For millenniums, in all different cultures throughout the world, cultivating and reaping herbs has been performed. It was even considered a high art in medieval Europe. With the Greeks lacking medical know-how and technology, the Middle Ages relied heavily on Medieval herbs for medicines. The practice they used mixed knowledge through experience with balderdash, but they did know much that was well-grounded.
Beautiful and beneficial Medieval herb gardens provided families with medicine, food seasonings, and a place to escape from reality. The Cloisters in New York provides a modern-day version of these gardens. Despite being built years later in the 1930s, Cloisters was fashioned to look as much like the cloisters of old through treatises and poetry from the time. This goal was more than achieved.
Even though New York’s seasons vary greatly from freezing winters, hot and humid summers, and soggy Spring and Fall, the Cloisters flourish; including the herb garden, an important piece of the Bonnefont cloister.
It isn’t an exact replica of any particular herb garden, as it’s base was from many sources. The results are the standard features of any historical herb garden, like wattle fences, raised beds, and a central wellhead. These Medieval herbs form an enviable centerpiece when surrounded by other plants and orchards that many home practitioners try to copy.
Herbs are typically hardy; however, many fragile herbs can not make it through a New York winter when subzero temperatures and snow are frequent. Hence, these delicate herbs are planted in period appropriate pots so that they can be brought inside during these frigid winters.
During the Middle Ages, people grew herbs for warding off evil spirits, which they viewed as a very useful purpose. They associated many herbs with special abilities. For instance, they thought Dill in particular possessed magical powers. They also thought some herbs had healing properties. For instance, they believed rosemary could prevent the plague and that sage could treat epilepsy.
At the Cloisters, herbs can be found placed in nine specific collections based on the original medieval groupings. The first group is for absinthe and thistles, while the second is dedicated to herbs used in medical applications, such as licorice or St. John’s Wort. Aromatics such as lavender and lemon balm are in the third group.
Herbs have been categorized by their usefullness in art and other questionable purposes such as promoting Love and Marriage. Meadow Rue and ‘magic’ plants such as Herb Robert are good examples. There is also a category for herbs used in cooking such as Caraway, Fennel, Parsley and Borage.
Medieval herbs were used all over, maybe even more than today, but herbalists in these times still have the same plants available. We hear so much about the medicinal attributes of these herbs and these applications often go hand in hand with their medieval uses.