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Hildegard Herbal Encyclopaedia Back to overview

Spignel

Meum athamanticum

Historical tradition – not medical advice, and no health or healing claims. more

Historical botanical drawing: Spignel
Spignel

Tradition (Hildegard's writings)

In Hildegard's tradition, spignel was associated with digestion and the gut.

Ingredients

The aromatic root with its essential oils.

Botanical background

Spignel (Meum athamanticum), called bear's fennel in the German translation of the Physica, belongs to the carrot family alongside caraway and dill. The root is the part used, and its essential oils give it a strong, spicy character. Before today's range of culinary herbs and costly spices was available, cooks fell back on native plants that carried some flavour of their own, spignel among them. The traditional spice blend combines the root with galangal and liquorice root, together with a herb that Hildegard scholarship, after long debate, identified as savory. The relevant Physica chapter carries the name bear's fennel and refers to the powdered root.

Sources & references

  1. Hildegard von Bingen: Heilsame Schöpfung. Die natürliche Wirkkraft der Dinge (Physica). Hrsg. von der Abtei St. Hildegard, Eibingen. Beuroner Kunstverlag 2012 (4. Auflage 2024).
  2. Strehlow, Wighard: Die Hildegard-Naturapotheke. Heilmittel und Rezepte von A bis Z. Knaur Verlag 2014.
  3. Strehlow, Wighard: Der Hildegard-Kompass. Die wichtigsten Heilmittel und Anwendungen. Knaur Verlag 2014.
  4. Heepen, Günther H.: Das Heilwissen der Hildegard von Bingen. Gräfe und Unzer Verlag 2015.

The text of this entry is an independent summary in our own words, based on the works listed – not a verbatim reproduction. The page and chapter references document where the content comes from. A superscript number on a section heading points to the work that section follows. All rights to the original works remain with their authors and publishers.

More preparations using Spignel

Spignel and Pear Honey Spignel Spice Blend

Historical tradition. The above describes how this preparation was recorded and used in the tradition of Hildegard of Bingen. This is cultural-historical information, not medical advice and not a health or healing claim, and it is no substitute for advice from a doctor or pharmacist. If you have health complaints, please consult your doctor or pharmacy.

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