Perfume Use in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: myths and truths

It is not unusual to hear the Middle Ages considered as the age of the Great Unwashed or to think that Western Europe had by that time ceased to partake of the pleasures of perfume and aromatic components used for reasons of well-being, aesthetic advancement and spiritual therapy completely. Nothing is further from the truth, which we will try to clarify with this article on fragrance history.

It is often mentioned that the Middle East and Islam in particular were the harbingers of perfumes in the Dark Ages. It's certainly true that during the 7th and 8th centuries A. D. the Arabs engaged in extensive marine commerce with India and China, focusing on spices and aromatics, supplying them to the luxurious courts of the caliphs and the Byzantine emperors. Empress Zoë, in the Christian stronghold of Constantinople, emplyed court perfumers and indulged in fine scents.
However we would be mistaken to thus "interpret" the torch-being-held by the Middle East for that time-frame, which would on first thought seem logical because of their scientific advancements (indeed revolutionary in many scientific fields). For example, Avicenna was accredited with revolutionising the plants distillation process by introducing a refrigerated coil, therefore rendering the production of aromatic floral waters and essentials possible for a greater variety of plants, including rose. However archaeological evidence proves that plants were certainly distilled before this time in history and that the tradition had been kept in the west ~as archived through manuscripts, industriously being copied in...western monasteries, of all places!

Aromatic baths were taken, during those dark times, for medical, spiritual or even merely aesthetic reasons with various essences; and in fact the practice was not restricted only to nobility. Herbalists such as Hildegarde of Bingen and the author of Banckes' herbal recommended them. The strong smell of valerian musk and civet were quite popular as well, probably because they had the power to obliterate other offensive smells in the urban environment (which, due to inadequate plumping or garbage collecting, was thickened with the inevitable pong of the living) As far back as the 14th century there are texts mentioning these practices involving water and soap and other scented products:

"Without permitting anyone else to lay a hand on him, the lady herself washed Salabaetto all over with soap scented with musk and cloves. She then had herself washed and rubbed down by the slaves. This done, the slaves brought two fine and very white sheets, so scented with roses that they seemed like roses; the slaves wrapped Salabaetto in one and the lady in the other and then carried them both on their shoulders to the bed . . . They then took from the basket silver vases of great beauty, some of which were filled with rose water, some with orange water, some with jasmine water, and some with lemon water, which they sprinkled upon them." ~Boccaccio's Decameron, 14th century

Scented tablets for perfuming are also documented as being a recipe for olfactory delight:

"Two pounds of rose water and a pound of citrus blossom water, a pound of benzoin and half of balsam, an ounce of amber and half of musk, a quarter of civet
[musk]. All together and ground, put it with the water in a flask, and put the flask on the fire over some embers. Stir it with a stick and cook until it reduces three parts [from?] one. And when it is reduced, remove the paste from that and make it [into tablets], if you wish tablets, and if not, keep it thus in paste" ~Manual de Mujeres, anonymous 16th century text in Spanish.[1]

Medieval people also made practical use of pleasurably scented herbs to discourage vermin and protect their clothes and linen. Tansy against flies; mint against ants; wormwood against mice; lavender and southernwood against moths (southernwood was so potent it was called garde robe, i.e. protector of garments); pennyroyal againts fleas and camphor as a general preventive means. By the 16th century there are literally hundreds of recipes for aromatic preparations for perfuming. Tome upon tome contained formulae for aromatizing clothes, linens and personal belongings as well as human skin.
Bulleins Bulwarke (1562) includes this formula:

"Three pounds of Rose water, cloves, cinnamon, Sauders [sandalwood], 2 handful of the flowers of Lavender, lette it stand a moneth to still in the sonne, well closed in a glasse; Then destill it in Balneo Marial. It is marvellous pleasant in savour, a water of wondrous swetenes, for the bedde, whereby the whole place, shall have a most pleasaunt scent" [2].

The Menagier de Paris hands down a recipe for drying roses to put among clothes:

"Roses from Provence are the best to put in clothing, but they should be dried, and in mid-August sift them over a screen so that the worms fall through the screen, and then spread them in your clothes."

