Shoemakers today used pitched hemp thread for their sewing work. But what did shoemakers use during the 13th century?

There are only a few finds of remaining sewing threads in all the shoe finds I know of. But this also tells us one thing: The threads must have consisted of a material which needs a different Soil for good preservation. Therefore it annot be something like sinew or gut, cause they have similar preservation conditions as leather.

One would thnk that shoemakers use the same kind of thread as carpenters for their work. There they would have used linen, hemp or woolen threads. Finds from London, dated to the late 14th century (Grew und Neergaard, p. 48), have preserved fragments of waxed hemp threads. No threads have been preserved from the earlier finds. Also in Schleswig thread made of natural fibers like linen or hemp have been used for sewing. Analysis showed that linen thread was mostly used for decorative sewings and hemp for anything else. But there are also single finds of woolen threads or strong horsehair which have been used for sewing (Schnack p. 37). The threads from London and Schleswig do not show any remains of pitch, but Christiane Schnack, assumes that it was used in Schleswig (Schnack p. 37),

But there are also finds from pitched hemp thread from the Augustiner-Eremiten-Kloster in Freiburg (Bank, S. XX). There is no information on which type of shoes those threads have been found.

Analysis on earlier finds from Haithabu also show that the remaining threads where made of natural fibers like linen or hemp (Groenmn-van Waateringe, S. 15). A more detailed analysis wasn’t possible.

Summary

The remaining finds of sewing thread show that mainly linen and hemp thread, either waxed or pitched, have been used for sewing by medieval shoemakers. It can be assumed that hemp was used for the more sturdier sewing work like closing seams or sole seams cause it has a 23% higher tearing strength over linen thread (Schütt, S. 156). But linen thread could also have been used for those seams. The finds also show that not always pitch was used for coating the thread, but also wax could have been used.

Sources

• Banck, Johanna, and Matthias Untermann (1995): Die Latrine des Augustinereremiten-Klosters in Freiburg Im Breisgau. Stuttgart: Theiss
• Grew, Francis; Neergaard, M. de (2001): Shoes and pattens. new ed. Woodbridge: Boydell Press (Medieval finds from excavations in London, 2).
• Groenman-van Waateringe, Willy (1984): Die Lederfunde von Haithabu. Neumünster: Wachholtz (Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, 21).
• Schnack, Christiane (1992): Die mittelalterliche Schuhe aus Schleswig. Ausgrabung Schild 1971-1975. Neumünster: Wachholtz (Ausgrabungen in Schleswig, 10).
• Schütt, Peter (1972): Weltwirtschaftspflanzen. Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin / Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-489-78010-6