SYMBOLS OF THE MEDIEVAL GARDENS IN FLOIRE AND BLANCHEFLOR
SYMBOLS OF THE MEDIEVAL GARDENS IN FLOIRE AND BLANCHEFLOR

Summary/Abstract: Be it the Garden of Paradise, the Gardens of Babylon or the Garden of the Hesperides – to name only the most famous ones, the myth of the garden always evokes the origins of the world and of the human being. For Christians, the archetype of the garden is undoubtedly the biblical Eden from which Adam and Eve were driven out. Nevertheless, it is in the Song of Solomon that we must look for the matrix of the medieval garden. It was there that the hortusconclusus was mentioned for the first time.The medieval garden –be it monastic or not –was planted to serve practical needs and has, almost without exception, a deeply symbolic fence (suggesting the (im)possibility of being admitted to Paradise). Even pleasure gardens, generally known as meadows full of flowers, displaying a water source, also include plants used for medical purposes. Yet, starting with the 11th century, the model of the biblical garden seems to be gradually supplanted by another one, more oriental, whose origin is to be sought in the contact of the medieval West with the Islamic culture.Based on Floire and Blanchefleur, an oriental scent romance, written around 1150 and having gardens as main background, the aim of this article is to reflect on the symbolism of the medieval garden, on the pleasures, both secular and spiritual, that it is able to provide.

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