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The garden was put near the windows of the women’s
quarters, so as to be under the eye of the lady of the castle. It was good to
see the garden from above, for it lay like a many-coloured carpet, small and
delightful to behold.
It was not often possible to walk straight out from the
women’s rooms into the garden, which was generally set apart and enclosed, and
they went out of the house by a “very narrow” door.
Often, the garden was close to the mansion, with a staircase leading down to
it, as in the garden is where the lady would desire to stroll. That's where
you'll find the
charming garden of lilies and a fountain.
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The Garden
of Trees
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The "garden of trees" was the Medieval garden's pleasure-ground.
Fruit-bearing trees came first,
but it was not only fruit trees that were planted, but a medley of trees
desired for their shade and their beauty.
A Latin fable describes a noble garden
in which an oak grew among flowers and herbs, it gave its shade to the sick king, and a pure clear stream flowed
through the garden.
In Parsifal there are found in the Schlossberg garden, together with
the fairest flowers, fig trees, pomegranates, olives, and vines.
It is not confined to the tree garden, but is also the glory of the castle court with a lawn and a
fountain.
It is the proper tree for social life and parties, and it also stands
out in the pasture lands.
In time, branches are extended widely, supported on
pillars, with a seat below; often there are benches actually in the boughs;
sometimes the whole tree is surrounded by a barrier. |
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In the garden itself, people liked best to sit on the smooth turf seats, which
mostly ran along the walls and were either propped up with bricks or stood alone.
In the same way they sat about at games or in conversation, or for weaving
wreaths. They sat on the grass, for here the flowers were not set out in beds,
but grew scattered about anywhere on the grass.
In the middle of the flowery part is the fountain, which keeps the lawn from
getting dry and bare.
The paths between the beds were hard and sanded, very nicely and evenly kept.
When indeed the garden was to be particularly ornamental, the flower beds had tiles
round them.
Often. these trees were set in the middle of
flower beds.
This favorite form was used for the tree at the Festival of
Spring on May Day, and artificial fruits were hung on the crowns as an
attraction to the dancers.
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The Arbor
The arbor was of very great importance in the gardens of the Middle
Ages.
It was known to the ancients in the form of a pergola or trellis-work,
covered with green, possibly supported on posts, and very attractive, but in
gardens of that early date not so necessary; for the portico gave a convenient
shelter against sun or bad weather in the larger gardens, and in the smaller
ones at private houses, there were generally buildings all a round.
But now, the
garden was mostly a thing set apart, and needed a real shelter in the open:
roses and honeysuckle covered every sort of arbor.
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The walk leading to these bowers could be used to stroll
about in. A rose tree was often grown “so broad and thick that it
can give its shade to twelve knights together; wound around evenly and bent into
a hoop, yet taller than a man; under the same thorny bush there is golden
mullein and lovely grass."
The Labrynth
Another feature appears very early in the gardens of the period, and this,
too, was meant for retreat or for domestic enjoyment—the maze or
labyrinth. When this first found its way into gardens is uncertain. The name
carries us back to the palace of Minos at Crete: the story goes, that no one
could find the way out of its numerous rooms without a guide, and in common
speech the Greeks used the word in that sense.
The symbol for it was a figure
like a circle or a hexagon, within which were a great many lines crossing each
other, and arriving at a point in the middle from which they led out again to
the circumference.
In the early Middle Ages, the Christian churches adopted the same figure as
a symbol, and it was marked in stone on the floor of a church and used by
penitents. History is not sure as to the date when these mazes appeared
in gardens. In one kind, there were paths between hedges taller than a man, so
that anyone wandering about and taking a wrong turn could not see over and set
himself right.
We first hear of a labyrinth in England in connection with Henry
II, who
is said to have hidden the Fair Rosamond, his beloved, in the woodland retreat
at Woodstock; but the earliest authorities of the fourteenth century only
speak of a "House of Daedalus,” where he kept her hidden away. But at
this time, the garden labyrinth cannot have been unknown. Later on, no large garden was
complete without its labyrinth, and in the design of any grounds plan, the
pattern of the pre-Christian maze was preserved.
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Medieval Forest Gardens
At an early date, very large
forest gardens were laid out.
This garden was often a park for animals as well: “ Beneath the
marble tower lies a wonderful garden of trees, with walls all round,
and generally with wild animals.”
“The king took two acres or
even more of woodland by the lake, and threw a wall around it.”
This does not remain mere wild
land: it was divided into three parts for different kinds of
animals, and the king had a well-appointed shooting box built, so
that he could look on at the hunt with the ladies.
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Town Gardens
In medieval towns, it was not only the great nobles who set store by
beautiful gardens...
The burghers began more and more to care about gardens.
Every now and then, there is heard some very early rumor about the praise given to gardens in the city of
Paris by the Emperor Julian when he was on his journey to the North.
The
particular commendation is due to the fact that Parisians used to keep vines
and figs round their houses, and protected them through the winter with
coverings of straw. But this is an exception, for it is not until quite late
that we hear of any horticulture in the Northern towns.
At first, gardens were just vegetable plots in front of the town walls,
and the produce was sold in the horticultural markets.
In 1345 the
private gardeners of the great nobles and gentlemen of London had a quarrel
with the alderman, because the noise of the market at St. Paul’s
Churchyard annoyed the inhabitants and passers-by. Naturally there arose at
an early date a trade guild of gardeners.
A Roman document is known about a Gardeners’ Company, and at that time, the Northern towns were not
much behind Italy.
Fruit orchards and vineyards were carefully laid out and
kept up, and any injury done to them was severely punished.
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The towns developed very slowly from want lack of space; and it was only
when they were attached to the larger houses that one found more important
gardens, taken from the space for building
Sometimes medieval town
dwellers were able to have small gardens in the streets alongside the wall,
or at the side of houses which faced towards the river, as so often in Paris
with the more important houses. They had more freedom in the suburbs.
The gardens of village
houses in the Middle Ages naturally developed in a finer way and at an
earlier date than those in towns. In the songs of wandering minstrels we
often hear of the peasant’s garden.
There was generally a plot of ground in front of the house, serving
hospitable ends. Peasants met there as in an arbor to drink together, and
the plot at the back was used for kitchen stuff.
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