Skeletons reveal the cost of medieval fashion for pointy shoes

Known as poulaines, pointy leather shoes were the height of fashion in 14th century Britain. Medieval men and women about town, however, suffered for their fancy footwear: They gotcommon today, especially among women. Paleopathologist Jenna Dittmar was surprised to find evidence of bunions, more formally known as Hallux valgus, among the skeletal remains she was investigating for a wider project on life experience in the medieval period.

Intrigued by the unexpected prevalence of bunions, Dittmar and her colleagues analyzed a total of 177 skeletons from the 11th to the 15th centuries buried in and around Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The research team found that 27% of the skeletons dating from the 14th and 15th centuries suffered from bunions, compared with only 6% that dated back between the 11th and 13th centuries.

This pointed-toe medieval shoe is known as a poulaine. The artifact dates from the late 14th century and is on display at the Museum of London.It was unclear whether the shoes had heels, Dittmar said. Materials like wood that the heels could have been made from do not preserve well in the archaeological record.

In comparison, evidence of bunions was found on 23% of those buried on the site of a charitable hospital that is now part of St. John's College and 43% of those interred in the grounds of a former Augustinian friary -- mainly clergy and wealthy benefactors.Credit:While friars were supposed to wear clothes that reflected a simple lifestyle of worship, it was common for clergy to wear stylish attire.

PattyArquette I’d be tripping all over.

But their bunions no longer hurt after they got the plague. So there’s that.

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