The same opus also suggests ideas for hand-washing waters for the table (a widespread practice, usually water with rose or violet petals in it or infused with herbs):

"To make water for washing hands at table: Boil sage, then strain the water and cool it until it is a little more than lukewarm. Or use chamomile, marjoram, or rosemary boiled with orange peel. Bay leaves are also good". [3]

In Hugh Platt's Delights for Ladies (1594) there is this formula for "sweet water":

"To make a special sweet water to perfume clothes in the folding being washed. Take a quart of Damaske-Rose-Water and put it into a glasse, put unto it a handful of Lavender Flowers, two ounces of Orris, a dram of Muske, the weight of four pence of Amber-greece [ambergris], as much Civet, foure drops of Oyle of Clove, stop this close, and set it in the Sunne a fortnight: put one spoonfull of this Water into a bason of common water and put it inot a a glasse and so sprinkle your clothes therewith in your folding: the dregs, left in the bottome (when the water is spent) will make as much more, if you keepe them, and put fresh Rose water to it". [4]

And on and on right till the Queen's Closet Opened in the next century...Elizabethans in particular, long before the Victorian "language of flowers", kept scented nosegays terming them 'tuzzy-muzzy' as far back as 1500! (and even older, going by the Oxford English Dictionary)



On the whole, Medieval times are grossly misunderstood by the general public, perhaps due to their unfortunate emphasis on didactical, pontificating religion which seems so backwards to our modern minds: In all reality the people were not as barbarian or underdeveloped as generally thought of! Especially through the Romanesque and Gothic eras people were significantly cleaner compared to the Enlightenment era of the 18th century!

Renaissance is briefly saved by the grace of its profligation of the arts in regard to the general public's perception of bathing and perfuming rituals. Still, it is customary to begin the iterations of perfume history in pamphlets, advertising copy of perfume firms and even serious books solely by the mention of Catherine de Medici and her introduction of Florentine fragrancing methods via her perfumer to the French Court. The latter certainly was the stepping stone to the culmination of Grasse into the fragrant producing capital of Europe but it is not the whole story!

The real reason that a somewhat diminished supply of aromatics and perfumes happened in Western Europe at some point is much more prosaic than philosophical anathematisation of the "corrupt" powers of perfumes: Namely, the loss of the monopoly of the Venetian Republic of the products of the Spice & Silk Route, till then the sole purveyor under gold-sealed agreements with all the powers of the time in exchange for ports protection against other enemies by its mighty fleet. The Mediterranean commerce was conducted principally by Italian cities during the Middle Ages:. Bari, Salerno, Naples, Gaeta, and Amalfi reigning above them all, all prominent during the 10th and 11th centuries AD, while Pisa and Venice became the ruling city-states during the 12th to 15th century while conducting the Levant commerce. Acre on the Palestine coast was the most important harbour for scented products ~incidentally the last city in the Holy Land held by the Christians (falling to the Mohammedans in 1291)~, Famagusta on Cyprus, and, Lajazza on the bay of Alexandretta (a junction port for Western and Eastern commerce); they all strongheld the precious commodities which Europe was paying heavily to partake of.
However there is an interim between the loss of Venice's might in economic and trade issues (in part due to the Crusades ~which destabilised the status quo in the Eastern Mediterranean, but also brought back copious aromatics to the west~ as well as to the regeneration of the trade by the Byzantins who claimed part of trafficking such precious materials themselves under the Komnene Dynasty) and the discovery of alternative navigating routes bypassing the Mediterranean ~le fin du voyage for the above mentioned ancient routes of the trade with the East~ when the Portugese circumnavigated Africa in 1498 and conquered Ormuz). These factors briefly left Western Europe with a diminished supply of the scented commodities, yet with increased amounts shortly thereafter, by their very fluent nature.

Despite the constant ebb and flow of the perception of perfume as either a holy commodity or alternatively an unethical, even dangerous, substance through history, it is interesting to note that the dissent to the use of eastern-brought perfumes first arose among ancient Greek society and philosophical circles. The confrontation was poised on the cultural antithesis with the East as a place of unharnessed luxury and ethically-corrupting abundance, tied to their despotic governments: The Spartan values of the Greeks and their strong belief in the freedom of the individual within a law-abiding state, where even the rulers are bound by laws, were considered their cultural and moral supremacy over eastern people and the reason that they had alone remained free from imperialistic attacks (such as the one by the Persians). This is why Socrates said that "using perfume made free men smell the same as slaves" (i.e. a free man is not a "slave" to pleasures and material goods). Few adhered to his words, nevertheless. There was also an economical reason: As the expenses of using pyre aromatics imported by Arabia was so high in his time (so widespread was their use), one of the 7 wise men of antiquity and law-maker of Athens, Solon, had to abolish their use by law. Later they caught on again with a vengeance, especially at the time of Alexander the Great when the fusion of cultures was the vision of the legendary Greek leader.

