For our purposes today, we simply wish to present a few examples of episcopal sandalia coming from the medieval period specifically. While the sandals we are accustomed to seeing typically come from the modern period (i.e. from the eighteenth century onward), liturgical sandals are in fact ancient in usage. However, the further back in time one goes, the fewer the extant examples there are that have survived of course. Fortunately some have been preserved -- sometimes purposefully for reason of an important personage they are attached to, other times 'accidentally' preserved by virtue of being found still preserved in the tombs of medieval prelates when later excavated and exhumed.
Our first example, which is dated to the twelfth century, is one such example of the latter. They were discovered in the nineteenth century preserved within a tomb within the cathedral of Saint-Front de Périgueux in France. They are thought to be of English or French manufacture, being made of silk and including decorative motifs that include vegetal and animal decoration. While the polychrome silks have had their colours fade, one can still yet gain a sense of their beauty.
