The cultivation of herbs was an important part of the
work of monasteries in the Middle Ages. Medical care was often in the hands of
dedicated monks and they mostly had no other options than using herbs and a lot
of praying for the sick.
Walahfridus Strabo (808 – 849) was abbot at Reichenau and
an important Carolinian writer. Amongst his many works is a poem about cultivating
an herbal garden, Liber de Cultura
Hortorum also known as Hortulus,
in which he describes 24 plants. He dedicated this poem to his friend Grimaldus,
abbot of Sankt Gallen. Whether or not Walahfridus was himself an enthusiastic
gardener is unknown, but he was at least an enthusiastic poet and with this work
he has created the oldest didactic poem on herbs in the Middle Ages
The following poem is about sage, still a popular herb
for use in the kitchen, but I don't think it is still in use as a medical herb.
Walahfridus Strabo, Hortulus,
IV Salvia (Salvia officinalis L.)
Meter: hexameter
Lelifagus prima
praefulget fronte locorum,
Dulcis odore, gravis virtute atque utilis haustu.
Pluribus haec hominum morbis prodesse
reperta
Perpetuo viridi meruit gaudere iuventa.
Sed tolerat civile malum: nam saeva
parentem
Progenies florum, fuerit ni dempta, perurit
Et facit antiquos defungier invida ramos.
lelifagus: derived
from ἐλελίσφακος, the Greek name for salvia
prima: with (in) fronte
`at the very entrance’
locorum: of the
places (i.e. the plant beds). So salvia
stood at the entrance of the garden.
praefulgeo: to
glitter in front, shine greatly
gravis:
eminent
haec: despite
the masculine gender of lelifagus
haustu:
supinum of haurio `to drink’
morbus:
disease
prodesse reperta:
found to be useful
perpetuo viridi
meruit gaudere iuventa: she had deserved to enjoy (gaudeo + abl.) her green youth for ever
tolero (-are): to endure, suffer
civile malum:
civil strife
saeva parentem
progenies florum perurit : the wild child destroys the parental flower.
New sprouts of Salvia have to be cut in time as otherwise it will overgrow the
parental plant.
demo dempsi
demptum (-ere): to remove
facit defungier
( = defungi): causes to die (The
archaic form defungier is found in Terence.
Roman comedies were well-known during the Middle Ages.)
invidus:
envious
ramus: branch
Women picking leaves of a salvia plant (Picture from Tacuinum Sanitatis in Medicina c. 1498)
There is no ready translation for copy paste on internet,
but a translation can be found here:
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