H 



GARDEN CRAFT IN EUROPE 



given 

 a 



empire, from which he drew a large proportion of his revenue. He inter- 

 ested himself very much in agriculture and horticulture, and in 812 issued 

 his famous capitulary, De villis et curtis, in which particular directions are 

 concerning the maintenance of orchards and gardens, together with 

 list of trees and plants that should be cultivated. This is one of 

 the most valuable and expHcit documents relating to the art of gardening 

 in these early centuries that has been preserved. We find enumerated 

 all the plants which the Emperor had grown himself, and the culture of 

 which he recommended to his subjects ; they were principally fruit trees 

 and medicinal herbs, but a certain number of ornamental plants are also 



described.^ An im- 

 portant feature in 

 these gardens of Char- 

 lemagne was the great 

 menagerie; wild 

 animals were much 

 prized as royal gifts, 

 and we read that the 

 King of Persia pre- 

 sented Charlemagne 

 with an elephant 

 which was brought to 

 the menagerie at Aix- 

 la-Chapelle. How 

 such a bulky pre- 

 sent journeyed across 

 Europe it would be interesting to know. 



The plans of the Abbey of St. Gall, situated near the lake of Con- 

 stance, give very exact information as to early monastic gardens in general ; 

 here the hortus is indicated as a regular enclosure, with .a central path leading 

 from the gardener's house, and nine long and narrow beds of equal size upon 

 each side ; the herbularis, or physic garden, is smaller with a border of plants 

 round the wall, and four beds on both sides of a central wall, the plants 

 contained in each of these beds are carefully noted. At the monastery 



^ This capitulary is dealt with at length in the Magasin encyclo-pediqiie, by MM. Sereau et 

 Harman, An VIII, tomes III et IV. 



MONKS GARDEN AT THE CERTOSA, PAVIA. 



