Among the Jews, shoes were made of leather, linen, rush, or wood; those of soldiers were sometimes of brass or iron. They were tied with thongs, which passed under the soles of the feet. To put off their shoes, was an act of veneration; it was also a sign of mourning and humiliation: to bear one's shoes, or to untie the latchets of them, was considered as the meanest service, as appears in the Baptist's declaration of his own inferiority to Christ.

Among the Greeks, shoes of various kinds were used. Sandals were worn by women of distinction. The Lacedemonians wore red shoes. The Grecian shoes generally reached to the middle of the leg. The Romans used two kinds of shoes: the calceus which covered the whole foot, somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with latchets or strings; and the solea, or slipper, which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened with leathern thongs. The calceus was always worn along with the toga, when a person went abroad: slippers were put on during a journey, and at feasts, but it was reckoned effeminate to appear in public with them. Black shoes were worn by the citizens of ordinary rank, and white ones by the women. Red shoes were sometimes worn by the ladies, and purple ones by the coxcombs of the other sex. Red shoes were put on by the chief magistrates of Rome, on days of ceremony and triumphs. The shoes of senators, patricians, and their children, had a crescent upon them, which served for a buckle; these were called calcei lunati. Slaves wore no shoes; hence they were called cretori, from their dusty feet. Phocion also, and Cato Uticensis, went without shoes. The toes of the Roman shoes were turned up in the point; hence they were called calcei rostrati, repandi, etc.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the greatest princes of Europe wore wooden shoes, or the upper part of leather, and the sole of wood. In the reign of William Rufus, a great beau, Robert, surnamed The Homed, used shoes with long sharp points, stuffed with tow, and twisted like a ram's horn. It is said, the clergy being highly offended, declaimed against the long-pointed shoes with great vehemence. The points, however, continued to increase, till, in the reign of Richard II. they were of so enormous a length, that they were tied to knees with chains, sometimes of gold, sometimes of silver

The upper parts of these shoes, in Chaucer's time, were cut in imitation of a church window. The long-pointed shoes were called crackowes, and continued in fashion for three centuries, in spite of the bulls of popes, the decrees of councils, and the declamations of the clergy. At length the parliament of England interposed, by an act A. D. 1463, prohibiting the use of shoes or boots with pikes exceeding two inches in length, and prohibiting all shoemakers from making shoes or boots with longer pikes, under severe penalties. But even this was not sufficient: it was necessary to denounce the dreadful sentence of excommunication against all who wore shoes or boots with points longer than two inches. The present fashion of shoes was introduced in 1633, but the buckle was not used till 1670.

In Norway, they use shoes of a particular construction, consisting of two pieces, and without heels; in which the upper-leather sits close to the foot, the sole being joined to it by many plates or folds.

The shoes or slippers of the Japanese, as we are informed by Professor Thunberg, are made of rice-straw, woven; but sometimes, for people of distinction, of fine slips of ratan. The shoe consists of a sole, without upper-leather or hind-piece: forwards, it is crossed by a strap, of the thickness of one's finger, which is lined with linen; from the tip of the shoe to the strap, a cylindrical string is carried, which passes between the great and second toe, and keeps the shoe fast on the foot. As these shoes have no hind-piece, they make a noise, when people walk in them, like slippers. When the Japanese travel, their shoes are furnished with three strings made of twisted straw, with which they are tied to the legs and feet, to prevent them from falling. Some people carry one or more pairs of shoes with them on their journeys, in order to put on new when the old ones are worn out. When it rains, or the roads are very dirty, these shoes are soon wetted through; and a great number of worn-out shoes are continually seen lying on the roads, especially near the brooks, where travellers have changed their shoes after washing their feet.

Instead of these, in rainy or dirty weather, they wear high wooden clogs, which underneath are hollowed out in the middle, and at top have a band across, like a stirrup, and a string for the great toe; so that they can walk without soiling their feet. Some of them have their straw shoes fastened to these wooden clogs. The Japanese never enter their houses with their shoes on; but leave them in the entry, or place them on the bench near the door, and thus are always barefooted in their houses, so as not to dirty their neat irats.