Principles of management and botanical gardening. French mesnagement ideals began to influence the history of botany and public administration in France in the early seventeenth century. Henri IV approved the establishment of the first significant botanical garden in France for the medical faculty of the university in Montpellier. The garden was intended for acclimatizing new species, researching the medicinal properties of plants, and serving as a hub in France for developing the intellectual and practical abilities necessary for medical treatment and responsible management of the kingdom. The purpose was to increase the availability of beneficial medicinal plants in France and to enhance rural life by cultivating new imports using advanced horticultural methods.Eighteen This utilization of plant collection for political gain aligned seamlessly with the management strategies advocated by Olivier de Serres.

The garden in Montpellier was designed based on Italian botanical gardens near medical colleges and is frequently referred to be a duplicate of them. The school curriculum was academically focused and influenced by the commercial culture in the Mediterranean region, which introduced new plant species and medical texts. Medical botany pedagogy in Montpellier focused on plant demonstrations as well. The instructional garden walks taught students plant identification and were linked to botany lectures that discussed botanical nomenclature issues that intrigued antiquarian natural philosophers in Italy and France.
Principles of management and botanical gardening. French mesnagement ideals began to influence the history of botany and public administration in France in the early seventeenth century
Live plants were incorporated into early medicinal gardens to enhance the pharmacological practice, which was previously restricted to employing only dried herbs. Decayed plants posed challenges for botanical research, were not very useful for plant collection, and were typically acquired at a high price from drug vendors with undisclosed suppliers. Dioscorides, a Greek physician and pharmacologist, strongly recommended the use of live plants in his book De Materia Medica, first published in 1499 in Venice and later in a French edition by Jean Ruel in 1516.

Dioscorides contended that to comprehend plants, one must cultivate and monitor their growth rather than harvest them as lifeless samples. He promoted field study methods, observing the growth of various flora in their natural environment. His theories persuaded the Roman physician Galen to recognize the significance of botanical field investigations and meticulous examination of the physical characteristics of plants. Galen’s works were part of the medical curriculum in the sixteenth century, which led to an increased focus on plant collection and cultivation in Europe, and the further advancement of botanical gardening in Montpellier.

Plant presentations at Montpellier and later in Paris aimed to teach medicine but also defined the intellectual and ceremonial roots of territorial politics. The botanical garden is a deliberately constructed habitat that combines artificial and natural elements, with distinct boundaries, internal infrastructure, and natural resources. It was a location used to establish control over the natural environment and to demonstrate the impact of human enhancements. The botanical garden at Montpellier integrated naming conventions, plant specimens, and the arrangement of garden beds. The garden was divided into sections based on their specific microclimates such as humid, dry, warm, and chilly.

Plants were then organized accordingly, following the advice given by management experts for developing estates and governing states. The garden served as a research collection, situated between the wild plants of the countryside and the dried herbs in a pharmacist’s prescription jars. It organized knowledge within the chaos of plants, representing the essential act of stewardship. Plant presentations instructed pupils on how to utilize these collections and apply their brains to improve living in France.

The Montpellier tradition of botanical gardening and medical education was introduced to Paris in the late seventeenth century and established in the newly established Jardin du Roi. The botanical garden was established by the king’s household, specifically by his physician, and served both state and scholarly purposes. The facility was mainly for medicinal purposes and was not connected to the University of Paris. It also was not an enlarged version of the botanical garden created in Paris by the Robins, father and son. The creation of the new Jardin du Roi in Paris, led by experts from Montpellier, caused concern among University of Paris scholars who doubted the academic quality of botany education in the southern region of France.
French mesnagement ideals began to influence the history of botany, The Jardin du Roi |
The intellectual vibrancy of Montpellier, characterized by analytic cosmopolitanism and pedagogical empiricism, posed a challenge to the traditional medical faculty in Paris because to its limited focus on botanical collection. The rivalry between Paris and Montpellier highlighted the contrasting intellectual cultures of northern and southern France, with the Mediterranean basin characterized by humanism and antiquarianism, in stark contrast to the more scholastic intellectual culture of the North.

Montpellier promoted empirical botany studies as a contrast to the scholasticism prevalent in medical education in Paris. Montpellier, with its Huguenot origins, likewise embraced a religious tolerance that was strongly opposed in Paris. Due to these distinctions, the Jardin du Roi, staffed by individuals from Montpellier, was effectively separated from the University of Paris and more readily integrated into the king’s household and political affairs.

Colbert was a strong advocate for this institution, as well as for academies and territorial governance in general. He aimed to make the Parisian garden superior to those in Montpellier and Italy, by improving the quality of medicines for the city, advancing botany in the Académie Royale des Sciences, introducing beneficial plants to France, and boosting the effectiveness and reputation of his navy. The new Jardin du Roi centralized the plant trade under state supervision, utilizing the navy to gather exotic plants from throughout the globe.