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ARCHAEOLOGY

Extremely rare baby boot from Middle Ages found in Switzerland

Archaeologists in the Swiss canton of Jura have unearthed a stunning fragment of a baby boot dating from the second half of the 14th century.

Published: 28 March 2019 20:12 CET
Extremely rare baby boot from Middle Ages found in Switzerland
The decorative designs of the boot have been described as "exceptional". Photo: Office de la culture and Gentle Craft

The fragment measuring 17cm by 13cm was found during ongoing archaeological excavations in the picturesque old town of Saint-Ursanne near the Swiss–French border.

The uppers are made of goat leather while the soles are made from cow leather.

The “exceptional” decorations consist of a foliage motif and geometric patterns, the Jura Office of Culture said in a statement.

An artist's impression of the original boot. Image: Office de la culture and Gentle Craft

Specialists from the Shoe Museum Lausanne say the ankle boot belonged to a child of around 12 months of age. Its design was popular in the second half of the 14th century.

It is unique in Switzerland. Only five such shoes have been found in Europe – three in London and two in the Netherlands.

The original colour of the boot is unknown as leather which has been preserved for a long period is always dark brown.

Read also: Ancient Roman fridge discovered near Basel keeps beer cool for months

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TODAY IN FRANCE

France to compensate relatives of Algerian Harki fighters

France has paved the way towards paying reparations to more relatives of Algerians who sided with France in their country's independence war but were then interned in French camps.

Published: 16 May 2023 08:29 CEST
France to compensate relatives of Algerian Harki fighters

More than 200,000 Algerians fought with the French army in the war that pitted Algerian independence fighters against their French colonial masters from 1954 to 1962.

At the end of the war, the French government left the loyalist fighters known as Harkis to fend for themselves, despite earlier promises it would look after them.

Trapped in Algeria, many were massacred as the new authorities took revenge.

Thousands of others who fled to France were held in camps, often with their families, in deplorable conditions that an AFP investigation recently found led to the deaths of dozens of children, most of them babies.

READ ALSO Who are the Harkis and why are they still a sore subject in France?

French President Emmanuel Macron in 2021 asked for “forgiveness” on behalf of his country for abandoning the Harkis and their families after independence.

The following year, a law was passed to recognise the state’s responsibility for the “indignity of the hosting and living conditions on its territory”, which caused “exclusion, suffering and lasting trauma”, and recognised the right to reparations for those who had lived in 89 of the internment camps.

But following a new report, 45 new sites – including military camps, slums and shacks – were added on Monday to that list of places the Harkis and their relatives were forced to live, the government said.

Now “up to 14,000 (more) people could receive compensation after transiting through one of these structures,” it said, signalling possible reparations for both the Harkis and their descendants.

Secretary of state Patricia Miralles said the decision hoped to “make amends for a new injustice, including in regions where until now the prejudices suffered by the Harkis living there were not recognised”.

Macron has spoken out on a number of France’s unresolved colonial legacies, including nuclear testing in Polynesia, its role in the Rwandan genocide and war crimes in Algeria.

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