ABSTRACT
This chapter makes the case that medieval gardens should not be viewed as simply creative endeavors aimed at providing pleasure grounds for their owners and friends but that they were also intended to provide a valuable resource for maintaining health and promoting well-being. Using a range of medical, religious and legal texts from ]northwestern Europe (Ms Vatican Library, Reg. lat. 1211, c. 1300; MS Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale fr. 400 late thirteenth century; Ms Rouen, Bibliothèque Municipale 3028) alongside well-known treatises such as the De Vegetalibus of Albertus Magnus and Aldrobrandino’s Régime du corps, it demonstrates that a wide variety of medicinal plants were being cultivated and that the flora of a range of medieval gardens, when compared to present medical practice, provided the raw material, on-site, from which medicine was made. Three plants in particular (the lily, the rose, and the woodland strawberry) are tightly woven into medieval culture so that their depiction becomes ubiquitous in the imagery and literature of the medieval world. Not only did their healing botanical principles help safeguard health, but their beauty, perfume, and taste were also fundamental to their efficacy. Current research into the sensory effects of the environment on mental health and physical well-being is increasingly demonstrating its necessity to emotional and physical well-being.
