Where Judas lost his boots

From a historical point of view, we are well aware that man has the incredible ability to fantasize and transform the narratives that are available to him. A text or popular saying undergoes appropriations and reinterpretations that transform them into a cultural asset subordinated to the interest and custom of men of a time. In fact, there would be plenty of examples that support this thesis.

Between Antiquity and the Middle Ages, for example, the inaccessibility to biblical texts was responsible for the creation of several narratives involving Christian characters. The deeds and destinies of certain names present in the Bible gained additions and certain distortions that highlighted the strong presence of Christianity in the imagination of that time. Taking into account that a large part of the population was illiterate, it was difficult to impose a rigor of truth between the various stories of a biblical nature.

Through one of these myths, we end up discovering the origin of a popular expression used when something is too far away or “where Judas lost his boots”. In the Bible, there is no indication or report that Judas Iscariot, the teller of Christ, was in the habit of wearing boots or not. However, an old folk story said that the traitorous disciple would have hidden in a pair of boots the thirty coins that signed the agreement with the Jewish priests.

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Proving the mythical nature of the story, until today no one has had the opportunity to discover the place where Judas' boots would have been hidden. Thus, over time, the place “where Judas lost his boots” was used for when someone could not find something or indicate some distant territory, with difficult access. Finally, we are well aware that the old fantasy of the Christian imagination came to life in this expression still so used.

By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History

Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:

SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "Where Judas lost his boots"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/curiosidades/onde-judas-perdeu-as-botas.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.

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