Medieval gardening
Encyclopedia
Medieval gardening, or gardening during the medieval period, had a primary purpose of providing food for households. For the purposes of this article, the European medieval era will be considered to span from 400 to 1400 CE, though appropriate references may be made to earlier and later times. Gardening is the deliberate cultivation of plants herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables. The gardening
article discusses the differences and similarities between gardens and farms in greater detail.
, surviving textual documentation, and surviving artworks such as paintings, tapestry
and illumination
. Growing of fruits started in 16th and 17th centuries.
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
article discusses the differences and similarities between gardens and farms in greater detail.
Historical evidence
Humans' relationship with plants is almost as old as humans as a species. The majority of our knowledge about the method and means of gardens in the Middle Ages comes through archaeologyArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, surviving textual documentation, and surviving artworks such as paintings, tapestry
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
and illumination
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
. Growing of fruits started in 16th and 17th centuries.
Types of Garden
- Hortus conclususHortus conclususHortus conclusus is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". "The word 'garden' is at root the same as the word 'yard'. It means an enclosure", observed Derek Clifford, at the outset of a series of essays on garden design, in which he skirted the conventions of the hortus conclusus...
-Enclosed garden - Vegetable or cottageCottage gardenThe cottage garden is a distinct style of garden that uses an informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants. English in origin, the cottage garden depends on grace and charm rather than grandeur and formal structure...
-primarily for food production - herber -primarily for herbs, culinary medicinal and craft
- pleasure -nobleman's garden
- orchardOrchardAn orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
-fruit trees - nuthey -an orchard of nut trees
Primary sources on gardening
- Apuleius, Herbal 11th c.
- CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, Capitulare de Villis - PalladiusPalladiusPalladius was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion consider Palladius a saint.-Armorica:...
, Palladius On husbondrie. ~1420 - Walahfrid Strabo, Hortulus
Other sources on medieval gardening
- Crisp, FrankFrank CrispSir Frank Crisp, 1st Baronet was an English lawyer and microscopist.-Life:Crisp's mother died when he was three years old and as a result he was brought up by his grandfather, John Filby Childs. He resolved to take up the law and at 16 was articled to a firm of solicitors...
; Mediaeval Gardens - Landsberg, Sylvia; The Medieval Garden 1995
- Wright, Richardson; The Story of Gardening from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Hanging Gardens of New York, 1934