Monastic Plants - Nature's Medicine from the Past

In the Middle Ages a veritable host of Christian monks and nuns arrived in the Nordic countries from Central and Southern Europe. Some of them were vegetarians — a very new idea at the time. The vegetarian lifestyle made it natural for these monks to cultivate well-stocked kitchen gardens. Self-sufficiency in medicinal plants was also important. The monasteries ran hospitals and needed large quantities of high-quality herbs.

More than 100 monasteries were built in Denmark, and many of them had medicinal herb gardens. Unfortunately, none of these monastery or manor gardens have been preserved for posterity. But at monasteries and in medicinal herb gardens you can still see many of the medicinal plants that monks and nuns brought to Denmark.

The book contains profiles of a number of important monastic plants that have been used, and some that are still used as medicinal plants.

The book's author, Gunvor Maria Juul, is a food historian and herbal specialist. She advised on the creation of the medicinal garden at Science Musserne in Århus as well as the herb garden in Gråsten.

Hardcover, 96 pages. 
Measures: 17x12.5 cm.