Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway
Gardening was an important part of the daily duties within several of the religious orders in Europe during the Middle Ages. The rule of Saint Benedict specified that the monastery should, if possible, contain a garden within itself, and before and above all things, special care should be taken of t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:af341526eec2451cbbed2630145718e3 2023-05-15T16:46:50+02:00 Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway Per Arvid Åsen 2021-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050317 https://doaj.org/article/af341526eec2451cbbed2630145718e3 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/317 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1444 doi:10.3390/rel12050317 2077-1444 https://doaj.org/article/af341526eec2451cbbed2630145718e3 Religions, Vol 12, Iss 317, p 317 (2021) medieval gardening horticulture monastery garden herb relict plants medicinal plants Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050317 2022-12-31T09:09:44Z Gardening was an important part of the daily duties within several of the religious orders in Europe during the Middle Ages. The rule of Saint Benedict specified that the monastery should, if possible, contain a garden within itself, and before and above all things, special care should be taken of the sick, so that they may be served in very deed, as Christ himself. The cultivation of medicinal and utility plants was important to meet the material needs of the monastic institutions, but no physical garden has yet been found and excavated in either Scandinavia or Iceland. The Cistercians were particularly well known for being pioneer gardeners, but other orders like the Benedictines and Augustinians also practised gardening. The monasteries and nunneries operating in Iceland during medieval times are assumed to have belonged to either the Augustinian or the Benedictine orders. In Norway, some of the orders were the Dominicans, Fransiscans, Premonstratensians and Knights Hospitallers. Based on botanical investigations at all the Icelandic and Norwegian monastery sites, it is concluded that many of the plants found may have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants and, with all the evidence combined, they were most probably cultivated in monastery gardens. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Benedict ENVELOPE(-66.585,-66.585,-66.157,-66.157) Norway Religions 12 5 317 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
medieval gardening horticulture monastery garden herb relict plants medicinal plants Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 |
spellingShingle |
medieval gardening horticulture monastery garden herb relict plants medicinal plants Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 Per Arvid Åsen Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
topic_facet |
medieval gardening horticulture monastery garden herb relict plants medicinal plants Religions. Mythology. Rationalism BL1-2790 |
description |
Gardening was an important part of the daily duties within several of the religious orders in Europe during the Middle Ages. The rule of Saint Benedict specified that the monastery should, if possible, contain a garden within itself, and before and above all things, special care should be taken of the sick, so that they may be served in very deed, as Christ himself. The cultivation of medicinal and utility plants was important to meet the material needs of the monastic institutions, but no physical garden has yet been found and excavated in either Scandinavia or Iceland. The Cistercians were particularly well known for being pioneer gardeners, but other orders like the Benedictines and Augustinians also practised gardening. The monasteries and nunneries operating in Iceland during medieval times are assumed to have belonged to either the Augustinian or the Benedictine orders. In Norway, some of the orders were the Dominicans, Fransiscans, Premonstratensians and Knights Hospitallers. Based on botanical investigations at all the Icelandic and Norwegian monastery sites, it is concluded that many of the plants found may have a medieval past as medicinal and utility plants and, with all the evidence combined, they were most probably cultivated in monastery gardens. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Per Arvid Åsen |
author_facet |
Per Arvid Åsen |
author_sort |
Per Arvid Åsen |
title |
Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
title_short |
Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
title_full |
Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
title_fullStr |
Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Medieval Monastery Gardens in Iceland and Norway |
title_sort |
medieval monastery gardens in iceland and norway |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050317 https://doaj.org/article/af341526eec2451cbbed2630145718e3 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-66.585,-66.585,-66.157,-66.157) |
geographic |
Benedict Norway |
geographic_facet |
Benedict Norway |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Religions, Vol 12, Iss 317, p 317 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/317 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1444 doi:10.3390/rel12050317 2077-1444 https://doaj.org/article/af341526eec2451cbbed2630145718e3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050317 |
container_title |
Religions |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
317 |
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1766036934112575488 |