First, listen to the story and then click on the AR symbol in the image above.

You are now seeing an old shoe. This one was not found here specifically but was discovered in Skara and dates back to the Middle Ages. It can be imagined that the men who resided in Skara Castle belonged to the higher social class and may have had shoes like this. Today, we consider medieval shoes to be quite similar to each other. However, there were a variety of shoe and boot styles. Sometimes they were adorned with colorful ribbons, threads, or intricate patterns like these. Most types of shoes were made up of different parts, such as soles and uppers. The upper itself could consist of several parts. The shoes must have worn out quite quickly on the uneven streets. Broken shoes, often with holes in the soles, are common archaeological finds.

The story in text:

Today you see only a grassy hill, but a Royal stronghold once stood here – Skara hus or Gälakvist. Imagine a large square stone house surrounded by a sturdy wall and a wooden palisade. The kings of the House of Bjelbo stayed in it when they came on visits. We move on to the year 1278.

In this year, the king’s Gälakvist is suddenly attacked. The assailants are the so-called Filipssons of Ymseborg, in a revolt against King Magnus Ladulås. The king himself is not here, but his Sheriff, Master Ingmar is attacked and beaten to death by the leaders of the revolt. The king’s father-in-law, Count Gerhard of Holstein, is taken prisoner and transported to the rebels’ fortress, Ymseborg in north-eastern Västergötland. King Magnus’ wife Queen Helvig escapes by fleeing to the Dominican monastery in Skara. There she is protected by the church right of asylum.

The revolt spreads, but two years later King Magnus Ladulås invites the insurgents into Gälakvist under a ruse. The Eric Chronicle tells us:
Där efter lät konungen skriva brev
Och sköna och välvalda ord hans skrev
Och bad de herrarna till sig fara
Och komma till möte i Skara
Till en gård som hette Gelqwist
Der som herr Ingemar hade livet mist…

Then the king had letters writ
with beautiful, well-chosen words
and asked the men to travel home
and come to meet in Skara town
To a homestead Gelqwist called
Where Master Ingemar breathed his last

Upon their arrival, the king arrested the insurgents Johan and Birger Filipsson. They are beheaded the same year in a tower at Norrbro in Stockholm. The revolt is over.

In the 14th century, Gälakvist loses its role and by the 16th century, the stronghold is already a ruin. Stones are taken from the stronghold ruins to build Skaraborg Castle, which gave the county its name. Finally, all that remains at the site is a grassy knoll.