Medieval Medicinal Plants

The current interest in medieval medicinal plants is hampered by the lack of easily accessible texts and the uncertainty in the identification of the plants. This book aims to compensate for these shortcomings.

If seeking beyond Culpeper’s Herbal (1653), authors frequently use Renaissance authors, whereas they regarded plants in different ways: medieval writers regarded plants as a homogenous material and those from the Renaissance onward attributed them specific habitats, properties and requirements.

Plants were involved in all aspects of medieval life many of which seem alien to us, but nevertheless provide an insight to the medieval beliefs and living conditions. Three 11^th–15^th century texts reflecting the many components of the medieval plant world have been chosen as sources here: Macer Floridus, Tractatus de Herbis, and Agnus Castus.

On each plant in these sources, this book provides a monograph based on extensive quotations and a thorough discussion of sources taking into consideration the classical literature and the practical experience gained by 50 years growing these plants trying to replicate their propagation and cultivation methods, however strange they might seem to present-day scholars and scientists.