Footwear in Early Rus

Foot-wear can be a unique ethnic indicator of the mixed composition of the urban populations of ancient Russia. For example, the peoples of the Volga Region of the 9-10th centries, that belonged to Finno-Ugric group, bore unique cut porshni. Specifically, such porshni are found in Beloozera. Bashkami with the characteristic elongated heel piece are genetically connected with the Pan-European form of foot-wear, passing out of the deepest past. On our territory they are found in the early layers of old Ladoga and in a number of cities of northwestern Russia. (Kolchin)

The finds of foot-wear in the cultural layer of Old-Russian cities can also serve as chronological identifiers. The forms of foot-wear evolved, changing the technology of their production and use of ornamentation. All this gives the possibility of dating, especially for finds in cultural layers with unclear chronology. (Kolchin)

In the archaelogical monuments are known diverse parts of clothing, which were preserved almost completely. Frequently are found also knitted [vyazanye] woolen socks [noski], stockings [chulki] and shoes [tufli]. [vyazanye - term means not only knitting, but also crochet, binding, tying… so perhaps these items were made by naalbinding? Sprang? Other?] (Kolchin)

Some re-enactors (Bykov and Kuzmin) propose that wealthy Rus wore Western-style hosen over their Russian-style undertrousers.

In antiquity, there were several names for foot-wear of the lapti type: "lych'nitsa", "lychak'" and "lap't'", derived from - "lapotnik'" - known in the written sources and going back, in the opinion of research, to the proto-Slavic [praslavyaskoj] epoch. (Kolchin)

The earliest image of lapti dates to the 15th cent. On a miniature from Sergius Radonezhskiy's Life is presented a scene of ploughing with the peasant in lapti. Townspeople, obviously, did not wear lapti. Probably, lapti were work foot-wear, connected with the field work. Lapti were always, up to 19-20th cent. worn by the poorest people.

Lapti or "sandals" could be worn tied on with special lacing threaded through eyelets on the sides of the sandal. (Kireyeva) And they were worn mostly by rural inhabitants. (Pushkareva89)

Lapti were fastened by means of long strings, obory, passed through the side of the lapti and wound around the feet. Foot-wear from bast were worn over the stockings, the socks, nogavits [nogavits, hose?] and windings [obmotok, leg wraps].

Lapti were usually woven of bast (the inner bark of larch or birch trees). The bark was prepared by soaking a long time, then straightened under a press. It took 3 or 4 saplings to make such a pair of shoes, and a pair might last only a week, even those woven "with podkovyrkoj" (double sole). (Pushkareva97 and 89)

Such shoes could also be woven out of strips of coarse leather. These were more durable than bast, but also more expensive. (Pushkareva97) So in order to combine low price with durability, in the country they often used combined weaving of lapti from bast and leather straps. In cities lapotsy in 12-14th cent. were made also of "cuts" of fabric, little pieces of smooth wool cloth and even of silk ribbon. In that case they were called pleteshki (wicker/weaving). (Pushkareva89 and 97)

Soles from woven leather straps are found in the Lyadinskom tomb and in the kurgan of the Vyatichi. On the basis that on the inner side of the sole from the Lyandinskoj tomb were preserved the remains of the bast tapes of the lapti itself, V.P. Levashova proposed that the woven leather soles from the Vyatichey kurgan could also belong to ordinary bast (Kolchin)

Lapti of the above-indicated tombs had different weaving: the soles from the Lyadinskogo tomb were slanting weaving, the sole from the kurgan of vyatichey - straight line. [diagonal/bias vs. square] (Kolchin)

Various weaving patterns were used (oblique, straight) depending on the traditions of the ethnic region. The form of laptej also varied depending on locality: southern and Polesski lapti were open, while northern - "bakhili" - had the form of a narrow boot. (Pushkareva89)

Judging by materials of recent ethnography, lapti could be in the form of shoes with low sides, similar to the Polesskij lapti of straight interweaving, and in the form of deep closed shoes of the northern type of slanting interweaving, known in the Novgorod lands. (Kolchin)

An interesting article about making birchbark shoes. Wilderness Survival: Birchbark Shoes.

