Our own ancestors, the Anglo-Saxons, wore shoes of raw cow-hide, reaching to the ankles; and the hair turned outward. Those used by ecclesiastics were a kind of sandal fastened with bands of leather round the instep. The Norman half-boots had soles of wood, while the uppers were of a more pliable material. Those worn by the Crusaders were of chain, and later of plate armour. Very pointed toes were in fashion during the Middle Ages, and these were carried to such a ridiculous length that the dignitaries of the Church considered it necessary to preach against the practice. However, this did not result in its abolition, for we find the courtiers of the day improved upon the prevailing mode by stuffing their shoes, and twisting them into the shape of a ram's horn; the point of which was attached to the knee by a chain. The common people were permitted by law to wear "the pykes on their shoon" half-a-foot, rich citizens a foot, while nobles and princes had theirs two-and-a-half feet long. During the Plantagenet period it was usual to wear two shoes of different colours, and they were often slashed on the upper surface, to show the bright hose beneath. These were superseded by a large, padded shoe, gored over the foot with coloured material, a fashion imported from Italy, and exaggerated as much as the pointed shoe had been. Buskins were high boots, made of splendid tissue, and worn by the nobility and gentry during the Middle Ages, generally on occasions of State. They were also largely adopted by players of tragedy. They covered the knee, and were tied just below. The sock, or low shoe, on the other hand, was the emblem of comedy. One of the greatest follies ever introduced was the chopine, a sort of stilt which increased the height of the wearer. These were first used in Persia, but appeared in Venice about the Sixteenth Century, and their use was encouraged by jealous husbands in the hope of keeping their wives at home. This desire, however, was not realised, as the ladies went out as usual, and required rather more support than hitherto. Chopines were very ornate, and the length determined the rank of the wearer, the noblest dames having them half-a-yard high. Shakespeare refers to them when he makes Hamlet say:--"Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last by the altitude of a chopine." He also alludes to the general use of shoes for the left and right foot, when he speaks of a man:--- "Standing in slippers which his nimble haste Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet." [Illustration: GREEK AND ROMAN SHOES.]