Medieval Herbs
Posted on July 27, 2008
Filed Under Gardening |
For thousands of years, it has been the practice of cultures all over to grow and harvest herbs. Medieval Europe, however, specialized in it. During the Middle Ages, there was a lack of understanding about medical knowledge and technology, subjects the Greeks knew well and Medieval herbs were used for most ailments as well as superstitious reasons. While some of what was known in the Middle Ages was nonsense, much was valid.
The Medieval herb garden was a helpful and beautiful place, if it was used for medicine, seasoning or even quiet meditation. By visiting New York’s Cloisters, you can observe a modern sample of what they were like. Even though it was built in the 1930’s, it was made to mirror its Medieval counterpart almost identically. The designers of the Cloisters met their goal excellently.
The herb garden is prominently featured among The Cloisters’ numerous sections. Despite the various types of New York weather that occur throughout the year, over 250 species are able to be grown.
This was loosely based on many sources but does not follow any of them perfectly. This resulted in elevated beds, wattle fences and a central wellhead which are all common traits of any Medieval herb garden model. Encompassed by orchards and a number of other plants, the Medieval herbs form the centerpiece of the garden, which any home practitioner would be envious of.
Most are held in appropriate pots which resemble those often found during that period. They let herbalists bring more fragile ones in during winter, when New York temperatures dip well below zero Fahrenheit and snow is a common sight.
Herbs cultivated during Medieval times could be used for silly reasons like trying to ward off evil ghosts. It was believed that dill held magical powers. People also thought that they could be protected from the plague by rosemary. To try to treat epilepsy, sage was used.
The herb garden is arranged in nine sections. They are grouped according to their use in medieval times. One group is for household plants such as Thistles and Absinthe, next those used for healing or medicinal purposes like Liquorice and St. John’s Wort, and the third for such aromatics as Lemon Balm and Lavender.
Some types of herbs were used for art and purposes such as encouraging love and marriage. These were thought to be ‘magic’ plants. The final group contains cooking herbs like Caraway, Fennel, Parsley, and Borage.
Despite the availability of the same plants, modern day herbalists are using medieval herbs less than in past times when their use was wide-spread. The medicinal properties of these herbs is more publicly discussed and correlates with similar uses of those in ancient times.
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