Welcome to 31 Days of Medieval Manuscripts, a month-long series introducing the fascinating and brilliant world of medieval illuminated manuscripts.

Herbals were exactly what they sound like – books about herbs. In the days before prescription or over-the-counter medicine, herbal remedies were common, and herbals illustrated and described the medicinal properties of various herbs. Not being too familiar with herbal medicine, I’m not sure how accurate these herbals were, but I certainly hope they were less fantastical than the bestiaries we talked about the other day. Unlike religious, royal, or scholarly manuscripts that were almost always written in Latin (the prestige language of medieval Europe), herbals might sometimes be written in languages like Old English or French.

While perhaps not as colorful or decorative as those in most other manuscripts we’ve looked at in this series, the illustrations in herbals are still really beautiful – and certainly more faithful to their subject matter. After all, they were quite necessary. Since an important part of herbals was teaching people how to identify the plants being discussed, showing each one’s appearance with some degree of accuracy was crucial. That’s why the specimens are generally shown silhouetted against a neutral background, with the shapes of their leaves and flowers very clear. They remind me of the pressed flower books I used to make when I was little. Despite this, not all herbals are necessarily illustrated.

Herbals seem to be related to bestiaries, since both catalog and illustrate the natural world, and quite a few manuscripts contain both. Just like bestiaries, their texts could reference a number of different classical and medieval sources.
I was particularly intrigued by MS Harley 1585, which contains, according to the British Library’s online catalog entry, “Medical miscellany of a pharmacopeial compilation, including a herbal and bestiary illustrating the pharmocopeial properties of animals”. Click the link to view all of the manuscript on the British Library’s online Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts; the book includes illustrations of plants, animals real and fantastical, and medical procedures. The image below depicts plants and a centaur on the same page. I wonder what medicinal properties a centaur has!

After printing arrived in Europe, herbals formed the basis for the long-lived tradition of botanical prints/illustrations, which are still popular and collectible today.
Sources
- https://herbariumworld.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/art-medieval-herbals/
- https://www.textmanuscripts.com/medieval/herbal-60779
- https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2017/04/an-illustrated-old-english-herbal.html
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