backyard camelot wpl 2007
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Backyard Camelot:Recreating the Medieval Garden
Betty Braaksma/Berengaria of Outremer Seneschal, Barony of Castel Rouge
Winnipeg Public LibraryApril 20 & 26, 2007
How do you picture the Middle Ages?
How I picture the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages in a Nutshell Time period – roughly from the fall of
Rome (476) until the death of Elizabeth I (1603)
Often described in terms of “ages” or periods, eg. Dark Ages, Viking Age, Romanesque, Gothic, etc.
Canadians usually learn about medieval Europe, but the world was less isolated than previously thought
Medieval travellers
A Hierarchical Society Nobility owned the land
and provided services such as protection and shelter
Monasteries were also major landowners
Peasants worked the land and provided food & taxes
Peasants had a strip of land which they could use to grow food for the family; also a garden at the house
A Religious Society Everyone in Europe
was Roman Catholic, until the Reformation (late 15th/early 16th century)
The hours of each person’s day were organized according to the church calendar
The year was organized according to the liturgy
Zodiac/astrology also used
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/hasty/castles/abbeypage/choirnuns.jpg
All wealth was land-based Nobles’ money came
from estate production Private ownership of
land as we know it was unknown
Development of cities & city-states in the 11th century saw shift in economics, but most power stayed with the land until the late 18th century
Everyone had a garden
Types of Gardens
http://www.abbeville.com/gardening/images/history-middleages.jpg
Pleasure Garden/Herber/Hortus Conclusus
Design & features Owned by the wealthy; super-rich
would have had pleasure parks Small and enclosed =
privacy/intimacy Lawns – “flowery mead” Ornamental trees Lots of flowers, containers Fountain/water feature Exedra/turf seat – no lawn furniture Pathways Arbours Symmetrical Symbolic/mystical
Plants Roses Hollyhocks Thyme, chamomile, Irises Lilies Pinks/carnations Lavender Tulips (later periods) Feverfew Poppies Fruit & flowering trees Etc.
http://www.finns-books.com/joanna.htm
Kitchen Garden
http://www.abcgallery.com/B/bruegel/bruegel110.html
Design & Features Enclosed
keep animals out most popular material – wattle
Raised beds Rectangular or square plots One type of plant per plot Pathways to allow for access Fruit trees
Plants"The garden of the Arden peasant's
holding was an important, if poorly documented, resource. Apple, cherry, plum and pear trees seem to have been common on many holdings, as in 1463 at Erdington, where nearly all peasant holdings contained orchards. The range of crops cultivated on the peasant's curtilage is poorly recorded, but the garden of Richard Sharpmore of Erdington was probably typical. In 1380 trespassing pigs ruined his vegetables, grass, beans and peas." -- Andrew Watkins, "Peasants in Arden", in Richard Britnell, ed. Daily Life in the Late Middle Ages, (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998), p 94.
Plants, cont’d) Colewort/kale Cabbage Leeks Parsley Garlic Chives Onions Parsnips Turnips Beans Peas Dill Coriander Beets Horehound
Borage Basil Violet Nettle Spinach Lettuce Marigold Mint Dandelion Thyme Sorrel Radish Sage Carrot Etc.,etc.,
What’s missing? Potatoes
Native to South America “Discovered” by the Spanish Introduced to Europe in late 1500’s
Tomatoes Native to Central/South America “Discovered” by the Spanish Introduced to Europe in mid 1500’s
Corn/Maize Native to the Americas “Discovered’ by the Spanish Introduced to Europe in late 1400’s/early 1500’s
www.wikipedia.org
Physic/Healing Garden
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~helphand/medievalpgsone/medievalpg5.html
Design & features Same as other
gardens! Poisonous plants
would have been fenced off
All women were expected to be able to brew remedies in their “stillroom” (i.e. distilling)
Plants Angelica Bay Betony Bugloss Chervil Cinquefoil Clover Comfrey Dittany Hemlock Hemp Horehound Hyssop Iris Lady’s mantle Licorice
Mandrake Monkshood Mullein Nettle Nightshade Peony Pine Poppy Rue St. Johns Wort Strawberry Tansy Woad Wormwood
Monastery Gardens"Within the enclosure of this wall stand
many and various trees, prolific in bearing fruit. It resembles a wood, and since it is near the cell of the sick brethren, it offers some comfort to their infirmities, while providing at the same time a spacious place for those who walk, and a sweet place where those who are overheated can rest. Where the orchard ends the garden begins. Here too a lovely prospect presents itself to the infirm brethren; they can sit on the green edge of the great fountain, and watch the little fishes challenging one another, as it were, to war-like encounters, as they meet and play in the water."
