HERB - Favorite Herb

Christine A Seelye-King mermayde at juno.com
Mon May 4 16:48:17 PDT 1998


>Do you have any period recipes for using lavender?  I'm currently 
>trying to track down primary references to lavender.
>Raisya

>From " Herbs for the Mediaeval Household, For Cooking, Healing, and
Divers Uses" by Margaret B. Freeman, Pub. by the Metropolitan Museum of
Art

	"Lavenders  Laveandula officinalis, Lois.
		and l. Stoechas, L. 
Lavender was an herb highly treasured in the Middle Ages.  It perfumed
the silks and linens of wealthy folk and was strewn in chests to keep
away insects.  "The Mother of God" was very fond of lavender flowers,
explains the *Hortus sanitatis*, "because of their virtue in protecting
clothes from dirty, filthy beasts."  She also had "great love of this
herb for the reason that it preserves chastity... If the head is
sprinkled with lavender water it will make that person chaste as long as
he bears it upon him."  For a headache the *Hortus* recommends taking the
flowers of 'Lavendula Stoechas' and putting them into a little bag along
with bay and betony, red roses and marjoram, clove pinks and nutmeg
blossoms.  "for noble-men"  the sack should be make of "red silk" and
"for the common people, of plainer stuff."  If this little bag is put on
the head "it will soothe all pains".  Lavender had also "strange,
unspeakable virtue" against apoplexy and palsy and loss of speech.  

*Hortus Sanitatis or Gart Der Gesundheit* published by Peter Schoeffer at
Mainz in 1485.  


Mistress Christianna MacGrain, OP, Meridies

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