Abstract
Gardening was an important part of the daily duties within several of the religious orders in Europe during the Middle Ages. The rule of Saint Benedict specified that the monastery should, if possible, contain a garden within itself, and before and above all things, special care should be taken of the sick, so that they may be served in very deed, as Christ himself. The cultivation of medicinal and utility plants was important to meet the material needs of the monastic institutions, but no physical garden has yet been found and excavated in either Scandinavia or Iceland. The Cistercians were particularly well known for being pioneer gardeners, but other orders like the Benedictines and Augustinians also practised gardening. The monasteries and nunneries operating in Iceland during medieval times are assumed to have belonged to either the Augustinian or the Benedictine orders. In Norway, some of the orders were the Dominicans, Fransiscans, Premonstratensians and Knights Hospitallers. Based on botanical investigations at all the Icelandic and Norwegian monastery sites, it is concluded that many of the plants found may have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants and, with all the evidence combined, they were most probably cultivated in monastery gardens.
Highlights
Monasticism originated in Egypt’s desert, and the earliest monastic gardens were vegetable gardens (McLean 1989; Meyvaert 1986)
The following list contains possible medieval relict plants growing on Klosterøya today, the island where the Gimsøy nunnery was once located: Aegopodium podagraria, Aethusa cynapium, Aquilegia vulgaris, Arctium lappa, Artemisia vulgaris, Bellis perennis, Berberis vulgaris, Carum carvi, Chelidonium majus, Fumaria officinalis, Hesperis matronalis, Lamium album, Pastinaca sativa, Saponaria officinalis, Solanum dulcamara, Tanacetum vulgare, Urtica dioica, Verbascum and Viola odorata
We have approximately thirty pollen and macrofossil records of possible garden plants, some still growing in the area, e.g., Allium, Arctium, Cannabis sativa, Chelidonium majus, Conium maculatum, Daucus carota, Foeniculum vulgare, Humulus lupulus, Hyoscyamus niger, Hyssopus officinalis, Lamium album, Leonurus cardiaca, Papaver somniferum, Pastinaca sativa, Sambucus nigra and Verbascum
Summary
Monasticism originated in Egypt’s desert, and the earliest monastic gardens were vegetable gardens (McLean 1989; Meyvaert 1986). The following list contains possible medieval relict plants growing on Klosterøya today, the island where the Gimsøy nunnery was once located: Aegopodium podagraria, Aethusa cynapium, Aquilegia vulgaris, Arctium lappa, Artemisia vulgaris, Bellis perennis, Berberis vulgaris, Carum carvi, Chelidonium majus, Fumaria officinalis, Hesperis matronalis, Lamium album, Pastinaca sativa, Saponaria officinalis, Solanum dulcamara, Tanacetum vulgare, Urtica dioica, Verbascum and Viola odorata. We have approximately thirty pollen and macrofossil records of possible garden plants, some still growing in the area, e.g., Allium, Arctium, Cannabis sativa, Chelidonium majus, Conium maculatum, Daucus carota, Foeniculum vulgare, Humulus lupulus, Hyoscyamus niger, Hyssopus officinalis, Lamium album, Leonurus cardiaca, Papaver somniferum, Pastinaca sativa, Sambucus nigra and Verbascum. Klosterkullen seems like a proper place for a herb garden, and some of the common plants growing there today may be characterized as cultural relicts from medieval times, e.g., Aegopodium podagraria, Arctium minus, Campanula rapunculoides, Carum carvi, Glechoma hederacea, Primula veris, Solanum dulcamara, Urtica dioica and Veronica beccabunga. Hop is mentioned in the inventory list from 1484 and may have been cultivated in hop gardens
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