Editing Botanical garden (section)

==== Physic gardens ====

Botanical gardens developed from [[physic garden]]s, whose main purpose was to cultivate [[herb]]s for medical use as well as research and experimentation. Such gardens have a long history. In Europe, for example, [[Aristotle]] (384&nbsp;BCE – 322&nbsp;BCE) is said to have had a physic garden in the [[Lyceum#Aristotle's School and Library|Lyceum]] at Athens, which was used for educational purposes and for the study of botany, and this was inherited, or possibly set up, by his pupil [[Theophrastus]], the "Father of Botany".<ref>{{harvnb|Young|1987|p=7}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Thanos|2005}}</ref> There is some debate among science historians whether this garden was ordered and scientific enough to be considered "botanical"; instead, they attribute the earliest known botanical garden in Europe to the botanist and [[pharmacologist]] [[Antonius Castor]], mentioned by [[Pliny the Elder]] in the 1st century.{{sfn|Sarton|1993|p=556}}

The forerunners of modern botanical gardens are generally regarded as being the medieval monastic physic gardens that originated after the decline of the [[Roman Empire]] at the time of Emperor [[Charlemagne]] (742–789 CE). These contained a {{lang|la|hortus}}, a garden used mostly for vegetables, and another section set aside for specially labelled medicinal plants and this was called the {{lang|la|herbularis}} or {{lang|la|hortus medicus}}{{mdash}}more generally known as a physic garden, and a {{lang|la|viridarium}} or orchard.<ref>{{harvnb|Hill|1915|p=188}}</ref> Such gardens were given impetus by Charlemagne's [[Capitulary]] de Villis, which listed 73 herbs to be used in the physic gardens of his dominions. Many of these had already been introduced to British gardens.<ref>{{harvnb|Holmes|1906|pp=49–50}}</ref> [[Pope Nicholas V]] set aside part of the Vatican grounds in 1447, for a garden of medicinal plants that were used to promote the teaching of botany, and this was a forerunner to the University gardens at Padua and Pisa established in the 1540s.<ref>{{harvnb|Hyams|MacQuitty|1969|p=16}}</ref> Certainly the founding of many early botanic gardens was instigated by members of the medical profession.<ref>{{harvnb|Holmes|1906|p=54}}</ref>