Type 1 - bashmaki, ankle-high shoes
Type 2 - sapogi and polusapozhki, boots and half-boots
Type 3 - porshni, slippers

Group 2 - "rigid" leather

Type 1 - tufli, shoes
Subtype 1 - one-piece upper
Subtype 2 - pieced upper

In the cultural layer of many medieval cities, leather is preserved well. In just Novgorod hundreds of thousands of examples of foot-wear of different forms have been found. These include: porshni - low foot-wear, similar to lapti; bashmaki - foot-wear with a little collar at the ankle; boots [sapogi] and halfboots [polusapozhki]- foot-wear with a boot top; and shoes [tufli] - foot-wear with low sides, reaching the ankle.

This "Russian leather" was colored in bright colors, evidenced in both princely miniatures, and frescoes, depicting noble women. The mother of Yaropolk Izyaslavich from Trirski psalter is shown wearing little red shoes; and such also had the wife of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich (Izbornik 1073), and a wife of a Novgorod boyar in a 15th cent. icon. Archeological finds confirm that the colors of leather women's shoes were various - not only red, but also zelenovatymi (green-?), yellow, brown. (Pushkareva89)

Noblewomen might wear everyday shoes made of colored leather or thick fabric with pointed toes that could be as high as the ankle. These were decorated with embroidery and even pearls. (Stamerov)

Soft "Russian leather" of different colors was not affordable for simple Rus. They wore plainer shoes of rawhide leather - so-called porshi. But even everyday shoes had some sort of ornament - embroidery, cut-outs, or beads.

In the large commercial cities like Novgorod and Pskov, inexpensive professionally made shoes replaced homemade shoes in the 13th and 14th centuries. Large cobbler's workshops flooded the marked with mass-produced footwear in a limited number of styles. (Pushkareva97)

In old Ladoga among the early bashmaki are known those made of two pieces of leather for the top and the sole. Bashmaki of two pieces of leather are widespread in the strata of Old-Russian cities of the 10-13 cent. Two versions of their cut are known: with the seam on the side and with the seam in back. (Kolchin)

Materials from the excavations of old Ladoga, Pskov, Novgorod, Beloozera, Minsk, old Ryazan. Ancient Grodno, Moscow, Polotsk, Old Russo, and other cities give evidence of a united tradition in the production of Old-Russian bashmaki beginning in the 8th cent. This unity is expressed in the existence of bashmaki of identical cut in all Old-Russian cities. Special bashmaki with an elongated heel predominated only in Beloozere, because of the specialization of leather working in this city. (Kolchin)

One special feature is characteristic for the bashmaki of the 8-9th centuries: their soles do not have sufficiently clear outline for the right and left foot, although the cut of the top is asymmetric and calculated for the right and the left of the foot. The soles of ancient Russian shoes are sewed to the top with a turned seam, the details of the top sewed with tachnym seam. (Kolchin)

The Old-Russian bashmaki of the 10-14th centuries were fastened with the aid of a strap, passed through rows of holes in the region of the ankle. With this method of fastening the shoe was suitable for a foot with any instep. (Kolchin)

Bashmaki were decorated with embroidery, in 8-10 cent. mainly by ornamental stripes on the middle of the toe. They made them via piercing of small stitches. (Kolchin)

In the 10-13th cent. bashmaki were decorated with more diverse embroidery. Foliage-geometric ornament predominated. Are found bashmaki with pattern not only in the form of flights/sprouts [pobegov], krinov [fleur-de-lis like motifs], which present plant -flowered [rastitel'no-travchatyj] ornament, but also with the pattern in the form of diamonds, circular and arrow-shaped figures. They were embroidered with woolen, flaxen and silk threads. They were colored into red, green and other colors. The outlines of figures were embroidered by a "back needle" seam [back-stitched?], or as it is still called, "verovochkoy". Besides embroidery, shoes were decorated with the aid of colored threads and narrow straps passed through rows of holes in the leather. (Kolchin)

In the 13-14th cent., as the adornment of shoes they began to employ stamping. Usually these are along parallel incisions between elements of plant-geometric ornament on the toe of the shoe. (Kolchin)

The subjects of the embroideries on the shoes indicate the unity of ornament on the articles of daily life and art. Analogies with the patterns of embroideries can be found on the fabrics, on adornments with enamel, in the carving on wood, and also on frescoes. (Kolchin)

