Shoes have been a conspicuous article of dress among northern countries for centuries. The Romans added a leg covering to the Greek sandal and thus fashioned a boot which was worn during the Middle Ages. Carved shoes with leather tops were worn. There developed a style of shoe with a curved-up toe, which was sometimes attached to the knee with a gold chain. The length of the shoe depended on the wearer's social or political standing. A prince could wear a shoe thirty inches long; a baron, twenty-four inches, and a knight, eighteen inches long.