Gardening knowledge through the circulation of agricultural treatises in Portugal from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries

Abstract

In this paper, I demonstrate that from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, gardening horticultural knowledge in Portugal was much more accessible through Spanish and French agricultural treatises than through any other kind of garden literature. So, focusing on agricultural treatises, the aim of this paper is to present the results achieved so far by investigating the circulation of these books, to assess which authors were the most popular and which editions and translations had the greatest success, and to evaluate their depth and scope as regards the character and key features of Portuguese gardens. As far as possible, I will do this by comparing these with horticultural literature sources used in other European countries. Furthermore, I highlight the following texts as the works with the greatest circulation in Portugal: Gabriel Alonso de Herrera’s Agricultura General (1513), Miquel Agustí‘s Libro de los secretos de agricultura, casa de campo, y pastoral (1626), Louis Liger’s Oeconomie générale (1700) and Jo~ao Garrido’s Agricultor Instruído (1730). On this basis, I aim to establish a connection between the theoretical knowledge available during the said period and the Portuguese gardens themselves. Until recently, horticulture was understood as an art conveyed exclusively by praxis.