Umberto Eco

Let us join the world in paying tribute to Umberto Eco, medieval scholar and novelist, who died recently. He was 84.

Born in Alessandria, Italy, Eco studied medieval philosophy and literature at the University of Turin, In 2008, he was asked about his interest in the Middle Ages: "I would say that it’s because the period is exactly the opposite of the way people imagine it. To me, they were not the Dark Ages. They were a luminous time, the fertile soil out of which would spring the Renaissance. A period of chaotic and effervescent transition—the birth of the modern city, of the banking system, of the university, of our modern idea of Europe, with its languages, nations, and cultures."

Eco continued his academic career in Italy, and in 1959 published Sviluppo dell’estetica medievale (translated into English in 1985 as Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages), which summarized his views on medieval aesthetic ideas. His academic career flourished as he took on numerous other subjects, including media studies, semiotics and anthropology. He also taught at Columbia University and Harvard University, before retiring as professor emeritus at the University of Bologna in 2008.

Eco once said, “I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels.” His novels, however, gained him worldwide fame, beginning with The Name of the Rose, which was first published in Italian in 1980. Soon translated into other languages, the work sold more than 14 million copies and was made into a Hollywood film. Set in in Italian abbey during the year 1327, it follows a monk named William of Baskerville as he tries to deal with both heresy and murder at the monastery.  As one reviewer commented, “although the work stands on its own as a murder mystery, it is more accurately seen as a questioning of ‘truth’ from theological, philosophical, scholarly, and historical perspectives.”

Rosemary final

Here are the final 9 things that were found in a medieval manuscript as the uses for rosemary.

15. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary, and boil it, and wash your head, and great weakness from rage, or other causes, will fall away from you, and you will be well.

16. Likewise, take rosemary and plant it in the earth at the head of your vineyard, and it will be better than before.

17. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary, and boil it with holy water and dilute some white wine with this water, and make a sop, and it will restore your appetite for eating.

18. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary and boil it in strong vinegar and, while it is still hot, put it on your body and know that it will draw diarrhea from your body.

19. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary and boil it in water and when it has cooled to lukewarm, wash your feet with it and then take a cloth and wrap your legs, and all inflammation of gout and other maladies will go from you, and it will heal.

20. Likewise, take great quantities of rosemary leaves and boil them in water, and bathe the man who has become mad from illness, and he will be restored to sanity.

21. Likewise, take rosemary and make a fire of it and direct smoke into a hole where you know there is a snake, and it will quickly come out.

22. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary and boil it, and when it cools drink it. It will quickly chase away all thirst and you will be restored.

23. Likewise, take the flower of the rosemary and put it your trunk where you keep your cloth, or your books, and you will not need fear the worms that can destroy them.

Rosemary 2

Continuing with the uses of Rosemary listed in the 14th century...

8. Likewise, take the leaves of the rosemary and put it in your bed, and you will not have nightmares.

9. Likewise, take the rosemary and make a vapor from it, and it will prolong your youth and strengthen your limbs.

10. Likewise, take the leaf of the rosemary and grind it up and put it on a crab, and it will cause it to die immediately.

11. Likewise, take rosemary and its leaves and grind them up and make 6 spoonfuls of sauce, and eat it with whatever you please, and it will make it good and wholesome.

12. Likewise, take rosemary and keep it in your house, and you will have nothing to fear from serpents or scorpions.

13. Likewise, take a leaf of rosemary and put it in wine, and it will give it a good, firm bouquet and a good flavor, and it will be clean and clear.

14. Likewise, take the wood of the rosemary, and put it into a barrel, or cask, and drink the wine from it. It is good for every illness, and will drive away boils of the breast.

city life

Right now I'm working on a new book set in 1896 New York city and some of my research begins with Lyndsey Faye's fabulous book, The Gods of Gotham   I definitely recommend you read this fascinating historical novel beginning in 1845 when New York's first police force appears
It struck me that while trains existed, even an elevated, most of the characters got around like our Vespers characters did - either on foot or carriage or horseback.  Mostly on foot
Also the picture drawn of sanitation, jobs, tenement living and the like were basically squalid
No beautiful public baths so prevalent in medieval Mediterranean cities and not much municipal clean-up like 13th Palermo had.  In fact one of our characters, Raynaldus Dr Rogerio, was a magistrate in his quarter of Palermo and one of his responsibilities was daily street clean-up, not to mention organizing the night watch.

