- Medieval gardening
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- See also the history of gardening.
Medieval gardening, or gardening during the medieval period, had a primary purpose of providing food for households. For the purposes of this article, the European medieval era will be considered to span from 400 to 1400 CE, though appropriate references may be made to earlier and later times. Gardening is the deliberate cultivation of plants herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables. The gardening article discusses the differences and similarities between gardens and farms in greater detail.
Contents
Historical evidence
Humans' relationship with plants is almost as old as humans as a species. The majority of our knowledge about the method and means of gardens in the Middle Ages comes through archaeology, surviving textual documentation, and surviving artworks such as paintings, tapestry and illumination. Growing of fruits started in 16th and 17th centuries.
Types of Garden
- Hortus conclusus-Enclosed garden
- Vegetable or cottage -primarily for food production
- herber -primarily for herbs, culinary medicinal and craft
- pleasure -nobleman's garden
- orchard -fruit trees
- nuthey -an orchard of nut trees
Garden Features
- Fencing
- Seating
- Fountains
- Fishponds
- Beds
- Gates
Primary sources on gardening
- Apuleius, Herbal 11th c.
- Charlemagne, Capitulare de Villis
- Palladius, Palladius On husbondrie. ~1420
- Walahfrid Strabo, Hortulus
Other sources on medieval gardening
- Crisp, Frank; Mediaeval Gardens
- Landsberg, Sylvia; The Medieval Garden 1995
- Wright, Richardson; The Story of Gardening from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Hanging Gardens of New York, 1934
External links
Categories:- Middle Ages
- Horticulture and gardening
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