Medieval Horticulture/Agriculture

After the fall of Rome and the emergence of the Byzantine Empire, much of Western Europe plunged into a period characteized by strife, lack of cultural development, and domination by feudal lords.

Important Features

• Monasteries became important reservoirs for horticultural and agricultural skills perfected by the Romans.

  Here's what the Encyclopedia Brittanica says about monateries:

  Monasteries originally developed in the Middle East and Greece from the earlier streets of hermits' huts, or lauras. Walls were built for defense, and the cells were later constructed against the walls, leaving a central space for church, chapels, fountain, and dining hall, or refectory.... An important building within the inner walls housed the novitiate and the infirmary. In the manner of an early isolation hospital, it had its own chapel, bathhouse, refectory, kitchen, and garden. The doctor's house, with its physic garden of essential medicinal herbs and with small sickrooms, was nearby. Buildings for the intensive agriculture practiced by most orders were to the south of the other buildings.

  

  The monasteries cultivated fields of grains and vegetables as well as orchards nearby and maintained an important collection of medicinal plans. Monks were experts with herbs. Many unique plants were kept in cultivation only in monasteries and these would become important later in the Renaissance.

  Perhaps the most remarkable abbey was established by the Benedictines on the rocky island of Mont-Saint-Michel in 966.
  

• The Manorial System (derived from the 'manor') was an important feature of the social structure of the Middle Ages. It also resulted in the division of plant cultivation practices into what we now recognize as horticulture (gardens close to the manor house and enclosed for protection, containing fruits, vegetables, and herbs), agronomy (the cultivation of grains and forages in open fields farther away from the manor house), and forestry (the wild lands that contained game and forests and were not managed to any extent)

  Here's a description of the MANORIAL SYSTEM:

  political, economic, and social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were rendered dependent on their land and on their lord. Its basic unit was the manor, a self-sufficient landed estate, or fief, that was under the control of a lord who enjoyed a variety of rights over it and the peasants attached to it by means of serfdom... The manorial system was the most convenient device for organizing the estates of the aristocracy and the clergy in the European Middle Ages, and it made feudalism possible. Under other names the manorial system was found not only in France, England, Germany, Italy, and Spain but also in varying degrees, in the Byzantine Empire, Russia, Japan, and elsewhere. The manorial system's importance as an institution varied in different parts of Europe at different times. In western Europe it was flourishing by the 8th century and had begun to decline by the 13th century, while in eastern Europe it achieved its greatest strength after the 15th century.

  Manorialism had its origins in the late Roman Empire, when large landowners had to consolidate their hold over both their lands and the labourers who worked them. This was a necessity in the midst of the civil disorders, enfeebled governments, and barbarian invasions that wracked Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. In such conditions, small farmers and landless labourers exchanged their land or their freedom and pledged their services in return for the protection of powerful landowners who had the military strength to defend them. In this way, the poor, defenseless, and landless were ensured permanent access to plots of land which they could work in return for the rendering of economic services to the lord who held that land. This arrangement developed into the manorial system, which in turn supported the feudal aristocracy of kings, lords, and vassals.

  The typical western European manor in the 13th century consisted partly of the cottages, huts, and barns and gardens of its peasants, which were usually clustered together to form a small village. There might also be a church, a mill, and a wine or oil press in the village. Close by was the fortified dwelling, or manor house, of the lord, which might be inhabited by him or merely by his steward if the lord happened to hold more than one manor. The village was surrounded by arable land that was divided into three large fields that were farmed in rotation, with one allowed to lie fallow each year. There were also usually meadows for supplying hay, pastures for livestock, pools and streams for fishing, and forests and waste lands for wood gathering and foraging...

  From the Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1995.