Just an interesting comparison ...

Versatile Plant

23 Medieval Uses for Rosemary

In the Middle Ages, Rosemary was considered a wonder plant, which could be used to treat many illnesses and keep you healthy. One 14th century writer found 23 uses for it, including keeping your hair beautiful and preventing nightmares! This beautiful plant with its blue flowers is native to the Mediterranean region and has a long history dating back to mythological stories. The Greek goddess Aphrodite was said to be wrapped in rosemary when she first emerged from the sea, while the name comes from a story that the Virgin Mary had once spread a blue cloak over a white-blossomed bush, which turned its flowers blue. Writers dating back to ancient times praised the plant for its medical uses, and medieval brides would wear a rosemary wreath.

A list of its uses can be found in the Zibaldone da Canal, an early fourteenth-century book by a Venetian merchant. Although he says that there 25 uses for rosemary, the text only includes 23, but they offer a fascinating look at what medieval people believed were the beneficial aspects of plant.

These are the virtues of rosemary, which is very good for all illnesses; rosemary has 25 powers, and all are good. 

1. The first, take the flower of the rosemary and bind it in a linen cloth, and boil it in water until only half as much water remains, and use it against all illnesses within the body, and drink this water.

2. Likewise, boil the leaf of the rosemary in good unadulterated white wine, and wash your face in it, and it will make your face white and beautiful, and the hair beautiful.

3. Likewise, take the flower of the rosemary and make a powder of it and bind on your arm, and it will be quick.

4. Likewise, take the flower of the rosemary and make a paste of it and moisten a green cloth, and brush your teeth, and it will kill worms, and protect you from all ills.

5. Likewise, take the root of the rosemary and put it on hot coals, and breathe the smoke through your nose, and it will cause all rheum to go away.

6. Likewise, take the root of the rosemary and boil it in strong vinegar and wash your feet in it, and it will make them firm and strong.

7. Likewise, take the flower of the rosemary in the morning and eat it with honey and rye bread, and no blisters will rise on you.

To be continued...

Above the salt

In the Vespers series, lovely Renata is the daughter of a salt merchant from Trapani. See what our friends at Medievalists.net have to say about salt.

Using Salt in the Middle Ages By Danièle Cybulski

Salt was an integral part of medieval life: not only is some salt a necessary part of a human diet, but it’s also essential for preserving food such as meat, seafood, and dairy products in the absence of refrigeration. Though salt wasn’t always cheap or easy for everyone to get their hands on, it was ever present in the medieval world. The amount of salt needed varied from place to place, and from purpose to purpose. Naturally, salting food for long-term storage took more salt than that used for everyday cooking. In Food and Feast in Medieval England, P.W. Hammond writes, “In the thirteenth century the Bishop of Winchester kept 160 quarters (1,310 liters) at one of his manors.”

For an island nation like Sicily, salt wasn’t too hard to come by. Salt pans in Trapani and other coastal cities were valuable and attracted the attention of the wealthiest landowners. Given the large quantities of salt needed for curing and eating, salt production would have been lucrative, indeed. Medieval salt was collected from the evaporation of natural salty springs or seawater. None of it was mined. Since this process would involve getting some dirt in the salt, it was frequently purified by merchants before sale, or by households before use, by redissolving, filtering and evaporating it again. Naturally, the closer to the table, the better the salt: no one wanted dirt in the salt dish, but a little dirt in a pickle barrel wasn’t as big a deal. Unethical salt merchants could – and did – add bulk to their product by deliberately mixing in sand. Because not everyone found salt easy to come by, it was used as a marker of social status. Important people sat “above the salt”, with easy access to the salt cellar at feasts, while unimportant people sat below the salt.