The End

This week is something special to me.  Not only is school coming to an end, but so is my internship.  During these fifteen weeks I have learned to collect information, to blog, and to create a webpage all while writing a research paper.  My knowledge has grown in a variety of ways and I have learned so many things that I did not think would interest me in the past.  This week I turned in my research paper and created a web page for the Medieval Studies Center website.  I have never created a web page, but I thought it was fun and pleasurable experience.  Hopefully it will make my resume look better.  During this time I would like to thank Dr. Gross-Diaz and Dr. Roberts for all their help and for giving me this wonderful opportunity that has benefited my knowledge and skills.  I hope everyone enjoyed reading my blogs and has a good finals week.  Good luck to all and I hope everyone enjoys summer!!!

Nearing the End!

This weeks blog is just a personal reflection of all the work I have done thus far in the semester and what I have been working on this week.  For starters, we are in the fourteenth week of school, which means we have one more week of regular classes and then finals week!  These fourteen weeks have been a journey in terms of the internship.  I have never had to do something like this, but it was definitely worth the experience.  I have learned how to blog and now will learn how to set up my own web page.  Meanwhile I have also learned so much about Roman gardens, as well as Medieval gardens that will stay in my memory for a long time.  I was surprised with how serious the Romans took gardening, but also with how important gardening actually was and is now.  Working for the Medieval Studies Center has been an unforgettable experience.

During this week I have finished writing my paper and am now in the process of proofreading it as well as sending it to a friend to also proofread it.  While writing the paper for the last couple of weeks I found it a little challenging to condense all the information I had collected into a 12-15 page paper.  If you have been keeping up with my blogs you know what I mean (I have been writing a lot).  At the same time it was beneficial; I'd rather have too much information than not enough!

Also this week I met up with Dr. Roberts and discussed setting up my web page.  He emailed me information about setting up a page through WordPress and I'm hoping one of his graduate students will help me with this.  I am a little nervous because I have never done something like this before, but I'm sure I will pull through! 

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week! Till next time...

The Last Bits on Medieval Gardens

Today's blog will probably be one of the last informative blogs in terms of discussing sources.  The work I dealt with this week was The History of Gardens by Christopher Thacker.  While the book looks at the history of all gardens in general, Thacker divides it by different time periods and regions.  Of course the only part I was interested in was that on Medieval Gardens.  What I enjoyed from this particular work was how straightforward and simple it was; it was definitely an easy read.  I also liked that Thacker provided many pictures that make it easy to comprehend what Medieval Gardens look like.

Thacker opens up this chapter by talking about herb gardens which were very popular in the medieval period.  Let us not forget that these same gardens were also popular in the Roman world.  He explains that gardens were generally important in the Roman West, but basically disappeared after the fall of the empire and did not reappear for another seven or eight hundred years until the late Middle Ages.  For example, not much was known on these gardens until the years of Charlemagne (9th c. AD) from which three documents have been discovered. (1) 

While I will not be discussing all three documents, I have chosen to discuss one which is the poem by Walafrid Strabo, a monk.  Strabo's poem called Hortulus is written in Latin and is 444 lines long. In it Strabo provides various instructions about a gardeners life, how to make a garden, and the appearances, quantities, and uses of the plants that one grows in these gardens.  He also includes the plants that were grown in these gardens which include sage, rue, penny-royal  celery, radish, gourd, chervil, lily, poppy, iris, and rose; the rose was popular in Roman gardens. Strabo makes sure to differentiate the various plants for particular gardens.  For instance he mentions that the iris, lily, and rose were used in ornamental gardens, but also had uses in cuisine, herbs, and medicine.  The lily for example was used to cure snake bites. (2)

Next up, Thacker discusses the features of Medieval gardens.  Most, if not all, were square shaped and enclosed.  In general, everything was geometrically shaped in these gardens.  What differentiates these gardens from Roman ones is that during the Medieval period, people set up gardens for religious purposes.  In the Roman Empire people just incorporated religion into their home gardens.  The gardens had hedges and trellis work, but unlike Roman gardens, they also had grass!  The earliest record of instructions for making a grassy lawn is in Albertus Magnus' (1193-1280) De Vegetabilibus written in 1260.  Gardens also included turf seats (raised banks with turf), which reminded me of the benches that were in Roman gardens.  The difference here being that these seats were located at the edges of the grass, or by a tree or wall. (3)

In terms of what was actually grown in these gardens, Thacker mentions some of the trees and plants.  He says that trees were used for their beauty and pleasure, and were usually grafted and very productive.  The main plants that were grown were to be used as herbs, which were also the most important.  After herbs came fruit trees and vegetables, and finally were flowers.  Thacker maintains that Medieval gardens also had small hills in them, either located in the center or by the side.  The whole purpose of these hill were so they could be used as a vantage point from where the beautiful features of the garden could be seen. Below is an illustration of a Medieval Garden. (4)

Medieval Garden from 5th c. manuscript of Roman de la Rose from The History of Medieval Gardens.

