28 JANUARY 814 - 28 JANUARY 2014 | 1200th ANNIVERSARY OF CHARLEMAGNE'S DEATH

"Charlemagne's foot measured thirty-two centimeters, four millimeters and corresponded to a size 48 shoe (...). By imperial order, Charlemagne's foot become an official unit of measure, remaining in use until the metric system was adopted in 1795.
We know from the monk of the Saint Gall monastery that emperor Charlemagne wore simple boots with straps intertwining the legs, although for ceremonies he wore laced boots decorated with precious stones."

Marie-Josèphe Bossan

The Art of the Shoe - Parkstone Press, 2004

Charlemagne ceremony shoes

Source: Histoire des cordonniers et des artisans dont la profession se rattache a la cordonnerie (...) 

by Paul Lacroix 1852