Herb gardens were central features in medieval homes, manors, and monasteries. Read on to learn how to grow your own medieval herb garden on your windowsill – no gardening experience required!
Why were herb gardens so important?
Herb gardens were central to medieval medicine in Western Europe. Medicine was based on the four humours – it was believed that our bodies were made up of these humours, and they needed to be in balance for us to be healthy. They were blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
Medieval health advice often focused on balance – not eating lots of red meat, moving your body on a daily basis, getting a good amount of sleep, and not drinking too much alcohol. This is familiar to preventative health advice today. But, when a person did get ill, it was believed that their humours were out of balance and needed to be rebalanced. There were many ways of doing this – through bloodletting, cupping, and consuming medicines made up of particular herbs.
The reason that herbs and other plants were thought to be able to rebalance the humours in your body is that all natural things were made up of the four elements which matched the four humours.
The woman I research, twelfth-century visionary Hildegard of Bingen, thought blood was warm and dry like fire, phlegm was cold and dry like air, black bile was warm and damp like earth, and yellow bile was cold and damp like earth. Other medical writers assigned different qualities.
As an example, if you had a phlegmy throat, Hildegard thought this was caused by an overabundance of air in the head. So, she recommended the plant tansy which was seen as hot and moist, the opposite of the element air which is cool and dry, and therefore restored balance to the humours in the body. It’s kind of logical once you get into it, but it’s a very different way of thinking to what we’re used to!
So you can see that growing herbs was essential to maintaining your health in the Middle Ages. In practical terms, herbs would have been harvested, dried and stored for use in the winter months, in the same way regular food was. When needed they would then be made into either a liquid to be drunk or a sort of cream or oil to be used externally. The best time of year for potting herbs in the UK is February and March, so don’t forget to bookmark this page!
Which herbs should I grow?
Learn which plants to grow in a beginners herb garden, and what Hildegard thought they cured.
Basil – “basil is cold”
Recipe: “One who has strong fevers, whether tertian or quartan, should cook basil in wine, with honey added. She should strain it and drink it frequently, with or without food, and at bedtime. Her fevers will cease.”
Explanation: because fever is caused by too much heat, Hildegard thought you should use a cold herb to treat it. The honey and wine aren’t really important to this particular potion – they are just there to create a syrup to hold the active ingredient in. It’s a bit like a Calpol or cough syrup.
Mint – “mint is more hot than cold”
Recipe: “One who has a cold stomach and is unable to digest food should eat mint raw, or cooked with meats or fish. It will warm her stomach, and provide good digestion.”
Explanation: because blood is needed to digest food, and blood was thought of as a warm humour, when someone had digestive issues they must have had a cold digestive system. Therefore, they needed a herb that is hot in nature to rebalance their digestion – mint.
Sage – “sage is of a hot and dry nature, and grows more from the heat of the sun than from the moisture of the earth”
Recipe: “If anyone is unable to hold her urine because of the coldness of her stomach, she should cook sage in water, and strain it through a cloth. She should often drink it warm, and she will be cured.”
Explanation: Because sage was seen as so warm, as emphasised by it growing from the heat of the earth and nothing to do with the cold damp earth, it could help ailments induced by coldness – in this case, incontinence.
Parsley – “parsley is of a robust nature and has in it more heat than cold and it grows from wind and humidity”
Recipe: “It improves fevers. It generates seriousness in a person’s mind. One who ails in her heart, spleen, or sides should cook parsley in wine with a little vinegar and honey.”
Explanation: parsley was a little more complex – it had heat but some cold, and both dryness from wind and dampness from humidity. It was a bit like a cure-all – it had some of all the elements and was therefore quite balanced and could treat a whole series of ailments. Note the mental health connection here.
Oregano – “oregano is hot and dry”
Recipe: “When food which has a damp juice makes a person’s head ache, she should take oregano crushed in a juice, then add butter. Anointing the whole head with it, she will be better.”
Explanation: Because Oregano was dry, it dried out the dampness causing the headache. Anointing is a common theme in Hildegard’s medical cures, but we know that this is a religious concept – anointing with holy oil is a common part of religious rituals and ceremonies. So although her medicine is based in humoural theory which we would consider more on the scientific side of things, it is all infused with her religious beliefs as she did not see religion and medicine as separate.
Thyme – “thyme is hot and dry. It carries off putrid matter by heat and strength”
Recipe: “If old age or some other infirmity is causing water in someone’s eye, weakening him beyond measure, she should stare at thyme until her eyes are damp, as if by crying. This makes them pure and clear.”
Explanation: Water was cold and damp, so therefore a hot and dry herb would counteract it. Amazingly this cure worked without even ingesting it and without that religious element!
How to grow the herbs
This information has been provided by Donna Richardson of Enchanted Gardens. Donna is an expert gardener and pollinator conservationist. You can buy seeds from Donna’s online shop.
What you’ll need: small and large pots or seed trays, soil, seeds. With all plants, resist the temptation to over-water.
Basil
Sow indoors all year round at a depth of 0.5cm. As they grow you can move the plants to a larger pot (20-23cm). Harvest the leaves all year round.
Mint
One of the easiest herbs to grow! Sow indoors late March to June in seed trays, cover and keep moist. As they grow move them to larger pots or trays in September with 30cm between plants. Harvest as required.
Sage
Sow indoors February-May at a depth of 0.5cm, just cover them and harvest as required.
Parsley
Sow outdoors March-August in pots at a depth of 0.5cm. Bring them indoors over winter. Harvest most of the year.
Oregano
Sow indoors all year round in pots at a depth of 0.5cm. Harvest as required.
Thyme
Sow indoors March-April at a depth of 0.5cm and move to larger pots in May-June. Keep in a warm, sunny position and harvest as required.
So there you are! Let me know how you get on growing your mystical medieval herb garden, and what you use your herbs for.
This content was originally created as an interactive session with Bristol Museum in November 2020.
Enjoyed this post? You can support by work by sending me a tip on Ko-fi.
Medieval Lauren 
I’ve read Hildegard’s herbals, listened to her music, and visited her convent in Germany, coming home with a suitcase of goodies from their shop. She was certainly far ahead of her times, and a gifted, savvy woman! Best of luck with all your herbs.
LikeLike
Thanks for your comment carolee, it’s lovely to find another Hildegard enthusiast. I research the relationship between her theology and medicine which is still fairly new academically but very popular publicly. I keep reading that Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to compose a herbal in the 18th century when Hildegard is right there! Hope you enjoy the blog.
LikeLike