CfP: From vegetables to the Hortus Conclusus. The medieval garden in all its forms

Fribourg, 13th-14th March 2025: 14e Journées d'étude internationales des Jeunes Chercheurs Médiévistes

The traditional research seminar held by the Jeunes Chercheur·euses Médiévistes (JCM) are going to take place this year on the 13th and 14h of March 2025 at the University of Fribourg. From an interdisciplinary perspective, they will be dedicated to the theme of the medieval garden. Whether they are for food or for leisure, courtly or philosophical, for love or for medicine, whether they are Hortus Conclusus or Deliciarum, medieval gardens are a world to be explored and cultivated in all their aspects.

The garden is defined above all as a delimited space of domesticated nature for the subsistence and pleasure of the people who use it. From private gardens - for food or leisure, such as orchards, courtil and maix – to monastic gardens - Hortus Major and Hortus Minor - and large-scale farms - hort, huertas, vegas – gardens were an integral part of the medieval community, as they were essential for food and health. From then on, understanding the uses of medieval gardens became a major issue (Coulet 1976): what crops are grown and what facilities they require (Bouby 2000 and Ruas 1990)? What place gardens occupy in the human habitat and what economic value are placed on them?

From the Franconian word gard, enclosed place, the medieval garden is built to be closed, protected from the outside world. It is a sanctuary of harmony and civilization, triumphant over wild nature. It is the refuge that allows the secret confession of love as illustrated in courtly texts, delights and relaxation (Coulet 1989), and the awakening of the senses (Floire and Blancheflor). It is also the place of beginnings, where the reverdie initiates the novels (Vigneron 2002) and launches the adventurers on the roads (Gottfried von Strassburg). It is also the place where the allegorical story is played out (Roman de la Rose, Le Songe du Verger). How can we make the link between these fictional representations and the social practices they problematise? What activities are carried out there, what symbolism is attached to it and what implications does it have for everyday life?

The garden is also the garden of Eden, of Creation, and ultimately of Paradise: the garden from which man was driven and to which he is destined (Gesbert 2003). A place of promise and salvation, the earthly garden is always the image of the original garden created and willed by God, in all its purity and virginity (McAvoy 2021), as evidenced by the many representations of the Virgin Mary in a garden. It is therefore hardly surprising to see the proliferation of metaphorical gardens such as Herrad von Landsberg's Hortus Deliciarum, the sum of knowledge and art, as well as gardens of knowledge (Vincent de Beauvais, Bartholomew the Englishman), but also gardens of health (Hildegard von Bingen, Albert the Great), gardens of pleasure (Piero de' Crescenzi) as well as anthologies, bouquets of texts (Le Jardin de plaisance et fleur de rhétorique, La Fleur des histoires).

For this event, the JCM invite you to explore one or more aspects of medieval gardens and to compare your research with that of others, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Presentations will last around twenty minutes, with a particular focus on linguistic inclusivity. You will be asked to provide a bilingual PowerPoint presentation (language of presentation + another language from among French, German, Italian and English).

We invite all young medieval researchers to send us their proposal for a contribution, of one page, together with practical information (title of last degree obtained, institution to which they belong, field of research), in Word format, by 15th November 2024 to the following address: jcm.unifr@gmail.com.