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History’s Most Bizarre Rituals & Beliefs

Khalid Elhassan September 20, 2023 28 min

Queen Victoria Threw Shoes at British Soldiers

Belief - Throwing shoes at newlyweds — Throwing shoes at newlyweds for good luck. K-Pics

In contrast to the Middle Eastern cultural perspective that throwing a shoe at somebody is a mortal insult, there is a belief in other parts of the world that throwing a shoe at somebody brings good fortune. In Middle Ages Europe, a belief developed that shoes are good luck. Text dating back centuries references shoes being thrown at newly married couples to wish them good fortune in their new life together. The medieval belief that throwing shoes at somebody brought good luck lasted into the modern era.

Belief - Queen Victoria throwing her shoe at British soldiers in 1854 — Queen Victoria throwing her shoe at British soldiers in 1854. Punch Magazine

For example, Queen Victoria threw her shoes at British soldiers in 1854 as they headed out for the Crimean War, to wish them well. Her Majesty also wrote in her diary that shoes were thrown into the doorway of Balmoral Castle when it was completed in 1855, for good luck. It was a continuation of another long held belief, that shoes brought good fortune to homes. For centuries, well-worn shoes were placed in the rafters or inside the walls of homes that underwent renovations, in the belief that doing so wards off witchcraft and evil spirits.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.