The Orange Folly and its dissemination from the Iberian Peninsula to the Old and New Worlds

The Early Modern period in Europe was a time of citrus-mania, when the cultivation and classification of citrus resulting in true collections appeared all over Europe. While scholarship has mainly concentrated on the Italian legacy, I argue that one should change perspective and concentrate on the Iberian (IP) legacy. The particularity of orange groves in the IP derives precisely from their prominent presence in the landscape, as an autochthonous tree not as an exotic one. They cover and perfume cities like Seville and cover the landscape in Portugal in such a way that when João Vigier (1718) translated Caspar Bahuin’s Theatri Botanici (1571) into Portuguese, he bypassed their description due to the fact that they are so common in Portugal. The analysis includes the distribution of orangetrees in the soil; if they were planted in vases or directly in the soil; the irrigation systems used to their growth; how they were grafted and pruned. I will also demonstrate their aesthetical and economic value and how they were so praised by foreign travellers and recognized as the soul of Iberian gardens. As a result of these findings, I will argue that orange groves stand as one of the most common fruit tree of the IP and a key-feature of its gardens and landscapes, to such an extent that circulation of knowledge and practices account for their status as one of the most desired ornamental tree in Europe, taken to the New World where it will find its present main habitat. _____________________________________________________________________________ Old and New Worlds: the Global Challenges of Rural History | International Conference, Lisbon, ISCTE-IUL, 27-30 January 2016 2