Turnshoe
Encyclopedia
Shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
made of leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
used during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. It was so named because it was put together inside-out, and then was turned right-side-out once finished. This hides the main seam between the sole and vamp (upper) -- prolonging the life of the shoe and inhibiting moisture leaking in through the seam.
In the very beginning, turnshoes consisted of only one piece of leather sewn on only one side. In the late early and the high medieval ages, turnshoes mostly constisted of one sole (bovinae) and one piece of vamp (caprinae/bovinae). In the late Middle Ages, additional elements were added, like doubled soles.
Turnshoes were displaced by welted shoes in the beginning of the 16th century. Turnshoes were most often made in the home.