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56 results

Page 1 of 3

  • 4 - The Worst of Weeds

  • Paolo Squatriti, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Book:
    Weeds and the Carolingians
    Published online:
    02 June 2022
    Print publication:
    09 June 2022, pp 101-128

  • Summary

    In Frankish Europe, some “herbs” seemed more consistently evil than others. This is evident in a curious poem in an anonymous collection of lyrics from the ninth century (judging by the sole manuscript’s handwriting) that recounts the pleasures and dangers of an incongruous pair, navigation and agriculture. The poem is didactic, so uses a large number of obscure, technical Latin words for the benefit of learners.

Weeds and the Carolingians
  • Empire, Culture, and Nature in Frankish Europe, AD 750–900
  • Paolo Squatriti
  • Published online:
    02 June 2022
    Print publication:
    09 June 2022
  • Why did weeds matter in the Carolingian empire? What was their special significance for writers in eighth- and ninth-century Europe and how was this connected with the growth of real weeds? In early medieval Europe, unwanted plants that persistently appeared among crops created extra work, reduced productivity, and challenged theologians who believed God had made all vegetation good. For the first time, in this book weeds emerge as protagonists in early medieval European history, driving human farming strategies and coloring people's imagination. Early medieval Europeans' effort to create agroecosystems that satisfied their needs and cosmologies that confirmed Christian accounts of vegetable creation both had to come to terms with unruly plants. Using diverse kinds of texts, fresh archaeobotanical data, and even mosaics, this interdisciplinary study reveals how early medieval Europeans interacted with their environments.

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