Figure 1.--Thi Italian fresco depicts the month of May. It is a series of montky frescos painted (1235-47) in the palace of cardinal Stefano de Normandis dei Conti (d. 1254). Today the palace is part of a Agustinians nunnery near the basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati (Four Holy Crowned Ones) in Rome. We can see a man riding a horse (it is not clear who he was). The is wearin hose, but thefootewear os unclear. We see two barefoot peasants (probably boys) picking cherries from a tree (a May fruit).

We think that many people in Italy and the rest of Europe went barefoot. The great bulk of the population was the rural peasantry. The children certainly went barefoot. Economics was certainly a factor. The economic consition of the peasantry suggest that footwear was not nerly as common, as in urban areas. A complication here is that even in the stoneage footwear existed. We know that because of Otzie found un the Alps and radio carbon dated (3300 BC). What we don't know is to what extent his footwear was related to crossing the Alps in the snow. And basic biology suggests that footwer was needed during the winter. Of course, Italy is a peninsula extending into the warm Mediterranean. Southern Italy is warm enough to go barefoot the year round. The available imagery confirms that children went barefoot. Trends for the general population, especially the rural peasantry are less clear. The fact that protective footwear is helpful for working people, suggests that the male peasntry did not go barefoot, at least all of it. The situation of the more affluent classes is better known. Footwear was an indicator of social status and fashionable styles were worn. Persons of any status would not appear barefoot in public.