We offer yet another reason why you shouldn’t let idiots govern you. Shoe related….
Fulk IV (1043 – 14 April 1109), better known as Fulk le Réchin, was the count of Anjou from around 1068 until his death. He was noted to be “a man with many reprehensible, even scandalous, habits” by Orderic Vitalis, who particularly objected to his many women and his influential footwear, claiming he popularized the pigaches that eventually became the poulaine, the medieval long-toed shoe.
Réchin, the epithet by which he is usually known, has no certain translation. Philologists have made numerous and varied suggestions, most but not all negative, including “the Quarreler“, “the Rude“, “the Sullen“, “the Surly“, and “the Heroic”.
Amid his other denunciations of Fulk, the English historian Orderic Vitalis blamed him for the invention of pigaches, the pointy-toed “scorpion-tail” shoes, which became fashionable in France and England around this time and later developed into the unwieldy elongated poulaines. Supposedly Fulk began wearing narrow shoes with lengthened toes as a way of hiding his unsightly bunions from his 5th wife Bertrade before she abandoned him in favor of the king.
And the Poulins were also declared by the Church – “Satan’s Claw“, because it was believed that such shoes were worn by lechers, and it was extremely uncomfortable to pray, kneeling, in such shoes. These are the fashionable tricks of Satan.
F4’s lineage was full of self serving greed Fulks. For example, F3 inspired this image by Gustave Doré. It is called Foulque-Nerra Assailed by the Phantoms of His Victims, under the naive assumption that F3 had a conscience.
Fulk Nerra was a brilliant politician, yet quite a nasty man as well. As a count, he stopped at nothing to increase his domains and defend his interests. As a husband, he could be absolutely savage even in accordance with Medieval standards when violence was part of everyday life.
In his personal life, Fulk [F3] was as brutal as he was in politics. His first wife was Elisabeth de Vendôme, daughter of Count Bouchard de Vendome, with whom Fulk had a daughter – Adèle. Nonetheless, Fulk was extremely cruel to his spouse: he accused Elisabeth of adultery with a local farmer, and, before checking the veracity of the accusation, she was burned at the stake.
Of course, Satan got wind of this fashion trend, and opened a fashionable poulaines outlet in the Mall of Hell.
Meet His Friendly Sales Consultants!
And our Distinguished Clientele!
Semi-Sequitur: Queen Anne of Bohemia
The arrival—or resumption—of this fashion in England is traditionally associated with the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the emperor Charles IV, in 1382. In his entry for the year 1394, the Evesham monk who wrote the History of the Life and Reign of Richard II claimed that “with this Queen there came from Bohemia into England those accursed vices, namely shoes with a long beak—the English cracows or pikes—taking up 0.5 yards (46 cm) in length so that it is necessary to tie them to the shin with silver chains before they can be used to walk forward”.
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth of Pomerania. Her death at the age of 28 was believed to have been caused by plague.
14th-century Queen of Richard II – Anne of Bohemia – illustration by Percy Anderson for Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, 1906
Crown of Princess Blanche, perhaps made for Anne By MatthiasKabel – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1335297
The article notes that “Anne was severely criticised by contemporary chroniclers“, which seemed like standard treatment of new queens from foreign lands. But it sounds like the kids were in love. They were both 15 at the time of their marriage, and it was said that “these ‘two wispy teenagers’ soon fell into a loving relationship and “over the years the king proved truly devoted to his new wife. Walsingham later wrote that Richard rarely allowed Anne to leave his side.” – Wikipedia
WLBOTT Reimagines the Wedding
The first kiss was a bit problematic, due to the length of the shoes, but a little ingenuity solved the problem!
WLBOTT Wishes Those Kids Well!
It was a teenage wedding And the old folks wished them well You could see that Pierre Did truly love that mademoiselle Now the young monsieur and madame Have rung the Chapel bell "C'est la vie", say the old folks It goes to show you never can tell
- Emmylou Harris
Farm to Foot™
Early in what passes for “research, Elder G, showed us this photo of the poulaines. We were surprised how much these shoes resemble sweet potatoes. There may be an opportunity for WLBOTT to offer a garden-fresh variety of poulaines, made from sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, and other garden vegetables. What do you think?
Farm to Foot™: Maison de la Racine Biodegradable Elegance / Emergency Nutrition.
Our 2026 Spring Line (subject to seasonal availability)
Back to Fulk 4
Even in modern times, we see the influence of idiotic leadership’s footwear on their sycophants.