It increasingly looks like practical reasons are hiding behind any relative diminuation of perfume use in Western Europe in the Middle Ages rather than an ideological aversion to its use. The relationship between man (and woman) and scent is truly indestructible!

Ref:
[1]The Manual de Mujeres via Cervantesvirtual, translation by Dana Huffman
[2][4]quoted by Jacqueline Hériteau, Potpourris and other Fragrant Delights, Penguin 1978
[3]edited & translated by Tania Bayard

Pic credits:
Girl bathing on the Luttrell Psalter from East Anglia c.1325-1335 (via imagesonline.bl.uk)
Bains mixtes from The Romance of Alexander c.1388-1344 in the Bodleyan library 264 via home.adelphi.edu, Catherine de Medici attributed to François Clouet via wysinfo.com and Venetian canals via wysinfo.com.

Mythology Series: Pomegranate

Whenever I break open a big, heavy pomegranate (Punica granatum), admiring the scattering of its brilliant, wine-coloured tangy-tasting seeds, I can't help but cast my mind to the myth of Persephone and Hades, the chthonian deities forever linked with this autumnal aromatic feast. Its name deriving from the Latin (pomum for apple ~meelo in Greek~ and granatus for seeded, resulting in the Italian melograno) reminds us that, like apples, this is another fruit that is forever associated with tales of darkness, corruption, death and rebirth.

In Greek, pomegranate is called ρόδι (RHO-thee) which is extremely close in both sound and sight to ρόδο (RHO-tho, i.e. rose) ~indeed its proud russet colour reminds me of scarlet roses that hide thorns and shadows beneath their flamboyant beauty.

The pathways which introduced pomegranate to the Aegean were the same as the ones that brought the goddess whom the Anatolians worshipped as Cybele and the Mesopotamians as Ishtar (namely what became Aphrodite...). The cult of Persephone however (or Kore or Cora ~young maiden~, as she was celebrated in the Eleusianian Mysteries of ancient Greece along with her mother Demeter, the secret initiatory mystery rites of regeneration at Eleusis) traces a darker path of death and rebirth, the same path that nature seems to go through with the turning of the seasons. While Hesiodus in his Theogony considers her a daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest) and Zeus, other scholars ~among them Gunther Zuntz (1973)~ attribute the cult of Persephone to a continuation of Neolithic or Minoan Earth Mother goddess-worship. Walter Burkert includes that "reading" of this archetype in his definitive Greek Religion (1985). Mythology expert Karl Kerenyi went as far as to identify Persephone with the "mistress of the labyrinth" at the Minoan palace of Knossos in Bronze Age Crete (circa 1700BC)!

In ancient writers she is the parthenogenic daughter of Demeter, recalling shades of other deities who sprang through an immaculate conception, such as Athena and Jesus. The philosopher Plato on the other hand calls her Pherepapha (Φερέπαφα, from the Greek words φέρω ~to bring~ and επαφή ~touch) in his Cratylus, "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion". The Romans took the name from the Greco-cities of the Italian peninsula southernmost extremity as Proserpine (Προσερπινη, Proserpinē) and borrowed her cult as Proserpina. It is under that guise that Persephone inspired the artists of the European Renaissance, when classical antiquity was revisited with a vengeance. It is enough to cast our eyes to the paintings of the Great Masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli to admire the pomegranate into scenes of sunset-drenched beauty.

