DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.56731#0074
3i. BOTANY: THE ANGLO-SAXON HERBALS
Like most of the natural sciences, botany was originally a practical and not a theoretical science.
Its earliest textbooks are herbals, i.e. collections of descriptions of plants put together for medical
purposes. The healing qualities ascribed to the herbs derive from magical and religious ideas as
well as from experiment, but among the drugs used as remedies in the ancient world there are
many whose beneficial action on the human organism is still recognized by modern medicine,
and of those that are not, some are still used by quacks. During the fourth century b.c. the herbal
assumed its definite form which persisted with few alterations throughout the ages. As early as
about the year 1000 a Latin version of the Greek standard text was translated into Anglo-Saxon.
It is likely that from a very early date the herbal was illustrated (see a) and that the pictures,
like the recipes, were copied from one version to the other. But the dangers of too rigid adherence
to a long tradition seem to have been counteracted time and again by genuine observation. The
best herbal illustrations are of great delicacy and their faithfulness to nature enables botanists to
identify many of the plants. Some of the English herbal illustrations which look as though they
must derive directly from the study of nature represent plants of southern origin which the painters
could not have seen in their gardens (see 5).
а. A cabbage-like plant called Symphylon. From a Greek Herbal, written on papyrus found by
Mr. J. de M. Johnson at Antinoe (Egypt). About a.d. 400.
Fragments only of the Herbal were found. They each show the picture of a plant, and the
accompanying text contains notes about its medicinal uses. Similar texts (in Latin translation)
and pictures reappear in mediaeval manuscripts.
I, 2, 3. Anglo-Saxon Herbal. About 1050. British Museum MS. Cotton Vitellius C. III.
Fol. 19 (front page). This is the most beautiful of Anglo-Saxon medico-botanical manuscripts.
Its classical origin is shown on this page, where Chiron (see 4), a centaur skilled in drugs, and
Aesculapius, god of medicine, hold a herbal volume in front of Apuleius Platonicus (here called
“Plato”), the author of the classical Herbarium. The page is intended to demonstrate the mythical
descent of herbal lore.
Fol. 24. “Nadre wyrt”, i.e. Snake plant, perhaps Asphodel. The earliest herbals prescribe
juices made from the boiled roots of Asphodel as a remedy against the poisoning caused by snake
bites, against ulcers, boils and abscesses.
Fol. 23V. Hennebelle-Henbane-/Fyo5'9'amw5' reticulatus, a Mediterranean species not native to
England 4, 5. Illustrations from an Anglo-Norman copy of the Herbal of Apuleius. About 1200.
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1462, fols. 23 and 26V.
Fol. 23. Figure of a Centaur. The Centaur Chiron was supposed to have been the first to
discover the two species of the plant Centaury and to make use of its medicinal properties.
Fol. 26V. Left, “Homerus Auctor”; right, “Mercurius” holding a plant in each hand.
Between them is the inscription “ Archiater” (the chief of the physicians).
б. Illustration from an Anglo-Saxon Herbal. About 1050. British Museum MS. Cotton Vitellius
C. Ill, fol. 40.
Scorpion and snake fighting. The accurate representation of the scorpion shows that the
artist who drew the original from which this was copied must have lived in the Mediterranean
region. The plant is “Solago Minor”, which is thought to correspond to the Heliotropium
Europaeum of botanists.
Like most of the natural sciences, botany was originally a practical and not a theoretical science.
Its earliest textbooks are herbals, i.e. collections of descriptions of plants put together for medical
purposes. The healing qualities ascribed to the herbs derive from magical and religious ideas as
well as from experiment, but among the drugs used as remedies in the ancient world there are
many whose beneficial action on the human organism is still recognized by modern medicine,
and of those that are not, some are still used by quacks. During the fourth century b.c. the herbal
assumed its definite form which persisted with few alterations throughout the ages. As early as
about the year 1000 a Latin version of the Greek standard text was translated into Anglo-Saxon.
It is likely that from a very early date the herbal was illustrated (see a) and that the pictures,
like the recipes, were copied from one version to the other. But the dangers of too rigid adherence
to a long tradition seem to have been counteracted time and again by genuine observation. The
best herbal illustrations are of great delicacy and their faithfulness to nature enables botanists to
identify many of the plants. Some of the English herbal illustrations which look as though they
must derive directly from the study of nature represent plants of southern origin which the painters
could not have seen in their gardens (see 5).
а. A cabbage-like plant called Symphylon. From a Greek Herbal, written on papyrus found by
Mr. J. de M. Johnson at Antinoe (Egypt). About a.d. 400.
Fragments only of the Herbal were found. They each show the picture of a plant, and the
accompanying text contains notes about its medicinal uses. Similar texts (in Latin translation)
and pictures reappear in mediaeval manuscripts.
I, 2, 3. Anglo-Saxon Herbal. About 1050. British Museum MS. Cotton Vitellius C. III.
Fol. 19 (front page). This is the most beautiful of Anglo-Saxon medico-botanical manuscripts.
Its classical origin is shown on this page, where Chiron (see 4), a centaur skilled in drugs, and
Aesculapius, god of medicine, hold a herbal volume in front of Apuleius Platonicus (here called
“Plato”), the author of the classical Herbarium. The page is intended to demonstrate the mythical
descent of herbal lore.
Fol. 24. “Nadre wyrt”, i.e. Snake plant, perhaps Asphodel. The earliest herbals prescribe
juices made from the boiled roots of Asphodel as a remedy against the poisoning caused by snake
bites, against ulcers, boils and abscesses.
Fol. 23V. Hennebelle-Henbane-/Fyo5'9'amw5' reticulatus, a Mediterranean species not native to
England 4, 5. Illustrations from an Anglo-Norman copy of the Herbal of Apuleius. About 1200.
Oxford, Bodleian Library MS. Ashmole 1462, fols. 23 and 26V.
Fol. 23. Figure of a Centaur. The Centaur Chiron was supposed to have been the first to
discover the two species of the plant Centaury and to make use of its medicinal properties.
Fol. 26V. Left, “Homerus Auctor”; right, “Mercurius” holding a plant in each hand.
Between them is the inscription “ Archiater” (the chief of the physicians).
б. Illustration from an Anglo-Saxon Herbal. About 1050. British Museum MS. Cotton Vitellius
C. Ill, fol. 40.
Scorpion and snake fighting. The accurate representation of the scorpion shows that the
artist who drew the original from which this was copied must have lived in the Mediterranean
region. The plant is “Solago Minor”, which is thought to correspond to the Heliotropium
Europaeum of botanists.