gardening in the eighth century

[coraa]

I was going through old files on my computer, and I found my thesis. Back when I was writing it, I posted this excerpt (from Charlemagne's "De Villis," in the capitularia). I still love it so much, so I'm posting it again:

It is our wish that they shall have in their gardens all kinds of plants: lily, roses, fenugreek, costmary, sage, rue, southernwood, cucumbers, pumpkins, gourds, kidney-bean, cumin, rosemary, caraway, chick-pea, squill, gladiolus, tarragon, anise, colocynth, chicory, ammi, sesili, lettuces, spider's foot, rocket salad, garden cress, burdock, penny-royal, hemlock, parsley, celery, lovage, juniper, dill, sweet fennel, endive, dittany, white mustard, summer savory, beets, hazelwort, marshmallows, mallows, carrots, parsnip, orach, spinach, kohlrabi, cabbages, onion, chives, leeks, radishes, shallots, cibols, garlic, madder, teazels, broad beans, peas, coriander, chervil, capers, clary. And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house. As for trees, it is our wish that they shall have various kinds of apple, pear, plum, sorb, medlar, chestnut and peach; quince, hazel, almond, mulberry, laurel, pine, fig, nut and cherry trees of various kinds. The names of apples are: gozmaringa, geroldinga, crevedella, spirauca; there are sweet ones, bitter ones, those that keep well, those that are to be eaten straightaway, and early ones. Of pears they are to have three or four kinds, those that keep well, sweet ones, cooking pears and the late-ripening ones.

I could just roll around for hours in this kind of detail about everyday life and material culture. Hours and hours.

(Also, wouldn't that be a genuinely awesome garden?)

Comments

[vom_marlowe]

What is squill?

The garden sounds lovely and it cheered me to know that I have so many of those plants (though no trees...).

[coraa]

I believe squill is a relative of the hyacinth (I think it's more likely to be called scill or scilla these days). I think it was planted both because it was beautiful and because it was used medicinally (I think as a cough suppressant, but I'm not sure on that).

I have a very small garden right now, which is part of why I look with such delight on this list. Someday...!

[catbird.livejournal.com]

Hemlock! I'm surprised to find that there. I guess everyone needs a handy poison in their garden.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

It was actually used medicinally, although not without risk, since the difference between a medicinal dose and a deadly dose is pretty small. I believe it was used as a sedative and for arthritis.

[bellwethr.livejournal.com]

That would be an awesome garden!

A and I have discussed putting a medieval herb garden in--possibly in the front yard...

A couple years ago we grew feverfew, rue, borage, and bunch of other herbs out of the herbals... The feverfew and borage in particular were really invasive--we had dozens and dozens of baby borage plants in a few months!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds nifty!

I think my favorite line is "And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house." Apparently house-leeks are a really hardy type of leek that used to seed and take root on rooftops. Bit tricky to harvest, but very cool.

[bellwethr.livejournal.com]

That's way cool. I think we actually have house-leeks, assuming it's what I see when I google houseleek:

http://betterlivingwithherbs.com/tag/houseleek/

Really not what I was expecting though!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Clearly your garden will be safe from lightning! And witchcraft!

[bellwethr.livejournal.com]

LOL! Yes!

are you growing anything this summer?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Just herbs and flowers this year (herbs off the back balcony, wildflower seeds planted in the back bed) -- we're going to need to do some serious prep-work with the back yard to make it ready to grow veg, and we weren't up for it this spring. Next year!

[bellwethr.livejournal.com]

Well, let me know if you need any help prepping your garden beds. I'm going to be getting a roto-tiller to simplify prepping my own, and will be more than willing to lend a hand!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Will do! Similarly, if you want a hand with your garden at any point, we'd be happy to help out. :D

[maggiedacatt.livejournal.com]

Speaking of witchcraft, have you seen this?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Late replying, but that is awesome! I'd heard that witch bottles dated back pretty far, but that's the first one I've heard of that was actually found intact.

[aitchellsee.livejournal.com]

That would indeed be a cool garden (or, well, a nifty one: I see that some of the species wouldn't really care to be in a cool garden since they seem to thrive in Mediterranean and North African locales and all).

(Hi, I wandered by from a friend of a friend, and enjoyed your garden talk and its mediaevalness.)

TL:DNR Geek Alert for the Following:

I was looking up "colocynth" on Google, since I'd never heard of it, and I was taken aback by something I noticed in the citations at the end of its Wikipedia entry. You're a scholar, perhaps you can confirm their usage?

The very first work cited as source material was:

Davis & Company Parke. Manual of therapeutics. Parke, Davis & Co. 1909. pp. 262-266.

Now, I'd always assumed that the pharmaceutical company Parke Davis and Company was named after a couple of guys, and so it proved when I Googled it (PD&Co is now part of Pfizer), but even if it had been named for ONE founder, as was Eli Lilly and Company (now "Lilly Company") I would have ignorantly expected it to be cited in scholarly works under the first letter of the corporate name ("P" for Parke" or "E" for "Eli", not under the initial letter of the "person's" last name, as in this citation.

As I don't have a copy of whichever Manual of Style currently governs academic usage, I appeal to you: IF "Parke" had been the first name of the hypothetical company founder "Parke Davis" rather than that of a separate person, would the form used above by the author of the Wikipedia article be correct? Or should they have cited it as "Parke Davis & Company"?

(Whereas, in actuality, since it is NOT the name of one guy, but that of two separate founders, "Something is wrong on the Internet!" How does one contact Wikipedia to alert them that the proper form--as displayed in some sample listings at www.abebooks.com that I just consulted as a test--should have been "Parke, Davis & Company"?)

Presumably the unfortunate author of the Wikipedia entry saw Parke comma Davis ampersand Company in the book itself, and mistakenly assumed they were "putting the last name first" on purpose, and thus in hir own citation created the Erroneous Thing that is "Davis & Company Parke".)

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Hallo!

I think it should be Parke Davis & Company in your first example. As to your second question -- since it's Wikipedia, I think you'd just correct the page yourself. :) Unless it's been protected from edits. Contacting Wikipedia won't do much good, since presumably it isn't a global misunderstanding but just a goof from whatever person put in the citation.

gardening in the 21st century

[gardenmad.livejournal.com]

I loved this post; it really made me think back to Culpeppers herbals. I always wanted to own a copy but it is too expensive. I have a few of your candidates in my garden, but the article made me think about other "they shall have's".
Here's my first one:
It is our wish that they shall have in their rooms all kinds of tidy things: socks in pairs, shirts on hangers; and they shall all take all dishes back to the kitchen from whence they did come .........

Re: gardening in the 21st century

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Charlemagne uses that phrasing a lot in the capitularies, if I remember correctly, and I love it. I want to write e-mails to my roommates like that.... "It is our wish that there shall be in the kitchen a container for garbage, a container for compost, and a container for recycleables, and that the garbage shall be taken out when the container is full, the compostable shall be taken out three times a week to prevent the noxious odor, and the recyclables shall be taken out every two weeks when the time appointed for their collection draws nigh, or when the bin runneth over."

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Faaaabulous.