of Norman shoe may be seen in fig. 2, which is more enriched than the last, and it is curious that the ornament adopted is in the form of the straps of a sandal, studded with dots throughout. In the original the shoe is coloured with a thin tint of black, these bands being a solid black, with white or gilded lines and dots. Another example of a decorated shoe, fig. 3, is given from a MS. of the eleventh century, in the British Museum, and shows the kind which became fashionable when the Normans firmly settled in England, began to indulge in luxurious clothing. These shoes were most probably embroidered.

"We are assured by the early Norman historians," says Strutt, "that the cognomen curta ocrea, orshort boots, was given to Robert, the Conqueror's eldest son; but they are entirely silent respecting the reason for such an appellation being particularly applied to him. It could not have arisen from his having introduced the custom of wearing short boots into this country, for they were certainly in use among the Saxons long before his birth: to hazard a conjecture of my own, I should rather say he was

D

the first among the Normans who wore short boots, and derived the cognomen by way of contempt, from his own countrymen, for having so far complied with the manners of the Anglo-Saxons. It was not long

however, supposing this to be the

case, before his

example was generally followed." The short boots of the Normans appear at times to fit quite close to the legs; in other instances they are represented more loose and open; and though the materials of which they were composed are not particularized by the ancient writers, we may reasonably suppose them to have been made of leather; at least it is certain that about this time a sort of leathern boots, called Bazans, were in fashion; but they appear to have been chiefly confined to the clergy.

"Among the various innovations," continues Strutt, "made in dress by the Normans during the twelfth century, none met with more marked and more deserved disapprobation than that of lengthening the toes of the shoes, and bringing them forward to a sharp point. In the reign of Rafus, this custom was first introduced; and according to Orderic Vitalis, by

a man who had distorted feet, in order to conceal his deformity," but he adds, "the fashion was no sooner broached, than all those who were fond of novelty thought proper to follow it; and the shoes were made by the shoemakers in the form of a scorpion's tail. These shoes were called Pigacia, and were adopted by persons of every class, both rich and poor. Soon after, a courtier, whose name was Robert, improved upon the first idea by filling the vacant part of the shoe with tow, and twisting it round in the form of a ram's horn; this ridiculous fashion excited much admiration. It was followed by the greater part of the nobility and the author, for his happy invention, was honoured with the cognomen Cornardus or horned. The long pointed shoes were vehemently inveighed against by the clergy, and strictly forbidden to be worn by the religious orders. So far as we can judge from the drawings executed in the twelfth century the fashion of wearing long-pointed shoes did not long maintain its ground. It was, however, afterwards revived, and even carried to a more prepos

:

terous extent

A specimen of the shoes that were worn at this period, and which so excited the ire of the monkish writers, is here given from the seal of Richard, con

stable of Chester, in the reign of Stephen; in the original the knight is on horseback, the stirrup and spur is therefore seen in our cut.

The effigies of our early soverigns are generally represented in shoes decorated with bands across, as if in imitation of sandals. They are seldom coloured black, as nearly all the examples of earlier shoes in this country are. The shoes of Henry II. are green, with bands of gold.

Those of Richard are also striped

with gold; and such richly decorated shoes became fashionable among the nobility, and were generally worn by royalty all over Europe. Thus, when the tomb of Henry the Sixth of Sicily, who died in 1197, was opened in the cathedral of Palermo, on the feet

of the dead monarch were discovered costly shoes, whose upper part was of cloth of gold, embroidered with pearls, the sole being of cork, covered with the same cloth of gold. These shoes reached to the ancle, and were fastened with a little button instead of a buckle. His queen Constance, who died in 1198, had upon her feet shoes also of cloth of gold, which were fastened with leather straps tied in knots, and on the upper part of them were two openings, wrought with embroidery, which showed that they had been once adorned with jewels. Boots ornamented with gold, and embroidered in elegant patterns at this time became often worn. King John of England orders in one instance four pair of womens' boots, one of them to be embroidered with circles; and the effigy of the succeeding monarch, Henry III., in Westminster Abbey, is chiefly remarkable for the splendour of the boots he wears; they are crossed all over by golden bands, thus forming a series of diamond-shaped spaces, each one of which is filled with a figure of a Lion, the royal arms of England. One of these splendid shoes is engraved in pl. 3, fig. 1.