Contacts with the East

Marco Polo (1254-1324), a Venetian merchant and adventurer, journeyed from Europe to Asia in 1271-95, remaining in China for 17 of those years, and whose 'Il milione' ("The Million"), known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, became a geographical classic... the great contribution of Marco Polo to the geographical knowledge of the West lay in his vivid descriptions of the East. He had tremendous opportunities of seeing China and appreciating its life, for he was taken into the service of the Khan and was sent as an administrator to great cities, busy ports, and remote provinces, with instructions to write full reports. In his book he described how, upon every main highroad, at a distance apart of 25 or 30 miles (40 to 50 kilometres), there were stations, with houses of accommodation for travellers, with 400 good horses kept in constant readiness at each station. He also reported that, along the roads, the Great Khan had caused trees to be planted, both to provide shade in summer and to mark the route in winter when the ground was covered with snow. [Brittanica, 1995]

A Medieval Courtyard

• The cloister courtyard as the 'paradise garden
• Though mostly utilitarian, it provided domestic pleasure and privacy
• Features:
  • lattice or wattle fencing
  • arbors for plants
  • ornamental shrubs
  • fruit trees
  • lawn with grasses and wild flowers
  The image at right is 'The Garden of Eden', by the Oberrheinescher Meister, from the Stadelssches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt. Paradise as seen through the observant eyes of an early 15th century painter was a walled meadow with a fruit tree, flowers, and a water source. Strawberries, roses, lilies, columbines, daisies, and lilies-of-the-valley dot the flowering lawn; iris and hollyhocks are specially grown in a raised bed. Birds and beasts also populate the protected garden. [From Douglas, et al. 1984 'Garden Design' Simon & Schuster, NY p. 27]
  

Herbals and Herbalists

The illustration at left is taken from one of the many reproductions (with embellishments) of the book. The image is reproduced form the Vatican Exhibit and is accompanied with the following description: 'For practical reasons, illustrations--whether stylized or naturalistic--were an important part of some medieval herbals or works on medicinal substances. The interaction of textual and iconographic traditions has a complicated history. This picture book, with no narrative text, is probably associated with a Salernitan herbal compiled at the medical school at Salerno in the twelfth century and known as the "Circa instans." Plants, animals, and minerals are arranged in alphabetical order with plant lists and captions in Latin. Here, a highly naturalistic rose appears side by side with some much less realistically rendered plants.'

'Many manuscript herbals, drawing largely from Dioscorides and Pliny, were published in medieval Europe; during the 15th century several were printed, a notable one being Konrad von Megenberg's Das puch der natur (or Buch der natur, "Book of Nature"). When printed in 1475, it included the first known woodcuts for botanical illustrations. Very few original drawings were prepared for herbals before the 16th century: illustrations were copies and copies of copies. They became highly stylized, not only ceasing to resemble the plants depicted but also incorporating mythological notions. "Narcissus," for example, in Jacob Meidenbach's Hortus sanitatis (1491), is unidentifiable: a human figure, instead of the plant's sex organs, emerges from each perianth (sepals and petals of a flower).' [From Brittanica]

Other famous Herbalists included:

• Otto Brunfels
• Hieronymus Bock
• Leonhard Fuchs
• Nicol‡s Monardes
• Conrad Gesner
• Gaspard Bauhin
• John Gerard(1545-1612)
  • Best known English herbalist
  • Compiled (copied) 'The Herball' or 'A General History of Plants'
  • Describes 1800 plants known at the time
  As a young man, Gerard became interested in plants and started a garden in his home near London. As his garden developed, it became rather popular and soon Gerard was recognized as a masterful gardener. He began to manage the gardens on noblemen and as his fame grew, he was able to obtain rare and unsual plants from many parts of the world. He compiled a list of his plants and published it in 1597; the list included: 'common and botanical names, descriptions of habitats, time of flowering, and the virtues, or uses, of plants of the entire plant kingdom. It also contained a large amount of folklore.' (Brittanica). It is now believed that many of the illustrations and descriptions were not truly his and were actually copied from an earlier, Flemish work. However, the Herball became very popular and it sealed the reputation of Gerard.

Fluorishing of Islamic culture

• major conduit for far eastern technology (e.g. gunpowder, paper, compass, etc)
• introduced useful plants
• influenced Spanish architecture, language, and culture; these were also transferred to the New World with the Age of Discovery.