Wyrtig - Medieval gardens on the Continent

Wyrtig

OE wyrtig, adj: Garden-like, full of plants;
On anum wyrtige hamme, Homl. Skt. ii. 30:312.

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Medieval Gardens on the Continent The Charlemagne's estate at Asnapio, the Capitulare de Villis and the Plan of St. Gall
In the early 800s CE, Charlemagne commanded his stewards to inventory a royal estate called Asnapio, in northeastern France. The information they gathered profiled an enterprise that became the model for Charlemagne's Capitulare de Villis, guidelines for what a royal estate should provide.
Capitulare de villis, Charlemagne (View a list of the plants of the Capitulare)	Capitulare de Villis Imperialibis As we try to understand Britain in the years after the Romans and before the Normans, Britain's continental neighbors provide some insight. In about 800 CE, Charlemagne issued the Capitulare de Villis Imperialibis, a plan delineating the plants that would ideally be included in estate and monastery gardens throughout his empire. The Capitulare contains the names of some 89 plants, of which we know that at least 73 were used medicinally. The list may have been compiled by Abbot Benedict of Aniane in Languedoc, near Herault, France, and there is a remarkable British connection here, as Abbot Benedict is known to have exchanged plants with Alcuin of York, one of Charlemagne’s most trusted advisors. At the time, Alcuin was Abbot of Tours (796-804 CE), where he was famous for his roses and lilies. Charlemagne also had his agents inventory his royal estates, among them Asnapio.
The Plan of St. Gall	Plan of St. Gall A work that is contemporary in both time and locale to the Capitulare was a plan, probably created by Abbot Haito of Reichenau, for an ideal monastery at St. Gall, in Switzerland. Highly detailed, this ground plan includes a physic garden, a kitchen garden, and an orchard containing both fruit and nut trees. In her marvelous book, A History of Kitchen Gardens, Susan Campbell writes that at St. Gall, …an orchard-cum-cemetery …contains thirteen well-spaced fruit trees, each bearing a different fruit or nut. …Next in size is the kitchen garden or hortus. This is about one-tenth of an acre …and contains eighteen long, narrow rectangular beds, each twenty feet long and five feet wide… The third garden, the infirmary garden… contains sixteen beds, half as long and half as wide as those in the hortus... (p. 84).

The Plants and Trees of The Plan of St. Gall
HORTUS - Hic plantata holerum pulchre nascentia uernant GARDEN - Here planted vegetables flourish in beauty

Scientific name Common name	Plan of St. Gall
Allium sativum Garlic	Aleas
Anethum graveolens Dill	Anetum
Allium ascalonicum Shallot	Ascalonicas
Allium cepa Onion	Cepas
Allium porrum Leek	P[o]rros
Allium sativum Garlic	Aleas
Anthriscus cerefolium Chervil	Cerefolium
Apium graveolens Celery	Apium
Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla Chard	Betas
Brassica Cabbage	Caulas
Coriandrum sativum Coriander	Coliandrum
Lactuca spp. Lettuce	Lactuca
Nigella sativa Black cumin, Love-in-a-mist	Git
Papaver somniferum Poppy	Papaver
Papaver sp. Poppies	Magones
Pastinaca sativa Parsnip	Pestinachas
Petroselinum crispum Parsley	Petrosilium
Raphanus sativus Radish	Radiches
Satureia hortensis Summer savory	Sataregia
Herbularis - A garden of medicinal herbs, located next to the monks' infirmary

*Scientific name* Common name	Plan of St Gall
Balsamita vulgarita Costmary	Costo
Cuminum cyminum Cumin	Cumino
Trigonella foenum-graecum Greek hay	Fenegreca
Foeniculum vulgare Fennel	Fenuclum
Iris germanica Iris Purple flag	Gladiola
Lilium spp. Lily	Lilium
Levisticum officinale Lovage	Lubestico
Mentha spp. Mint	Menta
Mentha pullegium Pennyroyal	Pulegium
Nasturtium officinale Watercress	Sisimbria
Rosa spp.	Rosas
Rosmarinum officinalis Rosemary	Rosmarino
Ruta graveolens Rue	Ruta
Salvia officinalis Sage	Saluia
Satureia hortensis Summer savory	Sata regia
Vigna unguiculata Black eyed pea	Fasiolo
Orchard- The monks' orchard was also their cemetery, with burial plots, each designed to hold seven interments, interspersed among the trees.
Scientific name Common name	Plan of St Gall
Castanea sativa Chestnut	Castenarius
Corylus avellana Hazel	Auellanarius
Cydonia oblonga Quince	Guduniarius
Ficus carica Fig	Ficus
Malus spp. Apple	M[alus]
Mespilus germanica Medlar	Mispolarius
Morus nigra Black mulberry	Murarius
Pyrus spp. Pear	Perarius
Prunus domestica Plum	Prunarius
Prunus dulcis Almond	Amendalarius
Prunus persica Peach	Persicus
Sorbus domestica Service tree	Sorbarius

At about the same time, two other continental gardeners -- Walahfrid Strabo, later himself the Abbot of Reichenau, and Wandelbert, a Westphalian monk, wrote about gardening. From these four sources -- Charlemagne’s Capitulare de Villis, the plan of St. Gall, Walahfrid’s Hortulus ("little garden"), and Wandlebert’s verse calendar of gardening -- come the names of nearly one hundred herbs that were then in cultivation, and some idea of the gardens in which they were grown.

Sources

Capitulaire de Villis - http://www.le.ac.uk/hi/polyptyques/capitulare/site.html
Asnapio and other polyptiques - h ttp://www.le.ac.uk/hi/polyptyques/index.html
Plan of St. Gall - http://www.stgallplan.org/en/index_plan.html
Amazing online resource showing the plan and providing invaluable information about provenance and creation.

Continental
Gardens

Walafrid Strabo's Hortulus

The Capitulare de Villis

The Plan of St. Gall

The garden at Asnapio

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