"A fascinating document of life in the Middle Ages."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

Medieval Home Companion, A

History

Bayard, Tania

Europe

HarpPeren

If you have walked through a wood of wild ginger, forget-me-nots, and unfurling ferns, or wandered in a meadow of strawberries, yarrow, and oxeye daisies, you have had the opportunity to admire medieval plants. Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers is an introduction to medieval plants and gardening practices by way of the gardens of The Cloisters. In her work as assistant horticulturist at The Cloisters, Tania Bayard has become aware of the many questions visitors ask about medieval gardening. Tania addresses those questions in this volume, providing a list of the plants in The Cloisters' gardens. In this book, Tania, who left a career in art history to become a horticulturist, shares her knowledge and experience with us. 
The gardens of The Cloisters bloom in a unique museum, a division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, designed to suggest the layout of a medieval European monastery. Planted in reconstructed Romanesque and Gothic cloisters, the gardens resemble those that provided bodily sustenance and spiritual refreshment for monks of centuries ago. 
The delight in reading Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers is the realization that the modern gardener's experience is not unlike that of gardeners one thousand years ago. Then, as now, garden plots were selected for adequate light and water drainage, the soil was prepared in the spring, noxious weeds and stones were removed, the ground was tilled and rakes, and cow manure was added for fertilizer. Seeds and young plants were lovingly tended. When the plants were mature, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits were harvested for food, medicines, and various household uses. Following the fall harvest, the ground was readied for winter, and thoughts of spring were always present. How wonderful it is that we share with the medieval gardener the same labors and joys, getting our hands dirty with soil as did the ninth-century monk, Walahfrid Strabo. [This book was originally published in 1985 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]\nPublished by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers: Medieval Gardens and the Gardens of The Cloisters

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Metropolitan Museum of Art

No flower is more popular than the rose, and none can match the color, beauty, and drama that climbing roses bring to a garden. This guide catalogs 65 beautiful rose varieties that thrive in the varied soil and climate conditions of North America. It is full of suggestions on how to cultivate and train the roses. 90 full-color photos.

Climbing Roses

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Scanniello, Stephen

Gardening & Landscape Design

Macmillan General* Reference

Introducing scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan in the first of an intriguing new historical mystery series set in 14th Century France Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king’s attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about. Then one of the king’s favourites, Hugues de Précy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed. Can Christine prove Alix’s innocence and save her from being burned at the stake?

In The Presence of Evil (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 1)

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Severn House

Introducing scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan in the first of an intriguing new historical mystery series set in 14th Century France Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king’s attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about. Then one of the king’s favourites, Hugues de Précy, is found murdered and his wife Alix de Clairy is blamed. Can Christine prove Alix’s innocence and save her from being burned at the stake?

United States

Scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan must discover who wants to kill the king in the second of this richly-imagined historical mystery series set in 14th Century France Paris, 1393.A masquerade ball at the palace ends in tragedy, with four revellers burned to death. Was it an accident... or did someone deliberately hurl a flaming torch at the dancers? Convinced it was an act of murder and that the king himself was the real target, Queen Isabeau has asked Christine de Pizan to spend time at court in an attempt to uncover the identity of the would-be assassin. With the king struck down by an illness no one can understand, Christine finds the palace to be a hotbed of rumour, suspicion, petty rivalries and dark secrets: a place where no one can be trusted. Could the king’s ambitious brother, the Duke of Orleans, be responsible for the deaths? One of his embittered uncles? Or could the killer lie even closer to home…?

In the Shadow of the Enemy (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 2)

A baby abandoned in the palace gardens leads scribe sleuth Christine de Pizan into a mystery involving murder, superstition and scandal in fourteenth-century France. Paris, 1396. Scribe Christine de Pizan is shocked when the Duke of Orleans' fools find a baby, wrapped in rags and covered in sores, abandoned in the palace gardens. Was there really a wicked plan to substitute the child for the queen's own baby daughter and blame the Duchess of Orleans, Valentina Visconti? Who would commit such an evil act, and why? Accused of being a sorceress, Valentina is the victim of much slander and has powerful enemies at the palace, where rumours of witchcraft and superstition run riot. Convinced of the duchess's innocence, Christine is determined to uncover the truth, and soon makes a number of disturbing discoveries. Could the palace fools be the key to unlocking the mystery?

In the Company of Fools (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 3)

Murder in the Cloister (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 4)

Christine de Pizan is in danger when she is sent to the Priory of Poissy to catch the killer of a young nun in this vividly imagined historical mystery set in fourteenth-century France. Paris, 1399. Scribe Christine de Pizan is sent to the Priory of Poissy by the palace to copy a manuscript for the prioress. But the prioress already has many copyists at the priory, and Christine senses that something is amiss. Her suspicions are confirmed when the prioress reveals that one of the sisters has been found murdered in the cloister. Fearing for the welfare of the king's young daughter who resides at the abbey, she is eager for Christine to find out who killed the young nun - and why. As Christine investigates, she uncovers dark mischief and closely guarded secrets, but can she unmask a killer?This compelling medieval mystery will appeal to fans of KAREN MAITLAND, SUSANNA GREGORY and CANDACE ROBB.

The Bonnefont Cloister at The Cloisters museum in New York City is a lovely space overlooking the Hudson River just above the George Washington Bridge. Meticulously planned and planted, the herb garden contains only species of plants known to have been grown during the Middle Ages. It is a joy to visit on a warm spring or summer day. Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers is a readable, beautifully illustrated description of the Bonnefont Garden, a valuable resource for any herbalist or historian.

Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers: Medieval Gardens and the Gardens of the Cloisters

Susan Taylor Leach (foreword)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bayard, Tania. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bayard, Tania

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bayard, Tania. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Medieval Home Companion, A

Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers: Medieval Gardens and the Gardens of The Cloisters

Climbing Roses

In The Presence of Evil (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 1)

In The Presence of Evil (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 1)

In the Shadow of the Enemy (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 2)

In the Company of Fools (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 3)

Murder in the Cloister (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 4)

In the Shadow of the Enemy (A Christine de Pizan Mystery, 2)

Sweet Herbs and Sundry Flowers: Medieval Gardens and the Gardens of the Cloisters