I want to make some shoes consistent with the descriptions found in medieval Welsh sources. They mention buckles, but what sort of buckles would that be?
It’s impossible to know precisely what sort of buckle is being referred to in the written sources, but you can interpolate based on archaeological finds from Welsh sites and from shoe-buckles used in neighboring cultures (especially England — for which purpose I’d start with the Museum of London books on shoes and on dress accessorites). The archaeological finds from medieval Wales generally come from fortifications or urban sites, and so are likely to be influenced strongly by English culture. With that in mind, here’s an assortment of buckles from Welsh archaeological reports in my files. (This isn’t exhaustive — just representative. I’ve included all sorts of buckles and strap fittings, not just shoe-sized ones.) Manley, J.F. & J.M. Lewis. 1987. “A Collection of Medieval Artefacts Found Near Holywell, Clwyd” in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 34:12-282. The items are chance finds with a metal detector rather than from a formal dig — coins involved in the finds date from
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