An Imaginary Archive

The journal of a medieval woman - healer & brewer

This is a presentation of my archive for Creative Arts BA Hons 1.1 Experience Creative Arts.

This creative archive pulls together written accounts of herbs and their medicinal properties from a number of medieval manuscripts and an imagined diary written by an unmarried woman of that time. In these few extracts, my intent was to indicate the precarious nature of her trade and the fickle and changing attitude towards women like her. Her voice represents those who are absent from archives.

Wet felted bag

The bag is made from undyed wool tops from welsh sheep, with added naturally dyed wool. It was made to hold and protect the cards. It is lined with an eco-dyed silk scarf I made in a workshop last year.

The roles of women during the Medieval period...and then she was witch.

This title indicates how women, especially those who acted as healers and also brewers, otherwise known as alewives, could be at risk of having their reputation and livelihood taken away.

A Medieval Herb Garden

My archive was inspired by the poem Hortulus by Walafrid Strabo and the Herb Garden at Norton Priory, Runcorn. From the Priory's records - In 1522, the “alewife to the abbot” is recorded as being the wife of William the Joiner.

Displaying the Archive

I displayed my archive in two different sections of the 12th Century Undercroft at Norton Priory and in the herb garden. Here they are displayed in the Cellarer's Range. This set up indicated a herbalists table with added mortar and pestle, earthenware jugs, bowls and dried herbs and petals.

Displaying the Archive

The cards were set out in a Tarot formation on a table in the renovated part of the Undercroft, as if they could tell the fate and fortune of the viewer. This display alluded to the 'witchcraft' side of a healer's role.

Displaying the Archive

In the herb garden, I hung the journal cards from the fence and attached them to the corresponding herbs. Visitors actively engaged with the cards, reading and touching them and asked questions about the archive.

How were the cards made?

I used English herbal teas to dye the handmade cotton rag paper.
I used muted-toned watercolours for the illustrations inspired by 16th Century woodcuts.
I used herbs from the Priory to make monoprints.
I mimicked a flourished handwriting style for the journal extracts.

These are fragments of a journal, there are gaps in it made discernable through the passage of time described in them. It is obvious to the viewer that these are not original documents and therefore must have been created by a modern writer and contemporary hand. I had to improvise how the woman would write, and the terminology and grammar she would use. It is plainly a contemporary version of a medieval written journal, as it was impossible to recreate it written in Latin and in the grammatical style that would have been used at that time. This journal represents a voice not on record and not usually represented in historical archives.

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