In ancient Russia, besides the general names for foot-wear [obuvi] - "obushcha", "obutel'", "obutiye", known from the 11 cent., there existed a large quantity of names connected with specific types of foot-wear. Bashmak is the most recent of them and moreover is clearly borrowed from Turkish languages. It appeared not earlier than the 15th cent. (Kolchin)

Earlier in Russia, to refer to the soft bashmaki, they probably used the term "cherev'ya", which comes from the pan-Slavic vocabulary. It comes from the name of the material - soft leather from the chreva (stomach) of animal. It is possible to propose that the term "cherev'ya", which is encountered in the Povest of Vremennykh Let under the year 1074 and interpreted by Sreznevskim as the various types of foot-wear, referring to that very type of foot-wear, which will later be called bashmaki. This is all the more probable since the word for "bashmak" in the Ukrainian language is the word "chervik". (Kolchin)

Old-Russian bashmaki are depicted in the miniatures of the Radzilvillovskoy chronicle. (Kolchin)

Bashmaki in the 10-13th cent. were typically urban foot-wear. But, judging by the findings in the kurgans, they were worn also by the rural population. (Kolchin)

In the miniatures of the Radzivillovskoy chronicle, porshni are depicted repeatedly. On the basis of the data of excavations and graphic material the researchers of the foot-wear of are inclined to consider porshni the foot-wear of the poorest townspeople and peasants. (Kolchin)

Porshni were the simplest and most widespread foot-wear in ancient Russia. It is possible to divide them into two subtypes: one-piece (subtype 1) and detailed-pattern or composite (subtype 2). They were made not only from the soft tanned leather, but also from raw hide. (Kolchin)

The leather for "porshnej" was not tanned, but only kneaded and saturated with oil/grease. These shoes were durable but not waterproof, and quickly saturated in rain. They were sewn with linen threads, which for durability were sewn in. (Pushkareva97)

Soft women's porshni with a small number of "shoe makers" could be made of the more thin and delicate parts of leather of animal, mainly from the "chreva" - belly; they even were named "cherev'ya" (cherevichki). Around the edges of porshni, small leather straps were passed through, which tightened the shoes around the leg, forming small pleats/wrinkles, and also ornamenting the shoes. Everyday porshni and cherv'ya were embellished only with unusual shvami ("pleteshok" [weaving?]). (Pushkareva89)

Holes would be repaired with decorative leather patches. (Pushkareva97) One form had no seams - the leather was simply cut in an oval and gathered around the ankle with a drawstring threaded through slits in the leather. (Pushkareva97)

One-piece porshni were made from a piece of leather of different forms. For the first version of cut was used a rectangular piece of leather. The porshni of the 11-13th cent. were made via the simplest gathering of the piece leather in the region of toe and heel with a bast or leather lace, passed through the single cuts on the sides. The laces tightened the porshni and were tied around the leg over the pants, the stockings or the leg wraps. Such porshni existed in the life of peasants up to the 20th cent. (Kolchin)

Using the method of formation the porshni of rectangular cut can be divided into several types. Thus, besides the simplest gathering, some porshni were made in such a way that, with the formation of toe, was formed beautiful weaving [pleteshok – better translated as pleating here?]. (Kolchin)

Another form had the leather turned up at an angle at the front and sewn to make a toe, then the sides and back were turned up and threaded with straps that were then wrapped around the shins over the onuchi. (Stamerov)

In the 14 cent. in the layers of Old-Russian cities appear porshni whose toe and heel are no longer gathered with a strap, but are sewn by threads, this is related, obviously, with the use of harder leathers. (Kolchin)

Unique porshni existed from the 10th cent. in Beloozere. They were also made from a rectangular piece of leather, but had unique cuts in the region of the toe. Such porshni were not gathered, but were sewn. (Kolchin)

Second version of porshni made from a whole piece of leather are porshni from a hexagonal [more or less] piece of leather. Along the edge of toe and heel they are supplied with holes for the tightening with the lace, and along instep and toe were arranged diagonal cuts for the lacing. Along the sides there were also cuts. The lace passed through them to attach the porshni to the foot. This strap support is later called "oborami" . Such porshni in the scientific literature are called "openwork" [azhurnymi]. They are known in the layers of Old-Russian cities since the 11th cent. (Kolchin)

