Recently while looking at the "Medieval Health Handbook" (ISBN: 0807612774) a compilation of 5 Tacunium Santatis manuscripts from the Po valley late 14th to early 15th century, I found a page on melons. Now I'm about 2,000 mi from my copy and I can't remember whether they were more cantalope like or what, but it may be worth checking into if you are interested.

http://www.godecookery.com/tacuin/tacuin10.htm

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Watermelons occur 9 times in the texts-

The Tacuinum of Paris, f. 38v.- "Watermelons and Cucumbers (Cucumeres et cetruli) - depicted as pale green and almost papaya-shaped.

The Tacuinum of Vienna, f. 23v.- "Watermelons and Cucumbers (Cocumeres et citruli) - difficult to make out in the b/w repro, but appear to be depicted similar to the Paris mss.

The Tacuinum of Casanatense, Rome, f. XL.- "Watermelons and Cucumbers (Cucumeres et citruli) - depicted as perfectly round with alternating bands of broad deep green and narrower bands of pale green, as a modern seedless melon.

The Tacuinum of Paris, f. 37.- "Sweet melons (melones dulces) - depicted as large pecan shaped fruit with alternating bands of broad deep green and narrower bands of pale green, as a modern watermelon.

The Tacuinum of Casanatense, Rome, f. XXXV.- "Sweet melons (melones dulces) - depicted as large pecan shaped fruit with alternating bands of broad deep green and narrower bands of pale green, exactly as a modern watermelon.

The Tacuinum of Paris, f. 38. "Palestinian melons- (melones palesinii) - depicted as ovoids of indeterminate color (b/w repro)

The Tacuinum of Vienna, f. 23v. - "Indian and Palestinian melons- (melones indi et palestini) - depicted as globular fruit of indeterminate color (b/w repro). Text says "Indian-Palestinian melons are lemon colored, large, and sweet watermelons".

The Tacuinum of Paris, f. 38- Tasteless melons (melones insipidi) - depicted as large pecan shaped fruit of indeterminate color (b/w repro)

The Tacuinum of Casanatense, Rome, f. XXXVI. Tasteless melons (melones insipidi) - depicted as round fruit of indeterminate color (b/w repro) may be pale green like a honeydew.

Commentary advises that they are "useful against burning fevers and provoke urination", and are suitable for "warm temperments, young people, in Summer and in warm regions". They seem to occur everywhere from Paris to Vienna and Rome, so I feel confident serving them in a 15th C. summer context.

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Cucumber
Cucumbers are generally believed to have originated in India, and
archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests that they have been cultivated
throughout western Asia for at least 3,000 years (Hedrick 1919: 208; Whitaker
and Davis 1962: 2—3; Sauer 1993: 45; Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997: 62).
From India, the cucumber spread to Greece and Italy — where the crop was
significant in the Roman Empire — and slightly later to China and southern
Russia. In classical Rome, Pliny reported greenhouse production of cucumbers by
the first century, and the Emperor Tiberius was said to have had them at his
table throughout the year (Sauer 1993: 46). Cucumbers probably were diffused
into the rest of Europe by the Romans and later throughout the New World via
colonialism and indigenous trade networks. The earliest records of their
cultivation appear in France by the ninth century, Great Britain by the
fourteenth century, the Caribbean at the end of the fifteenth century, and North
America by the middle of the sixteenth century (Hedrick 1919: 208).

Melon
Melon is generally thought to have originated in western Africa (Zeven and
Zhukovsky 1975: 30; Bailey 1976: 342; Purseglove 1976: 294; Whitaker and Bemis
1976: 67), with China or India as possible secondary centers of diversity. Wild
melons growing in natural habitats have been reported in desert and savanna
zones of Africa, Arabia, southwestern Asia, and Australia. As Jonathan Sauer
notes, it is unclear where melon was domesticated and "it is conceivable that it
was independently domesticated from different wild populations in Africa and
southwestern Asia" (Sauer 1993: 44). Melon was an important food crop in
ancient China, where archaeological data suggest that it has been cultivated for
over 5,000 years (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997: 23). Archaeological
evidence also suggests that melon was cultivated in Iran some 5,000 years ago and
in Greece and Egypt about 4,000 years ago (Zohary and Hopf 1988). Given the
fruit’s probable African origin, this evidence points to a very early date for the
first domestication of melon. Tropical forest swidden systems in Africa typically
have yams or manioc as dominant staple food crops with melons among the
numerous and multiple secondary crops (Harris 1976: 318).

As with cucumbers, melons were cultivated in the Roman Empire and
diffused throughout Europe by the Middle Ages where the "variety and quality
of melon cultivars were evidently greatly increased by selection in Medieval
gardens" (Sauer 1993: 44). As with cucumbers and watermelons, melons were
introduced to the New World by Spanish colonial settlers in the late fifteenth
and early sixteenth centuries and subsequently spread very rapidly among
Native American horticultural groups. Later during the eighteenth century they
reached the Pacific Islanders via British explorers.

Watermelon
Watermelons, which were originally domesticated in central and southern
Africa (Whitaker and Davis 1962: 2; Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997: 85), are
an important part of the "most widespread and characteristic African
agricultural complex adapted to savanna zones" in that they are not only a food
plant but also a vital source of water in arid regions (Harlan, de Wet, and
Stemler 1976; Harlan 1992: 64). Indeed, V. R. Rubatzky and M. Yamaguchi (1997:
603) refer to watermelons as "botanical canteens." In a number of traditional
African cuisines, the seeds (rich in edible oils and protein) and flesh are used in
cooking. Watermelon emerged as an important cultigen in northern Africa and
southwestern Asia prior to 6,000 years ago (Robinson and Decker-Walters 1997:
24). Archaeological data suggest that they were cultivated in ancient Egypt more
than 5,000 years ago, where representations of watermelons appeared on wall
paintings and watermelon seeds and leaves were deposited in Egyptian tombs
(Ficklen 1984: 8).

From their African origins, watermelons spread via trade routes throughout
much of the world, reaching India by 800 and China by 1100. In both of these
countries, as in Africa, the seeds are eaten and crushed for their edible oils.
Watermelons became widely distributed along Mediterranean trade routes and
were introduced into southern Europe by the Moorish conquerors of Spain, who
left evidence of watermelon cultivation at Cordoba in 961 and Seville in 1158
(Watson 1983). Sauer notes that "watermelons spread slowly into other parts of
Europe, perhaps largely because the summers are not generally hot enough for
good yields. However, they began appearing in European herbals before 1600,
and by 1625, the species was widely planted in Europe as a minor garden crop"
(Sauer 1993: 42). Their first recorded appearance in Great Britain dates to 1597.

mark

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Damned England-- I *told* you the country was a no account backwater!

Thanks for taking the time to post all that great info!

quote:

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Sauer notes that "watermelons spread slowly into other parts of Europe, perhaps largely because the summers are not generally hot enough for good yields. However, they began appearing in European herbals before 1600, and by 1625, the species was widely planted in Europe as a minor garden crop" (Sauer 1993: 42). Their first recorded appearance in Great Britain dates to 1597.

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Is his concept of the temperatures not being adequate based on current climates or does he take into account what they used to be like? For example, they used to grow grapes in England, which given how tempermental grapes are to climate and soil, suggests to me that the temps of the Middle Ages were different from the tempertures we experience now.