Garden History – Medieval Gardens

It’s time for more garden history, this time looking at Medieval European gardens. I’ve been using Christopher Thacker’s classic text The History of Gardens for my research, and comparing notes with The Story of Gardening by the British gardener, Penelope Hobhouse. The Medieval period—also called the Dark Ages—extends from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5^th century to the 15^th century. The thousand year period is typically categorized into three main periods – early (476-1000), High (1000-1300), and late middle ages (1300-1453). Out of this period of decline, illiteracy, upheaval, war, power struggles, The Plague, and establishment of the Christian church, Western culture was born.

There are no surviving gardens, and few written documents about medieval gardens and gardening. Information has been pieced together from literature, illustrated prayer books, art and tapestries, records of monastic life, and a few documents. It is unclear whether these documents represent reality, or an idealization. Three key documents include:

• A monastery proposal found in St. Gall in Switzerland, with a garden plan that includes herbs and medicinal plants (820 AD).
• The regulations for administering towns in Charlemagne’s empire, with a list plants and fruit trees that must be grown, called Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperii (795).
• A Latin poem about a “little garden”, with first-hand knowledge of the pleasure of work, the plants, and the produce, called Liber de cultura hortorum, by monk Walafrid Strabo (809-49).

Piecing together the information, scholars believe that early medieval gardens were “useful” – centering around produce, orchards, and healing plants. Only later did medieval gardens start to include elements of the pleasure garden – beauty for its own sake. Monasteries often had access to ancient Latin texts, making them havens for learning and technology. Monks grew their own food and healing plants, using ancient farming techniques adapted to their respective climates. The healing knowledge and plants benefited both travelers and the surrounding community. Monks also grew flowers to decorate the church; some flowers represented religious themes, such as the rose representing Mary or the blood of martyrs, and the lily representing purity of faith. In this video, observe the art for gardening evidence:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lM86cmbYZeQ