This is the website of Al Muckart, known to the SCA as William de Wyke. It is mostly concerned with my adventures in making reproduction medieval shoes, though there will be the occasional post about non-shoe things I’ve made as well.
Where Are The Elves?
Musings on the manufacture of reproduction medieval footwear. Unlike the shoemaker of fairy tale I have no helpful elves so I have to learn to do it myself.
Tags
14thc 16thC aands50 awl boots bristles careandfeeding case craftsmanship Crispin Colloquy cross section decorated dye earlyperiod gettingstarted gettinstarted goo knife knives laceup lasts learningexperience lefties Materials notashoe philosophy pictures pitfalls random righsideout rushjobs sharpening sheath shoehorn Shoes shoesimade SO-1 thread Tools Tutorials video welted wornoutTopics
- Lasts (1)
- Materials (4)
- Non-shoe (2)
- Philosophy (1)
- Shoemaking (7)
- Shoes (8)
- Early (1)
- Medieval (6)
- Post-medieval (2)
- Techniques (1)
- Tools (2)
- Tutorials (5)
- Uncategorized (13)
- Videos (2)
Books
- Leather and Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York Detailed book on the York finds. Very worth reading.
- Shoes and Pattens The standard English-language reference work on medieval footwear from the Museum of London
- Stepping Through Time Stepping Through Time by Olaf Goubitz, one of the standard references for medieval shoemakers
- The Art of The Cordwainer Al Saguto’s translation of M.De Garsault’s 1767 Art du cordonnier. A must-have book for anyone interested in late-period shoes. Much of the content in applicable to late 1500s shoemaking.
- York Archaeology Publications Archive Freely downloadable PDFs of out-of-print York Archaeology publications, including Leather & Leatherworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York
Commercial Historic Shoes
- ANA Period Shoes Very nicely made, highly accurate high medieval shoes. She also does nice pattens.
- CP Shoes German maker of period shoes. Some of their work is good, some is completely ahistorical, but their “Almost right” shoes are well priced, and look far far more accurate than the junk coming out of India and Pakistan.
- Historical Italian Shoes I don’t know who this guy is but he appears to be a reenactor working with period tools and equipment and he captures the form of the historic shoes he’s making as well as anyone I’ve ever seen.
- Sarah Juniper Shoes A properly trained cordwainer, Sarah Juniper’s work is exceptional. I have minor issues with some of her medieval shoes but her Tudor shoes in particular are basically perfect.
Medieval Crafts
- Adventures in Historical Tabletweaving The site of a prolific and highly skilled tablet weaver.
- Leatherwork Through The Ages Site by Martin Moser, primarily a Roman Reenactor whose work looks to be of very high standard.
- Raised Heels Francis Classe’s site on Chopines and other late-medieval built-up shoes. Good tutorials.
Research
- Footwear of the Middle Ages Marc Carlson’s website on medieval footwear. THE site to start with if you are interested in medieval shoes.
- Medieval and Postmedieval Shoes From Kempten (Internet Archive) Internet Archive copy of Dr Reiner Atzbach’s article on shoe finds from Kempten (Allgäu), Germany.