Lynn Smythe
Strewing Herbs & the Plague
February 6th 2008 17:47
Rue Plants in Bloom
The cause of the plague was unknown during the medieval and Renaissance time periods. Unlike the modern-day brown rat, which prefers to live in the sewers and away from close human contact, the black rat of this time period was more visible. These rats lived in close proximity to humans where an abundance of food could be found in kitchens, dinning halls, stables and other common areas of habitation. Houses that used a myriad of strewing herbs, especially insect repelling herbs such as pennyroyal (AKA fleabane) may have had an advantage and exhibited slightly more resistance to being troubled by outbreaks of the plague.
Medicinal Strewing Herbs
Rue was one of the many herbs which was believed to help prevent the plague. It was strewn on the benches and floors of courtrooms. Judges also carried branches of rue with them to help guard themselves against jail fever which was also known as European typhus. Jail fever was transmitted by fleas and lice.
Southernwood was used by the medieval Crusaders as it was thought to ward off the plague. It was another herb used as protection against jail fever. In the modern-day the lemon scented leaves of southernwood have been proven to have insect repellent properties.
Fleawort was thought to ward off fleas and was used as a strewing herb for this purpose. The seeds, which were small and black, resembled fleas which may have been why this herb was thought to be an effective flea repellent. What was thought to be dead fleas were actually the seeds of the plant! Modern herbalists have not found this herb to exhibit any insect repelling properties.
Tansy, when mixed with elder leaves, was thought to be a very effective flea repellent. In modern times black elder has been proven to have antibacterial, antiseptic, antiviral and insecticide properties.
Additional information can be found in my strewing herbs post dated 1/07/08.
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Comment by Theresa
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Borderless World
Penny Smart
My first time here. Just wanted to say I really enjoyed this article.
Thanks for writing
Theresa
Comment by Lynn Smythe
The Pagan Path
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I'm glad you liked the article. Thank you for stopping by.
Take care,
Lynn