ) Outdoors pattens or sandal-like clogs were usually worn underneath.

The Pope and the King Henry IV of England tried to stop this practice. The antiquarian John Stow wrote at the end of the 16th century that:

- which matches the evidence of contemporary art well. Richard II married Anne of Bohemia in 1382, and "the fourth of Edward IV" is 1475, when the fashion was at its peak. The tying back to the leg is however rarely seen in the art of the period - it may have been something done when moving around, with the ties removed on arrival, or the prevalence of the habit may be exaggerated by censorious commentators.

Other sumptuary laws attempted to define by class how long shoes could be - the nobility were to be allowed two foot-lengths, merchants one, and peasants one half.cite book |title= Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts|last= Asimov|first= Isaac|authorlink=Isaac Asimov|year= 1979|publisher= Wings Books|location= New York|isbn= 0-517-06503-7|pages= 113-114|quote=Named after its inventor, the poulaine was a shoe whose tip was a long as two feet for princes and noblemen, one foot for rich people of lower degree, and only half a foot for common people. Such shoes proved a hazard among the French Crusaders at the battle of Nicopolis (1396) when they had to cut off tips in order to be able to run away.] Like other attempts to control fashion by legislation, these seem to have failed.

At the Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, French Crusaders were forced to cut off the tips of their poulaines in order to be able to run away.cite book |title= Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts|last= Asimov|first= Isaac|authorlink=Isaac Asimov|year= 1979|publisher= Wings Books|location= New York|isbn= 0-517-06503-7|pages= 113-114|quote=Named after its inventor, the poulaine was a shoe whose tip was a long as two feet for princes and noblemen, one foot for rich people of lower degree, and only half a foot for common people. Such shoes proved a hazard among the French Crusaders at the battle of Nicopolis (1396) when they had to cut off tips in order to be able to run away.]

Notes

References

*Kohler, Carl: "A History of Costume", Dover Publications reprint, 1963, ISBN 0-4862-1030-8
*Laver, James: "The Concise History of Costume and Fashion", Abrams, 1979
*Payne, Blanche: "History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century", Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS