20. Summary in English
20. Summary in English
Leather and Fur at the End of the Middle Ages and in Early Modern Times. Concealed Finds
from the Mühlberg-Ensemble in Kempten (Allgäu).
This study analyzes 576 leather and fur finds from the former Reichsstadt Kempten im Allgäu
using archaeological methods. They were found as a concealment in two places: in the space
between the ceiling and the second floor of the house St.-Mang-Platz 8 and between the walls
next to the house St. Mang-Platz 10. It is the biggest known complex of this kind in Europe,
which is here considered as a new source for research. It is also interpreted regarding the history
of costume, craft and society.
Most of the finds belong to shoes, which have been classified according to their fastening into
eleven types (type Typ A1-A11, Taf. 3) showing the development of shoe fashion between the
late 15th and the late 16th century. The oldest and most elegant type are the leather pattens (Typ
A1) sewn in the late 15th century. They should be considered as a rare luxury article made in the
Netherlands following Iberian patterns. In the early 16th century mules (Typ A2) replaced leather
pattens as slippers for indoor use. Another style was the were ankle shoe with side fastening (Typ
A10), a type of poulaine. In the late 15th century, they were replaced by low cut ankle shoes with
buckle fastening (Typ A7). This is the most common type. Originally it was very elegant footwear
derived from late medieval Southern German and Swiss models. Starting about 1480 it developed
from a typical part of the German Landsknecht dress into the most important European
footwear fashion in the 16th century. With their tendency to a wide toe, the Mühlberg shoes
belong to the early period of Kuhmaul or Tudor style shoes. One speciality is their pattern of a
sewn-in tongue and separate leg probably made by a cobbler.
The counterpart to these styles is provided by numerous ankle boots with wrapover front (Typ
A3) and its varietion with side fastening (Typ A4). Obviously, this is a Southern German and
Swiss model. Contrary to an older theory no high medieval precursors of this type are found.
This footwear was worn between the late 15th and the early 16th century mostly by peasants or
lower class people, so it became the well known symbol of peasant insurrections around 1500
AD. The front lace ankle boot (Typ A9) is also classified in this chronological and social context.
It is more difficult to interpret the social context of front lace ankle shoes (Typ A8), which were
derived from late medieval forms. The type with three or more lace holes did not start until postmedieval times. Ankle boots with their easy to handle front button fastening (Typ A5) were used
as typical children's footwear by all social classes until the end of 15th century. They may have
been substituted in the post-medieval period by boots with side hooks (Typ A11), though a very
rare model, which was evidently produced as a local cobbler's speciality. The latest model is the
ankle shoe with strap fastening (Typ A6), which was developed in the Netherlands in the late 16th
century. In their "Golden Age", the 17th century, it was the most common style throughout
Europe.
It is possible to recognize a chronology of sole shapes (Taf. 2), which leads from more pointed
forms in the late 15th century (Typ B1 and B2) through footshape patterns (Typ B3) to rounded
or wide rounded shapes in the early 16th century (Typ B4 and B5). The latter are similar to the
classic Tudor style soles, whereas children's soles (Typ B6) seem to depend only on the child's
anatonomy with no chronological changes.
Nearly all the shoes show corporate craftsmen's work of prime quality following a single pattern:
the upper consists of two parts with a medial seam and a separate leg. Although the Kempten
shoe forms belong to modern European fashion, their craft technique persists from older
traditions: In this complex even the styles of the early 16th century were sewn with the late
medieval turnshoe method (Taf. 1, above), despite the presence of leather pattens and mules
20. Summary in English
showing modern so-called "California" technique. As shown in this study, the modern welted
technique was derived from the late medieval "California"-like technique. The predominance of
the older turnshoe technique probably indicates a lower class context for these finds. Moreover,
there are few shoes made in stitchdown technique, which is characteristic for the 16th century.
Only the most recent shoes (ankle shoe with strap fastening, Typ A6) were made welted, which
can be attributed to a prosperous standard of living. They show not only the modern
construction, but also the so-called "Derby-shoe" pattern, which optimizes fit by cutting the
fastening as part of the leg and not the vamp. This pattern was evidently developed before the
mid 16th century between the rivers Seine and Ems marking the start point of modern footwear.
All shoes display traces of cobbler's work, they are badly worn with uppers and soles frequently
ripped off to use for patches. In consequence, this complex is to be interpreted as the deposit of
a former cobbler's workshop containing useless remains, which were put into the filling of floors
and walls.