Openwork porshni were far more stylish. They were often made with a cloth lining. The pattern of openwork presented itself most often of all as parallel slits, little stripes. (Pushkareva89)

Besides openwork from 10th cent. existed embroidery of shoes with wool and silk threads, and also stamping/embossing them. Openwork and embroidered porshni appeared in cities (Novgorod, Grodno, Starij Ryazan, Pskov) no earlier than 11th cent. (Pushkareva89)

Soft shoes, reminiscent of modern children's pinetki, were a widespread type of women's leather shoes. The majority of such shoes had a small strap let in at the ankle, and tied up in front on the instep. The length of the footprint in actual examples of women's shoes does not exceed 20-22 centimeters; indicating that the feet of city dwellers of that time were quite small. (Pushkareva89)

Kolchin's subtype 2 is porshni made from several parts. It is known in two versions of the cut: of two and of three parts. The porshni of the first version are known in Novgorod from the 11th cent. Major portion of its preparation includes sole, counter/back and sides. It takes the form of an irregular rectangle with blunt/cut-off angles in the toe part. The smaller fragment of the pattern took the form of triangle. The main blank/piece was bent around the foot, and the triangular piece was sewn in at the instep. The cuts for the passing of lace were located along the sides of the porshni. (Kolchin)

The porshni of the second version consisted of major portion of the pattern, which included sole and counter, the separately undercut [?podkroennogo] toe of triangular form and strips of leather sewn on the side with transverse cuts, through which the lace was passed. All parts were sewn with threads. In old Ladoga was found an entire porshni of this version. It is dated to the 16th cent. Thus, porshni of three parts can be considered as the result of the development of the porshni of the pre-Mongol era. (Kolchin)

According to their cut they are divided into two subtypes: shoes from the one-piece upper and sole (subtype 1) and shoes from the pieced-cut upper and sole (subtype 2). (Kolchin)

For preparing shoes of the first subtype, two versions of the cut used: with the seam at the side and with the seam in back. Shoes were fastened together by laces on instep or on the inside of the ankle. Sometimes they were decorated with thread on the instep, analogous to similar shoes existing in the medieval cities of Western Europe, especially Polish. (Kolchin)

The shoes of the second subtype (pieced-cut) are known from the finds in Minsk, in the layers of the end of the 13th cent. The development of their form is encountered in old Ladoga, in the layers of the 16-17th centuries. They have a deep head/cap with a tongue on the instep, a composite counter/back with lining/packing [prokladkami], three-layered sole with the wide low-set heel, which was fastened with wooden pins and sewn with waxed thread. The details of the upper were sewn with a tachnym seam, and the upper attached to the sole like a sandal [?]. Shoes were held on the foot with the aid of a strap, which was cut together with the internal half of the counter/back and was passed through the cuts on the tongue. (Kolchin)

Wide distribution of shoes [tufel'] in Western Europe and the concentration of their finds in the western regions of Russia make it possible to connect their appearance with the resurrection of the western contacts by the Russian state. However, the prerequisites for the appearance of foot-wear of rigid forms already existed in the leather work of pre-Mongol Russia. The described foot-wear makes it possible to trace the succession of the types of cut and ornamentation from the 10th century up to the period of Muscovite Rus. (Kolchin)

Boots and halfboots were the favorite type of foot-wear in Russia. They differed from each other only in the height of the boot tops, and their development occurred in the same direction; therefore they can be examined in a single typological series. The boots of pre-Mongol Russia can be divided into two subtypes: boots cut from a large piece of leather with a seamless/solid boot top and those cut from several small parts. (Kolchin)

The first subtype has many versions of the cut. One of them is presented in the boots from Novgorod. The upper was solid/seamless [tsel'notyanutym], about which the cut gives evidence. The tops of boots [golenishcha] are made of two halves, the forward section forming the head/cap [golovku] and then the boot top, and the rear corresponds to counter/back [zadniku] and also forms the boot top. This example is the earliest model of boot. It is dated to the 11th cent. (Kolchin)