The last and final area Thacker discusses,  and the one I find very interesting is that of fantasy Gardens.  These gardens start off as simple, but increasingly become more "ambitious, colorful, and extravagant."  These gardens had many exotic species of trees like pomegranates  nutmegs, almonds, figs and dates.  Next were more native fruits tress like laurels, pines, olives, and tall timbers.  Lastly, there were also animals, some of which were squirrels, does, rabbits, and a variety of birds. (5)

This concludes my discussion of Thacker's book, but I would like to say a bit about what else I am working on.  As mentioned in the last blog, I have already started working on my paper and have emailed that to my instructor.  While I am waiting for feedback on that I am going to continue working on the rest of my paper.  Hopefully I will get all of it done by the end of this week so I can start working on the website!  Till next time!

Medieval Gardening Continued

This week's blog will be a continuation of last weeks in terms of discussing Medieval gardens.  I will be talking about the uses of the plants from Medieval gardens which range from medicinal uses to domestic uses  and finally to ritual and magical uses.  As I mentioned in my last blog the semester is coming to a close in a few weeks and my focus will be turned to writing the paper and creating the website.  For this reason, the next few blogs will be shorter than earlier ones.

In her book Medieval Gardens, Elisabeth MacDougall discusses the various plant species that existed in Medieval gardens and how they were utilized in every day life.  One aspect of Medieval gardens was the utilization of root plants such as carrots, beets, and turnips.  Not only were these plants  eaten, but they were also used in Medieval medicine.  Among the most common gardening plants were onions, leeks, and garlic.  A variety of legumes were also planted in these Medieval gardens and included peas, beans, lentil, and chickpeas.  Leafy vegetables like cabbage (most common), lettuce, endive, and spinach to name a few, were also planted in these gardens.  Herbs were also planted, mainly so that their leaves could be used as spices or in medicaments.  Fruit trees were also planted in Medieval gardens, the two most popular being apple and pears.  Some other fruit trees included cherries and quinces which were much more utilized in Medieval cuisine. (1)

In terms of seasoning, people during the Medieval period used herbs in large quantities in order to cover up, enhance, or just cook dishes.  Herbs served other purposes of flavoring breads, pastries, cheeses, beverages, and to create medicines.  The seeds from the herbs were also used and flavor was extracted from the leaves. (2)

One of the areas MacDougall discusses is the use of these plant species when treating people "externally."  The macerated leek for instance was applied to skin in order to treat sores.  Mustard plaster was used to treat the common cold by applying it on the chest.  Leaves from various plants were used to close wounds and to stop the loss of blood.  Certain leaves from cabbages and beats were used to create dressings and bandages.  Herbs were mixed with oil or grease to make ointments.  Different plants were also used to alleviate pain.  Oftentimes, those in the Medieval period used the same recipes the Greeks and Romans used to make certain medicaments. (3)

Another area discussed in the book is the domestic use of garden plants.  Species were used to make dyes, perfumes, and cosmetics.  One specific example is the use of woad to make blue dye..  Petals and/or foilage were used to make food coloring, while sage leaves were used to color hair black.  Other remedies include the use of onion juice to remove freckles and calendula to remove warts.  Rosemary, lily petals, roses, and violets were used to add scents to water.  Medieval peoples also used plants to make glue; they used quince seed, marshmallow root, and cherry gum.  Plant species were also used to make chaplets, garlands, and wreaths.  This became a big business in urban cities, but was also a hobby within individual households. (4)

The last group of species were used for ritual and magical purposes.  Plants and plant products were used to avoid certain natural processes.  Other plants such as artemisia, calendula, and verbena were believe to be apotropaic (Ward off evil spirits and monsters).  Just by carrying a portion of these plants, one would be protected.  Another example is the narcissus bulb that was kept in the house and believed to protect its occupants.  The stalk of fennel or verbena were believed to have the power of "eliminating demons." (5)

I especially enjoy MacDougall's discussion of the various uses of Medieval garden plants.  I think she did a great job in her discussion of the medicinal and ritual uses of these plants; in fact, I thought they were very interesting!  

During this week I have also started working on my paper which is going well! I got seven pages down so far and I'm looking forward to finishing some more before the week ends.  The fact that I did these weekly blogs the entire semester has made it easier to gather my thoughts and write the paper.  Looking forward to the last few weeks of school!