This selection applies to the 194 fragments of clothing, too. Nearly all of them show traces of
cutting, numerous seams, or were completely worn out. They lack any kind of fastening,
evidently it was removed before concealment. Most of it consists of wool-on sheepskin, which
has lost its wool - eaten by moths over the centuries. So it is quite sensational, that this is the
largest find of fur known in Europe. About 70 parts of sheepskin hoods can be identified
(reconstruction, cf. Taf. 78), with quilted (Typ D1) or plain lining (Typ D2). They belonged to at
least six hoods. There are no parallels to them in the early post-medieval period. In the early 16th
century such hoods were out of fashion; their use was restricted to nuns, beguines and a few
special occupations (peasants and miners), it was also associated with mourning dress. Similiarly,
the skull cap (pileolus, Typ D3, Taf. 98) was worn only by priests. In contrast, the fragments of
berets (Typ D4, Taf. 99) were part of fashionable wear between the late 15th and the 16th century,
as also the hair-ribbon (Typ D5, Taf. 100) and the doubled apron (covering one's chest and
back), which were in fashion in the beginning of this period. In the cold winters of the Allgäu
region, it was necessary to wear gloves and mittens (Typ F, Taf. 134) as well. Most dress
fragments are cut remarkably small or sewn together as patchwork.
The range of finds is completed by belts and straps (Typ H), three small balls (Typ K, Taf. 136)
and two purses with an iron frame (Typ L, Taf. 136-137). There are almost no weapons: the
knives and scabbards were dress accessories rather than means of defence. The only remains of
armour are several fragments of a steel jack (Typ M, Taf. 137).
This interpretation reveals the finds from the Mühlberg-Ensemble as a key complex for dress
research in early post-medieval period. For the very first time, here it was possible to study the
kind of seams as techniques of specific crafts (Taf. 1), although there seems to be no
chronological evidence: shoemakers used for the sole seam two threads in a butted seam with
flesh/edge stitching (Stürznaht 2); for the upper a closed seam with flesh/grain stitching
(Stürznaht 1) and for the lining a lapped seam with whipstitch (Applikennaht 1). To repair the
upper cobblers used a butted seam with whipstitch (Stoßnaht 2), while patches were fixed to the
sole with tunnel stitches (Applikennaht 2). Although a furrier worked with very similiar material,
her or his seams are distinctively different from the cobbler's and shoemaker's using only a single
thread both for closed seams with whipstitch (Stürznaht 4) and for butted seams with flesh/
grain stitches (Stürznaht 5). Professional or domestic patchwork used lapped or butted seams
whipstitched (Applikennaht 1 and Stoßnaht 2). In general, the regularity and density of stitches
depend on the craftsman or woman's professionalism. Often the quality of the seams might
exceed the quality of the sewn material - obviously the material was more expensive than the
work producing complex patchwork using tiny pieces.
The composition of the finds gives some hints about their last users: The range of shoe sizes (and
also sizes of gloves and mittens) belongs to a population consisting of women and children. Their
20. Summary in English
remains were put into the floor filling about 1530, although the types of mittens, balls, berets and
the steel jack were in use for a longer period (chart Graphik I). The space between the two
houses was filled over a longer period. Although it contained only 18 objects, the cap (type D3)
and two shoes with strap fastening (type A6) testify that the concealment was not before the late
16th or even the early 17th century.
Thus, it might be possible to identify at least the older complex as the remains from the beguine
convent, which is mentioned (as "sisters") in written sources at house no. 12. Perhaps they
worked as cobblers or patchwork-makers, while nursing children. The number of sisters, which is
regulated in the foundation document conforms with the number of sheepskin hoods. This
deposit also corresponds to the iconoclasm in the neighbouring St. Mang church (in 1533);
probably, parts of its contents came into this filling - the included priest's headgear fits in with
this ecclesiastic sites. Maybe the concealment is evidence for major changes of ownership against
the background of the rise of the Reformation in Kempten. It is a pity that no written sources tell
us about these incidents at the border between ecclesiastical and civil area. Nevertheless, the
cobbler's workshop, detected here using archaeological methods, is documented at this place in
written sources as the sexton's job in the 18th century. In the early post-medieval period, cobbling
and patchwork were not corporate professions. Thus the population belonged to the lower class.
In any case, the concealed finds - not just from Kempten - are a new source for organic and
everyday objects. The archaeological and systematic research of this barely known source will
open a new window to a more colourful and detailed Middle Ages than the mere interpretation
of written sources could ever provide.