Patten (shoe)
Pattens, also known by other names, are protective overshoes that were worn in Europe from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. In appearance, they sometimes resembled contemporary clogs or sandals. Pattens were worn outdoors over a normal shoe, had a wooden or later wood and metal sole, and were held in place by leather or cloth bands. Pattens functioned to elevate the foot above the ground, to protect leather shoes from water, snow or mud. Women continued to wear pattens in muddy conditions until the 19th or even early 20th century.
Names
The word patten probably derives from the Old French patte meaning hoof or paw. It was also spelled patyn and in other ways. Historically, pattens were sometimes used to protect hose without an intervening pair of footwear and thus the name was sometimes extended to similar shoes like clogs. In modern use, however, the term is properly restricted to overshoes. In fact, medieval English also used the terms clogs and galoshes alongside pattens but, if there were subtle differences intended, that is no longer clear and all medieval and early modern overshoes are now usually referred to as pattens for convenience.Medieval period
During the Middle Ages, pattens were worn outdoors, and in public places, over the thin soled shoes of that era. Pattens were worn by both men and women during the Middle Ages, and are especially seen in art from the 15th century; a time when poulaines—shoes with very long, pointed toes—were particularly in fashion.Types
There were three main types of pattens. One of these types had a wooden 'platform' sole raised from the ground, either with wooden wedges or iron stands. A second variant had a flat wooden sole, often hinged. The third type had a flat sole made from stacked layers of leather. Some later European varieties of these pattens had a laminated sole; light wooden inner sections with leather above and below.In earlier varieties of pattens, dating from the 12th century on, the stilt or wedge variety were more common. From the late 14th century, the flat variety became increasingly common. Leather pattens became fashionable in the 14th and 15th centuries, and in London, appear to have begun to be worn as shoes over hose in the 15th century, spreading to a much wider section of the public. Most London patten soles were constructed of alder, willow, or poplar wood.
In 1390, the Diocese of York forbade clergy from wearing pattens and clogs in both church and processions, considering them to be indecorous—contra honestatem ecclesiae. Conversely, the famous rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet of Aragon was asked if it was permissible to wear patines on Shabbat, to which he replied that it was the custom of "all the wise in the land" to wear them, and was certainly permitted.
Since shoes of the period had thin soles, pattens were commonly used to distance the shoes and feet from puddles of water, snow, or - when worn indoors - from cold stone floors. Contrary to popular belief, there was no widespread problem with refuse on city streets, since sanitary measures were commonplace. However, pattens would have been effective protection from horse droppings and the like. To serve these functions, pattens tended to only make contact with the ground through two or three strips of wood and raised the wearer up considerably, sometimes by four inches or more, in contrast to clogs, which usually have a low, flat-bottomed sole integral to the shoe.
Early Modern period
A later pattern of patten which seems to date from the 17th century, and then became the most common, had a flat metal ring which made contact with the ground, attached to a metal plate nailed into the wooden sole via connecting metal, often creating a platform of several inches. By this time men's shoes had thicker soles and the wealthier males commonly wore high riding boots, thus pattens seem only to have been worn by women and working-class men in outdoor occupations. Since dress hems extended down to the feet for most of this period, it was necessary to raise the hem above the ground to keep the dress clean even in well-swept and paved streets. The motto of the London Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers, the former representative guild for this trade, was and remains: Recipiunt Fœminæ Sustentacula Nobis, Latin for Women Receive Support From Us. The 19th-century invention of cheap rubber galoshes gradually displaced the patten, as did the more widespread use of urban paving, especially elevated, paved pathways only for pedestrians—the now ubiquitous pavements —or hard road surfaces.Etiquette and practicality
Wearing of pattens inside church was discouraged, if not outright forbidden: perhaps because of the noise they made, the oft-commented "clink" being the consensus term for the sound; Jane Austen wrote of the "ceaseless clink of pattens" referring to life in Bath. To talk excessively and too loudly was coined to be as if one: "had your "tongue run on pattens", used by Shakespeare and others. In houses, pattens were taken off with hats and overcoats upon entering, not doing so being considered rude and inconsiderate by bringing dirt inside—literally a faux pas or wrong step. The aunt of the Brontë Sisters, Miss Branwell, seems to have been considered notably eccentric for wearing her pattens indoors:Pattens were not always easy to walk in, and despite their practical intention, literary evidence suggests that they could appear, at least to males, as a further aspect of feminine frailty and dependency. Samuel Pepys recorded in his diary for 24 January 1660:
From the Middle Period Poems of John Clare :
From Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders of 1887, though set earlier in the century: