An Ancient Calling
The term "cordwainer" is an Anglicization of the French word cordonnier,
which means shoemaker, introduced into the English language after the
Norman invasion in 1066. The word was derived from the city of Cordoba
in the south of Spain, a stronghold of the mighty Omeyyad Kalifs until its
fall in the 12th century. Moorish Cordoba was celebrated in the early
Middle Ages for silversmithing and the production of cordouan leather,
called "cordwain" in England. Originally made from the skin of the
Musoli goat, then found in Corsica, Sardinia, and elsewhere, this leather
was tawed with alum after a method supposedly known only to the Moors.
Crusaders brought home much plunder and loot, including the finest
leather the English shoemakers had seen. Gradually cordouan, or cordovan
leather became the material most in demand for the finest footwear in all
of Europe.
The English term cordwainer first
appears in 1100. Since this date the term
cordouan, or cordovan leather, has been
applied to several varieties of leather.
Today cordovan leather is a vegetable
tanned horse "shell," and like the
Medieval cordwain is used only for the
highest quality shoes.
Since the Middle Ages the title of
cordwainer has been selected by the
shoemakers and used loosely. Generally
it refered to a certain class of boot and
shoemakers. The first English guild who
called themselves cordwainers was
founded at Oxford in 1131. "Cordwainers" was also the choice of the
London shoemakers, who organized a guild before 1160, and the
Worshipful Company of Cordwainers has used this title since receiving its
first Ordinances in 1272.
First Cordwainers in America
The first English cordwainers, or shoemakers, landed at Jamestown,
Virginia, established in 1607-- the first permanent English settlement on
this continent, from which began the overseas expansion of the English-
speaking peoples, the earliest outpost of the British Empire and the first
beginnings of the United States of America.. Captain John Smith has been
alleged to have been a cordwainer, but this is unlikely. This historic
adventure of settlement was in part supported by investments made by the
London cordwainers.
Shoemakers, tanners, and other tradesmen arrived in Jamestown by 1610,
and the secretary of Virginia recorded flourishing shoe and leather trades
there by 1616. The first English shoemaker to arrive in America whose
name has been preserved, was Christopher Nelme, who sailed from
Bristol, England and reached Virginia in 1619. Nearly one year later, the
first Pilgrim settlers landed in Massachusetts. The first shoemakers who
followed the trade there arrived in 1629.
"Cordwainer" not "Cobbler"
A distinction preserved by cordwainers since the earliest times is, that a
cordwainer works only with new leather, whereas a cobbler works with
old. Cobblers have always been repairers, frequently prohibited by law
from making shoes. Going so far as to collect worn-out footwear, cut it
apart, and remanufacture cheap shoes entirely form salvaged leather,
cobblers have contended with cordwainers since the Middle Ages. In 16th-
century London, the cordwainers solved their conflicts with the cobblers
of that city by placing them under the authority of the cordwainers’ guild,
thus merging with them.
Whenever shoemakers have organized, they have shown a clear preference
for the title cordwainer, conscious of the distinguished history and
tradition it conveys. Today's cordwainer is no exception. The current
generation of boot and shoemakers includes a growing number of
tradesmen and tradeswomen, who having largely adopted traditional hand-
sewn techniques supplemented by simple machines, continue to practice
skills established centuries ago. In the face of declining domestic footwear
production, it can easily be said that the future of this trade lays in its past,
and is being insured by the these modern cordwainers.
