Given at the Institute of Historical Research on March 21, 2024
Abstract: Food-growing gardens first appeared in early medieval cities during a period of major social, economic, and political change in the Italian peninsula, and they quickly took on a critical role in city life. Food-producing gardens were essential from an economic point of view but they also played important cultural, religious, and political roles, especially within cities. Cities in early medieval Italy were key places for the performance of power and the display of social capital. This paper charts changing attitudes to urban agriculture between the late Roman and early medieval periods, with attention to how Christianity changed people’s views on flowers, how new regional economies affected what people ate, and how people in medieval Italy viewed gardens and gardening.
Caroline Goodson is Professor of Early Medieval History at King’s College, Cambridge. Focusing on the period between c 500 and c 1100, her research concentrates on the nature of power in the early medieval world in the Western Mediterranean and, in particular, Italy. Her most recent work is Cultivating the City in Early Medieval Italy.
Urban Gardening in Early Medieval Italy
Paper by Caroline Goodson
Given at the Institute of Historical Research on March 21, 2024
Abstract: Food-growing gardens first appeared in early medieval cities during a period of major social, economic, and political change in the Italian peninsula, and they quickly took on a critical role in city life. Food-producing gardens were essential from an economic point of view but they also played important cultural, religious, and political roles, especially within cities. Cities in early medieval Italy were key places for the performance of power and the display of social capital. This paper charts changing attitudes to urban agriculture between the late Roman and early medieval periods, with attention to how Christianity changed people’s views on flowers, how new regional economies affected what people ate, and how people in medieval Italy viewed gardens and gardening.
Caroline Goodson is Professor of Early Medieval History at King’s College, Cambridge. Focusing on the period between c 500 and c 1100, her research concentrates on the nature of power in the early medieval world in the Western Mediterranean and, in particular, Italy. Her most recent work is Cultivating the City in Early Medieval Italy.
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