The history and structure of gardens hold endless surprises and fascinating connections withother disciplines. Originally created as a natural but immutable place offering protection andshelter, gardens have evolved from the hortus conclusus to a place of fantastic architecture,celebrations and wonder. Despite the aesthetic development that was added to the symbolic oneof the medieval tradition, the garden never completely lost its medicinal and practical function,featuring areas dedicated to fruit trees, greenhouses reserved for exotic crops or plants whosemedicinal or dyeing properties were well known

Presentation

The history and structure of gardens hold endless surprises and fascinating connections withother disciplines. Originally created as a natural but immutable place offering protection andshelter, gardens have evolved from the hortus conclusus to a place of fantastic architecture,celebrations and wonder. Despite the aesthetic development that was added to the symbolic oneof the medieval tradition, the garden never completely lost its medicinal and practical function,featuring areas dedicated to fruit trees, greenhouses reserved for exotic crops or plants whosemedicinal or dyeing properties were well known. This workshop aims to reflect on those areasof the garden dedicated to “useful” plants, such as those used for cooking (including spices),medicine, cosmetics or art. The papers address issues that can shed new light and provide new interdisciplinaryresearch trajectories on any topic that can be connected with useful plants and gardens. 

Program

Wednesday 25 February

10.00 : welcome and opening

Maddalena Bellavitis (C2RMF), Maria Muñoz Benavent (UMH), TBC

10.15 : presentations

• Erinç Salor-Broberg, University of Amsterdam, Hortus Medicus : Amsterdam’s Medicinal Garden through Time and Space
• Sanne Steen, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Christianity and Spirituality in the Early Modern Kitchen Garden
• Maria Luisa Mutschlechner, Inside the Aurelian Walls in Rome : The Janiculum Hill—A Landscape Shaped by Scientific and Productive Gardens from 1600 to 1800

11.30 : coffee break

• Esther Jones, Cardiff and Bristol Universities, Family Trees : Negotiating Domesticity in the Eighteenth-Century Gentry Garden
• Valentine Delrue, Ghent University, Weather-wise Gardens ? Meteorological and Botanical Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia
• Esther Lupón González, University of Zaragoza, Gardens as Ceremonial Infrastructure : Utility, Sensory Design, and Power at Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ

13.15 : Discussion and conclusions

Practical information

The admission is free, but those who wish to attend the workshop need to send their name to maddalena.bellavitis@culture.gouv.fr