The pointy-shoed corruption of medieval London
Perhaps one of the oddest moral panics - a fear that some evil threatens the wellbeing of society - was one that arose in medieval times.
Fashionable pointy-toed shoes called poulaines were alleged to promote sexual deviancy and, as a resulting sanction from God, were blamed for bringing about the plague.
The long points were kept erect by being stuffed with moss or straw and could be made out of fancy decorative fabrics or sturdier leather. There were even armoured versions for use in battle.
In his history of the Church, written in about 1100, Orderic Vitalis railed against the dress of Norman lords, with particular vitriol aimed at long-toed shoes.
"A debauched fellow named Robert was the first, about the time of William Rufus, who introduced the practice of filling the long points of the shoes with tow (the fibre of flax, hemp or jute) and of turning them up like a ram's horn.
He also lambasted glove-wearing, centre partings and long tunics - but the shoes seem to have been the true bee in his (manly) bonnet: "They insert their toes in things like serpents' tails which present to view the shape of scorpions...
