[Sca-cooks] Carolus Clusius and the Kartoffel

[Decker, Terry D.]

"Food: a Culinary History," a usually reliable source states that Clusius
introduced the potato into the Low Countries in 1580.  This is an error, for
by his own words, Clusius was only introduced to the potato in 1587, "I
received the first authentic information about this plant from Phillipus de
Sivry, Dn. de Walhain and the Prefect of the City of Mons in Hannonia, of
the Belgians, who sent two tuber of it, with its fruit, to me in Vienna,
Austria, at the beginning of the year 1587, and in the following year, a
drawing of the branch with a flower."  De Sivry had obtained his potatoes
from an employee of the Pontifical Delegation to Belgium in 1586.

Looking a little further, I came across references to Clusius having
introduced the potato to the Lowlands and to Germany in the 1580's.  That
Clusius comments in his Herbal (1601) about the potato being grown in some
of the gardens of Germany, leads me to believe potatoes got to Germany
without his assistance.   As for introducing them to the Lowlands, Clusius
was in Austria and Germany during this period.  He did send potato seed to
Johannes Hogeladius, who grew potatoes from them, which may represent their
introduction into Holland, although I have not been able to determine where
Hogeladius resided.  This exchange of potato plants, seeds and information
between botanists suggests that the potato was essentially unknown in
northern Europe prior to 1586.

Despite the Hospital de la Sangre in Seville ordering white potatoes as part
of its stocks in 1573, Clusius' work tends to discount any widespread
cultivationin Spain.  The potato does not appear in Rarium aliquot stirpium
per Hispanias observatarum historia , a thorough botanical study of the
plants of Spain published in 1576.  Information for this work was probably
collected between 1563 and 1565, while he was Governor for Antione Fugger's
sons during their educational travels and 1566 to 1571, when Clusius was
living on a inheritance.  The work appears to have been written while he was
director of the Botanical Gardens in Vienna an appointment he received from
Emperor Maximilian II.  He also prepared a map of Spain for the geographer
Abraham Ortelius, who was made geographer to Phillip II of Spain in 1575,
which suggests that Clusius' knowledge of the plants of Spain was gained
first hand.

In 1601, Clusius points only to Germany and Italy as places where the potato
was under cultivation.  It should be noted that he had firsthand knowledge
of Germany having resided in Frankfurt for many years and having patrons in
Hesse and the Palatinate, while his comments about potatoes being eaten in
Italy are qualified with "so they say."

The Herbal of 1601, Rariorum plantarum historia, was published while he was
professor of botany and first director of the botanical gardens at Leiden,
Holland.  That he does not mention cultivation of potatoes in Holland
suggests that the potato was not found much outside of botanical collections
in the Low Countries, despite claims they were being eaten their in the late
16th Century.

An incomplete but useful biographical outline of Clusius can be found at:
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/lecluse.html

Bear