But perhaps the most popular myth concerning Persephone, the one that ties her with the autumnal crepuscule into winter and the flamboyant pomegranate, is the one about Persephone's abduction by the dark prince of the underworld, Hades or Pluto, brother of both Zeus and Poseidon:
"As she was gathering flowers with her playmates in a meadow, the earth opened and Hades, god of the dead, appeared and carried her off to be his queen in the world below. ... Torch in hand, her sorrowing mother sought her through the wide world, and finding her not, she forbade the earth to put forth its increase. So all that year not a blade of corn grew on the earth, and men would have died of hunger if Zeus had not persuaded Hades to let Persephone go. However, before he let her go Hades persuaded her eat three seeds of a pomegranate, and thus she could not stay away from him forever. So it was arranged that she should spend two-thirds (according to later authors, one-half) of every year with her mother and the heavenly gods, and should pass the rest of the year with Hades beneath the earth.... As wife of Hades, she sent spectres, ruled the ghosts, and carried into effect the curses of men." (source: Encyclopedia Britannica)
The pomegranate became her inextricable tie with the world of the dead, the somber world of shadows. In a patriarchal reading of the myth, the abduction becomes the motif of marriage, the submission of the primordial female to the male, reminding us of the comparable survival of that theme in the Abduction of the Sabines tale by the Romans.
The demise of the earth-worshipping of the mother goddess in the now industrialised city of Eleusis, near Athens, is what inspired the Greek composer Manos Hatjidakis and Greek poet Nikos Gatsos to come up with this ritualistic lament named "Persephone's Nightmare" (sung by Maria Farantouri); its somber introductory bars of music a homage to the fragmented ancient classical Greek music:

"There, where mystics joined hands reverently
on entering the sacrificial site,
now tourists throw tab ends
and gaze at the new oil refinery.
Sleep Persephone in earth's embrace,
to this world's balcony come out no more"



It is no coincidence that in today's Greek culture the offerings to which all participants partake in the Christian Orthodox memorials of the dead still consist of agricultural products, in the form of a sweet named κόλυβα (KO-lee-vah); made of boiled shredded wheat, cast sugar, various nuts and raisins and indeed ...pomegranate seeds! A small pagan homage to Persephone who sealed her fate by tasting the fruit of the underworld. It is assumed that like her, the connection of the dead with the living will be possible.
But it's also a reminder of the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom, the pomegranate being a symbol of the fullness of Jesus' suffering and his resurrection, finding its way into religious decoration liturgical vestments and hangings as well as art, such as this Madonna of the Pomegranate by Sandro Botticelli.
In a reverse case of exorcising the spirits of the other side, another Greek custom enacted on New Year's Day, demands that the first person to step into a home bringing the tenants luck (what's called ποδαρικό from the Greek word for foot, πόδι) crashes a ripe pomegranate with their right foot: the scattered seeds are respresenting the flooding of good things to come. Like the Qur'an says, pomegranates are among the good things the merciful God creates!

Fragrances with pomegranate notes are delightful for this time of the year when the fruit is in season: From the darkish, mysterious Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone and the arrestingly unusual Grenates by Keiko Mecheri with its angelica running thread, to the more standard-fruity-juicy Euphoria by Calvin Klein and Tropical Punch by Escada, pomegranate scents run the gamut all the way to the incensy Melograno by Santa Maria Novella. The lists includes Moschino's Couture, the elegant Ferré Rosé, Tocca's subtle Touch and the spicy-cuminy oriental Aziyadé by Parfum d'Empire . Others yet reference the scarlet beads as grenadine: In Baby Doll by Yves Saint Laurent it is married it to complimentary bittersweet grapefuit, in Ma Dame by Gaultier it's used as a neon accent in a flashy composition and in Heiress by Paris Hilton, well...it alludes to her cocktails sipping activities, I guess.

Today pomegranates are cherished for their complex textural and aromatic nuances ranging from the peppery to the lightly tangy all the way to the nectarous sweet and for the bright juice they bring into several recipes: One of these embodiments takes the role of grenadine, the name of a fruit syrup popular in Gallic cultures, originally made from pomegranates (the French word for pomegranate being grenade), used as a cordial and in numerous cocktails as well as in a number of Iranian recipes. Hence also comes the name of one of the most majestic cities of Spain, the regal Granada! One of the most delicious uses of pomegranate syrup in cooking is in muhammara, a roasted red pepper, walnut and garlic spread consumed in Turkey and Syria, while the Azeri people of Goychay, Azerbaijan devote a whole festival to the fruit's charms drenching them in wine and dance.

If you want to try pomegranates in an easy and aromatically titilating dish, I recommend you my personal recipe for Pomegranate Seed Salad:

You will need some young lettuce leaves (preferably bought when it's very cold so they "hold" and are crunchy), a peeled apple (I prefer Starkins), a heavy pomegranate, extra virgin olive oil and aceto balsamico di Modena.
Chop the apple in small pieces, wash and cut the lettuce leaves in thin slices in a plate and sprinkle over the two the pomegranate seeds, the ensuing juice that drips from the fruit. Finally drizzle the whole with olive oil and balsamico to your taste. Serves 2.
Extremely yummilicious, visually welcoming and quite filling!
Bon appetit!

