Enclosed Garden

detail from The Little Garden of Paradise, by the Master of the Upper Rhine, c1410-20

Enclosed Gardens 

By Thea Eppley

What is an Enclosed Garden?

North Forty New

        In the Latin language, an enclosed garden is known as a hortus conclusus (Wikipedia Contributor). Enclosed gardens were a central part of Medieval culture. This was due to the fact that many church monasteries housed enclosed gardens. Churches, monasteries, and monks were central to medieval culture, especially British medieval culture. The first monasteries that were built in England were estimated to have been built around the year 598 C.E. Many of these monasteries were previously Roman villas adapted to be places of worship for Christians (Admin). Within these villas, there were courtyard gardens, or cloisters, which the Romans brought over to Britain (Wikipedia Contributor). When the monks converted these villas, they created walls around them to protect the crops they had from potential wars, sieges, plagues, and blight that would affect the vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants growing within the garden. The walls not only virtually protected the crops to prevent famine, but they also helped the monks and monasteries become self-sufficient. The monks could grow their own crops without having to rely on neighboring villages. This boosted not only their status in the religious sense, but it also boosted their power when peasants wanted food or medicine and could not make any of their own (Admin). 

Flemish illustration of the Romance of the Rose c. 1485

    The enclosed gardens had extremely specific features and layouts. Typically, they were divided into four parts and had some sort of water feature such as a fountain, well, or basin in the center. Herbs, flowers, and small trees were the main crops planted and tended to. Each enclosed garden in the monasteries had unique features or designs. Some had tunnel arbors, lawns, fruit trees, a gravel path, and a geometric layout for the hedges and beds (Santa Clara University). The enclosed garden was only open to the upper classes to enjoy. This was since the gardens were not intended to be productive in any manner. They were meant to be religious places. In Christianity, the Garden of Eden is a major symbol and holds high significance to anyone who participates in the faith. The enclosed gardens within the monasteries were meant to be a symbolic Eden on earth (The Garden Trust). The significance of an enclosed garden in Christianity can be seen through the art that came out of the Middle Ages.

Representation in Art

    Many paintings from the Middle Ages hold imagery of enclosed gardens. This is not only for its representation of the Garden of Eden but also the depiction of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Mary. Trees, walls, trellises, flowers, and some animals such as a lamb are typical imagery shown in enclosed garden paintings (Wikipedia Contributor). These are shown to represent the growth and life of nature and God. It is also a representation of the Garden of Eden and how lush it was. Fountains are often present in general depictions of an enclosed garden as well. These fountains typically symbolize the waters of life and or baptism into the faith (The Garden Trust). While each of these symbols is important to Christianity and the concept of enclosed gardens, the imagery with the highest significance presented in a depiction of an enclosed garden is women. 

 

      The Virgin Mary is typically the main woman depicted in enclosed gardens. She is the holiest woman present in the bible and the mother of God, making her a central figure in Christianity. Mary is also typically considered the anti-Eve, so it makes sense that she would be the central figure in a living symbol of Christianity and Eden healing the sins of man in a way. This is typically shown through the imagery of the Immaculate Conception shown in an enclosed garden. One example of this can be seen below in Fra Angelico's The Annunciation painting.

Women as Enclosed Gardens

     The Virgin Mary herself is also an enclosed garden. In the Song of Solomon 4:12, it says "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up" (Wikipedia Contributor). Mary here is referred to as the garden. This is because not only is her womb going to grow the son of God. Since she is also a virgin, she is not considered a "plowed field" like other women, so she is sealed up, protected, or an enclosed garden. This ability to grow humans and the concept of virginity making you pure vs being unpure and a "plowed field" when you are no longer a virgin is the significant symbolism ever present even today which makes all women enclosed gardens.

Work Cited

Admin. “The Influence of English Medieval Gardens.” North Forty News, 4 May 2023, northfortynews.com/category/gardens-landscapes/the-influence-of-english-medieval-gardens/.

The Garden Trust. “The Hortus Conclusus.” The Gardens Trust, Wordpress.com, 16 Oct. 2023, thegardenstrust.blog/2023/09/02/hortus-conclusus/.

University, Santa Clara. “A Medieval Garden for Santa Clara University.” A Medieval Garden for Santa Clara University - St. Clare Garden - Santa Clara University, Santa Clara University, www.scu.edu/stclaregarden/stclare/medievalgardens/. Accessed 10 Sept. 2024.

Wikipedia Contributor. “Hortus Conclusus.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Aug. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hortus_conclusus.