Tales From Provence
Hello there, welcome to my blog. On the first day of each month, I’ll be bringing you a little local culture, history, botanical & aromatherapy insight from my corner of the world in The Var, France.
Settled over the centuries by the Ligurians, Greeks and Celts, the area between the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Rhône flourished following Julius Caesar’s conquest in the mid-1st century BC.
The Romans called the area Provincia Romana, which evolved into the name Provence.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the late 5th century, Provence was invaded several times, including by the Visigoths, Burgundians and Ostrogoths.
The Sarrasins who held parts of the Iberian Peninsula, raided Provence repeatedly and even settled there before being defeated by a coalition of Provençal and Piedmontese nobles at the Battle of Tourtour in 973.
The 14th century, Avignon Papacy ushered in one of the most resplendent period in the region’s history. Provence became part of France in 1487, though Avignon and Carpentras remained under papal control until the Revolution in 1789.
Between the 12th and the 14th centuries, Provençal, part of the Langue d’Oc language group, was the main mode of expression of the medieval troubadours whose romanticising of courtly love in poems and melodies, spread throughout the courts of Europe.
A movement for the revival of the Provençal language, literature, culture and identity began in the mid-19th century. Known as the Félibrige, it was spearheaded by poet Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914), recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1904 for his epic poem, Mirèio (Mireille) which was translated into 15 languages and became emblematic of the region. References to the abundant flora of Provence are present throughout Mistral’s work.
Edited by Denise Goss
Flower of the Month: Lavender
Lavender is the flower we all think of when Provence springs to mind.
In Latin Lavender means ‘lavare’ to wash, which probably comes from it’s use to cleans wounds, although was also widely used for washing linen and personal bathing. The Romans introduced it to Northern Europe. The best Lavender is grown in it’s original home, around the Mediterranean. The finest quality grown at altitudes between 700 and 1,400 meters.
It has many properties but can best be summed up as calming, soothing and above all balancing.