Pomegranate photo via and painting of The return of Persephone by Fred Leighton and Madonna with the Pomegranate by Sandro Botticelli, all via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of Pomegranate Seed Salad by Elena Vosnaki (click to enlarge)

CKfree Bottles Giveaway

We are hosting a giveaway of two full bottles of CK Free, the newest Calvin Klein fragrance, courtesy of their promo company. Simply enter a comment you'd like to be included and we will pick two winners. (Contest is reserved to US residents, only*)

If I were to review the brand, Calvin Klein fragrances have gone through an arch, I notice: from the provocative/innovative (Obsession for men and for women, CKOne and CKBe, last one my personal pick for great visuals and nice musk scent) to the mainstream (Contradiction, Euphoria, Crave, CKIn2 and their respective progeny), all through the surprisingly nice (Truth).
These are seperate continents with nothing but vast expanses of water to separate them: There is no cohesive glue sticking them together, no matter how acute your Magellan abilities are. Simply put, there is no single "Calvin Klein style"(no Calvinade, if you please) which makes every one of them something of a bet when choosing. I have noticed that Europeans have a higher regard than Americans for the brand, probably due to the syndrome of "no one's a prophet in their homeland", which is interesting to think about. Then again they did combine innovation and surpreme marketability in their CKOne more than a decade ago, got to give them that, I suppose. Since Calvin has disassociated himself from the house the path has been taken from the off-piste to the middle of the road.

The newest CKFree is a guy's scent for guys who don't really want to be edgy or provocative, just smell nice and fresh in the "just showered" sort of way with a splash of cooling spicy/gin&tonic accent in there. There is also a microscopic smoother woody element, which is completely inoffesive. If you're after an office scent or a gym scent or a scent for whatever activity will have you around other guys who want to smell nice and are appreciative of that quality on their peers, then you're set.

The scent is fronted by model Jaime Dornan (who also starred in Dior commercials, I'm reminding you) and well...with a face like that, one can recite off the telephone book and someone somewhere is going to pay attention! (Good choice marketing & advertising team guys!) I wish they'd go back to the agent provocateur visuals which we had celebrated in our Advertising Series here, though...Oh and nice packaging from what I see.

More information clicking here (the playlist includes such classic favourites as It's a beautiful day by U2 and Freedom by George Michael ~all with the word "free" in the lyrics in there, someone was toiling on Lyricsfreak for this). In classic high-tech age mode there is also a Twitter page, for those interested. But the catch in my humble opinion is this feature on the website which allows you to see the best places "to live free" via Google Maps.

Notes for CK Free:
Top: Thailand star anise, jackfruit, absinthe, juniper berry
Heart: suede, tobacco leaves, coffee absolute, South African buchu
Base: patchouli absolute, oakwood, texan cedarwood, costa rican ironwood


*NB the bottles will be sent to winners directly from the company in the USA and not myself, as I am stationed in Europe.

The winners of the draw...

...for the Le Cherche Midi gift set of candles is Samantha D and for the Le Cherche Midi complete fragrances samples set is Zazie. Congrats and please mail me using the email on profile with your shipping addresses so I can send these out to you!

Thanks everyone for the participation and till the next one!

Hello Kitty Woman: new fragrance (or Embracing Your Inner Child)

Fans of the definitive girly brand Hello Kitty by Sanrio ~and there are many~ will be delighted to find that after children's fragrances and millions of accessories, a new (pink) juice for adults (debatable...) under the name Hello Kitty Woman is launching under the aegis of Koto Parfums. Composed by Corinne Cachen, this new gourmand is based on the preference of the creator on candied red apples: The glossy sugar exterior hiding freshness inside, created by hesperidic notes of grapefruit, is also featuring notes of licorice which remind Cachen of her childhood, as well as raspberry and musk.

The kawaii packaging in white and rose will have Japanese young ladies all amok, I predict! Just what we needed I guess, another pink fruity floral! But well, fans of the kitschy kitten aren't to be trifled with. Have you seen their guns???

Available in 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz for 48 euros and 68 euros respectively at 80 Marrionaud in France, whereas beginning of December 2009 Hello Kitty Woman will expand into larger international markets.