Islamic influences on English gardens in the Middle Ages

Abstract

The Islamic Holy War that swept across the East, Middle East and West in the seventh and eighth centuries carried with it the people, philosophies and styles of the Middle East. It is hypothesised that due to the extensive contact between Islam and western Europe, Islamic gardens influenced English gardens in the Middle Ages. Two forms of the English walled garden in the second half of the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages (the monastic cloister and the pleasure garden) are discussed. The routes by which Islamic knowledge and artifacts came to the West are outlined, medieval English gardens are compared and contrasted with Islamic gardens and finally alternative sources for the development of the English walled gardens are discussed. This garden type was a reflection of the relationships between God and nature and the society in which it was made. The people of the Dark Ages had a great love of nature and their gardens recalled the garden of Eden, where people and nature were in perfect harmony. The Normans also sort to harmonise with nature, but through domination of it. They used Song of Songs, with its walled garden imagery, as the basis for their gardens. The aspect of seclusion from nature was paramount. The Plan of St Gall (a Carolingian scheme for a paradigmatic monastery) demonstrates that the features and concepts of design that were to characterise monasteries in England throughout the Middle Ages were in print by AD820. This is significantly before amicable relations between Islam and the West. Although Islamic and medieval English gardens share many similar characteristics and shared elements of symbolism, the evidence supports their separate development.