Many, mostly complete, shoes have been found in abandoned mining adits in Altenberg, in Siegen-Wittgenstein in Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany, next to textile-, metal and other leather fragments. Except for one leather fragment all leather finds have been dated to around 1235 +- 6 years 1. The special feature from the Altenberg shoes are the doubled soles at the front and the heel which where sewn to the main sole. These doubled soles have been used as an additional protection for the miner against sharp rocks2. More

Since I am currently moving all my equipment from chemical to vegetable dyed fabrics, it was time to exchange my old Hoses with new ones. The old pair of Hoses, shown in the following figure, were made of chemically dyed gray-mottled 2/2-woolen twill. My old pair of Hoses made of chemical dyed 2/2 woolen twill For these the surviving Hoses from the grave of the Archbishop of Bremen, dated to the first half of the 13th century, served as a model. More

Lace fastened low cut shoe with deep pointed instep vent - 2nd quarter 13th century till end of 13th century Finds Kolberg (PL) 1225-13001 Lund (SE) 13. Jhd.2 Schleswig (DE) 1250-13003 und 13. Jhd.4 Description Low cut shoe with lace fastening over the vent and a deep instep point. The laces are sewn in to a pair of slits next to the instep point, or fixed via knots or loops. More

Lace fastened low cut shoe with deep pointed instep vent - 4. quarter 13th century till 1. quarter 14th century Finds Chillon Castle (CH)1, about 1275 Konstanz (DE)2 Schleswig (DE)3, after 1280 Description A characteristic feature of this low cut shoe is the deep pointed instep vent. It is closed via two attached straps above the instep. The vamp is cut in one piece with possible inserts at the side for larger sizes with a forward tilted closing seam on the medial side of the shoe. More

Here you can find some examples for medieval turnshoes which I made. All are made of vegetable tanned leather and sewn with linen or hemp thread.