Which food substance was so nutritious and found efficacious in preventing disease that it was ordered by Charlemagne to be imbibed by all his minions? Also, its Latin name means "most useful."

lanfranco

That'll be flaxseed. Though I'm wondering about the historical veracity of the Charlemagne story: http://www.viable-herbal.com/singles/herbs/s846.htm Dec 12 06, 5:49 PM

zbeckabee

You may think of flax as a source of fine linens, but the plant's greatest value may well lie in its small, dark seeds. As far back as the 700s, King Charlemagne ordered every loyal Roman to eat flaxseed for health, and today many alternative medicine gurus echo that decree to all who will listen. Flaxseed is more than just nutritious -- health experts believe the seed can actually help prevent heart disease and many types of cancer. http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/flaxseed Dec 12 06, 5:50 PM

zbeckabee

Of Note: 812 Charlemagne ordered imperial farms in Germany to grow anise, fennel, fenugreek, and flax. (Rosengarten, 1969) http://www.huntington.org/BotanicalDiv/Timeline_org.html Dec 12 06, 6:01 PM

Baloo55th

For a start he wouldn't order it to be imbibed. That means they would have to drink it. Secondly, the majority of the sites regurgitating a number of versions of this 'law passing' are pushing 'healthy eating' and the only reference I can find that's prior to the modern health fads is "Charlemagne promoted its growth in Northern Europe." http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/lloyd-hist/linum.html I have found references to Charlemagne's promotion of flax growing for the production of linen. As the various sites pushing flaxseed can't even agree on what Charlemagne's position was (or where he ruled), I would join Frankie in doubting the story. Hippocrates (long before Charlemagne) used flaxseed for abdominal pain, and there are references to it being used in Babylon, but a law like that would be unenforceable in the early Holy Roman Empire anyway. Forbidding something is far easier than making something compulsory. Dec 13 06, 3:36 AM