(quoted by Paul Meyvaert, in "The Medieval Monastic Garden," Medieval Gardens, Dumbarton Oaks, 1986)
Design & features Based upon the idealized design of St.
Gall, Switzerland, ca. 890 Rectangular; enclosed Divided into different areas – food,
medicine, ornamental Had to serve the needs of the
community…”Brother Cadfael” Were the model for later botanical
gardens
St. Gall Plan
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~helphand/medievalimagesone/image23.jpg
Multitasking Plants & Herbs
“For the sickly take this wort rosemary, pound it with oil, smear the sickly one, wonderfully thou healest him.”
…From A Saxon herbal
http://home.olemiss.edu/~tjray/images/medieval_pix/sickroom.gif
Medieval people saw all plants as having nutritional, medicinal and ornamental uses
Our distinction of “herbal” vs “non-herbal” is artificial – in a sense, everything was an herb!
Plants had symbolic/religious/mystical significance that influenced nutritional or ornamental use: “doctrine of signatures”
Examples
Madonna lily = Purity, chastity, the Virgin Pretty & fragrant Bulb & leaves thought to cure
snakebite, bruises & leprosy Roses =
Symbolic of the Virgin; love Pretty & fragrant Roses + hot water & honey
used for hangovers Rosewater commonly used in
recipes
Medieval Gardens today
No gardens exist from early medieval times
However….one garden has been in continuous use since 1545
Located at the University of Padua in northern Italy
Connected to the medical school there
“Physick” garden
Recreating medieval gardens
Growing interest in historical gardening Many sites around the world where public
gardens have been designed to duplicate medieval gardens
Often done in conjunction with horticultural programs, botanical gardens, estates
New website under development: The Digital Medieval Garden
http://www.afid.bris.ac.uk/med_garden/ Medieval gardens appearing in pop culture?
Medieval gardens today
Monastic garden created for the Malvern garden show, 2006. Worcestershire .
http://www.bedesworld.co.uk/bedesworld-herbgarden.php
Bede’s World – Museum of Early Medieval Life in Northumbria
Mount Grace Priory, Yorkshire
Cadfael’s Herb Garden - Shrewsbury
http://www.virtual-shropshire.co.uk/gallery/shrewsbury_abbey/0059_012
Bella Umbria Kitchen Garden, Perugia
http://www.bellaumbria.net/Perugia/event.htm?ev=867185355
Les Jardins de Prieure d’Orsan, France
Jardin de Cinq Sens, Yvoire, France
http://www.jardin5sens.net/
The Cloisters, New York:Cuxa Cloister
http://www.pbase.com/image/40834221
Pennsylvania State University Medieval Garden project
One of most extensive ongoing projects
Covers period from 1250-1650
Total size 200’x120’
Subdivided into 8 10’x10’ plots
Parts of the Penn State Medieval Garden
Orchard - apples Field plots
“things that need room”
Barley, oats, wheat, flax, onions, fava beans, peas, gourds
Contemplation garden Kitchen garden Pleasure garden
Canada: University of British Columbia’s Physic Garden
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2005/05/ubc_physic_gard.php
Smaller scale projects:Immanuel Lutheran Church, Greenwood, S.C.
http://www.ilconline.org/Gardenphoto.shtml
Mary Gardens Movement began in
Philadelphia in 1951 Based on monastic
gardens and the devotion to Mary that was a feature of 14th & 15th century culture
All plants have a connection to Mary
http://www.mgardens.org/
St. Theresa's Homeschool group (Douglasville, Georgia)
http://www.catholicmom.com/mary_gardens.htm
http://www.hortus3d.com/images/Prj_etv_ma.jpg
Hortus 3D – commercial FrenchLandscape designers
Commercial/private gardens
Our very own….Sage Garden Herbs
What about my garden?
Under construction, but….
I DO have Roman Garden
Pompeii – reconstructed garden
Winnipeg – Roman-style garden
Ready to try it yourself?
Online:Medieval Herbs for the
Very Small Gardenhttp://gallowglass.org/jadwiga/herbs/smallherbs.htmlBook:Sylvia Landsberg. The
Medieval Garden.
http://medieval.mrugala.net/Enluminures/Calendrier/09.jpg
Questions? Thank You!
http://medievalandrenaissancestudies.vassar.edu/images/brueghel.jpg
The Barony of Castel Rougewww.castelrouge.ca