ABSTRACT
The medieval era starts after the fall of the Roman Empire to the discovery of America (1500 AD); and is known as the Dark or Middle Era in the history of plant pathology. The writings of this period show little that is new regarding plant diseases. Towards the end of the middle age the centre of political, cultural, and scientific influence, formerly centred around the Carolingian Empire, shifted to the maritime nations of southern and western Europe, eventually leading to the discovery of new continents and unknown cultures. The advance of the Arabs into Spain had important consequences for medieval plant pathology. While most of Europe paid no attention to plant diseases, the Arabs were well aware of plant-health problems and recorded them in their literature. In the far east little attention has been paid to the development of plant pathology outside the western world.
