Julián Huertas
11 March 2015
Professor Musgrave
Garden Art in European History
Blog Post Four:
In light of what we have so far studied, compose and answer
your own question.
---
As Europe began to colonize American
and Caribbean territories at the end of the 15th century, did the
cultures within these different territories and their relationship to nature affect
European garden design?
Most
of the material we have studied thus far has been Euro-centric. This makes
sense as our class is about European garden history, but European colonization
of American and Caribbean territories began at the end of the 15th
century. The cultures of these
territories have similar and different relationships to nature. I am wondering if European colonization of
these territories affected European garden design. This may be a topic we cover
later in the course with more information, but I feel it is appropriate to ask
and examine this question now.
When
analyzing Islamic garden design, we touched upon how Middle Eastern influences
came over to Europe in the form of design and knowledge. The House of Baghdad (also
known as the House of Wisdom) was the intellectual center of the Middle East, if not the
world, until its destruction in the mid-thirteenth century. Scholars there made
advances in the science, mathematics, and geography, and this knowledge was
fundamental for European society and scholars.
The Spice Trade was also active during this time. Spain and Portugal were
primary importers of different spices and products from Asian countries and
territories. Thus, there is an important influence in Europe from outside
regions – the Middle East and Asia – during this time.
During
this point in time in the Americas, indigenous tribes had both similar and
different relationships to nature as compared to Europeans. Many indigenous tribes in the Americas –
current Canada, North America, Central America, and South America – had (and
some still have) animism and shamanism as religions. In general, these
religions view nature as directly related to the spiritual world. Plants and animals have souls and
consciousness and, thus, are holy. Indigenous tribes live and identify with
nature. Although animism and shamanism were not major religions in Europe
during this time, the idea of holiness within nature is not foreign to Europe.
As we have seen, religion is of primary importance in European garden design.
Blog Post Two examines how gardens played a role in Roman, Mediæval and Muslim religions.
Blog Post Three additionally examines
how the Renaissance spirit and Humanist
ways of thinking influenced the idea of a divine order in nature and gardens.
This blog post does not attempt to answer if American and
Caribbean territories and their relationships to nature affected European
garden design. Rather, it shows how the
influence in Europe of outside territories was fundamental and analyzes the similar
and different aspects of indigenous American and Caribbean relationships to
nature as compared to Europe. This blog post does not attempt to answer the
question because have not covered this aspect yet in class and also this may be
a topic that has not been significantly enough researched to reach a definitive
finding. If not, do you think there are
ways to carry out research that could answer this question? Or is this a topic
that will remain merely speculative?
Here is a website/paper that
discusses indigenous tribe animism in great depth.
 | ||
| The House of Baghdad (also known as the House of Wisdom). It was the intellectual center of the Middle East, if not the world. |
 |
|
This is a map of the Spice Trade and
Silk Road. This trade between the East and West was vital in allowing for
knowledge to spread and new products to be imported and exported.
|
 |
| A graphic that illustrates the religion of animism and the concept of nature being directly related to the spiritual world. Plants and animals have souls and consciousness and, thus, are holy. Indigenous tribes live and identify with nature. |
No comments:
Post a Comment