and now
the origins of basil
when I first started looking up the origins of Basil I thought you know
maybe there would be a little bit of stuff but probably just let go to this
blah blah blah and you know it comes from here who cares
boy was I wrong now
there are some really cool religious and mythological
stories involving Basil but I'm gonna talk about those in another video
basically it involves scorpions, basilisks, the cross of Christ and so much more
oh yeah.
Now basil's snazzy botanical name is
Ocimum basilicum
Ocimum meaning smell and basilicum coming from
either the Latin Basilius or Greek basilikon phuton Thal
which means royal or kingly plant
which makes sense because it was often referred to as the
king of herbs or the royal herb
though it was also once known as the herb of poverty
but not because you know it created poverty this was because he was used as
protection for the poor.
Taxes, ah haa! Ah haa!
now in some places like the UK it's actually called
Bazzil but for me Baysill is the herb and Bazzil is a dude
like this guy Basil the first emperor of the Byzantine Empire
Basil is a member of the very very large mint family
what? mint? yeah mint.
mmm.
now the mint family also called the Lamiace-ee or Lamiace-eye family
not to be confused with Leviosa.
It's Levi-Oh-sa, not Levio-SAH.
sorry Hermione
now the mint family also includes
various other herbs like rosemary sage marjoram even lavender
with around 150 known varietals in existence
basil is called by a plethora of different names
including great basil Thai basil, Thuli basil, African blue, red Reuben, Clove basil
spicy basil, lettuce basil, cinnamon basil, st. Joseph's wart
not to be confused with st. John's wort
mini purple basil though the most common
variety used in food today is called sweet basil
so here's where things get just a little bit muddled for our kingly little basil
now sources say that it probably goes back about five thousand years to its
origin but we're not really sure where
if either starts in India or China
though it's generally believed somewhere around here
so not too specific
there are however some records that say it may have
originated in the Hunan region of China
though this isn't substantiated we do
know that the spice merchants helped bring it over to Egypt because the
Egyptians loved to use a little bit of basil
in their embalming fluid
YUM
this is because of its preserving qualities which was also well known by
the Greeks and the Romans now the first recorded mention of basil
in literature it happens in 206 BC
where it states
it exists only to drive men
insane
I guess this makes sense for the Greeks who associated it with hatred
to grow basil I kid you not
it was once believed that in order to sow the basil
you had to be swearing and ranting at the seeds while planting it
You!
you miserable little seed
Grow! Grow bigger you
CENSORED EXPLITIVES
the French term meaning to sow basil
is semer le basilic
which has also been used to mean
to rant and rave
now basil his thoughts have been brought over to
Greece by Alexander the Great
then our friend the basil plant lays a
little bit low until the Middle Ages
when we start getting some really crazy
beliefs about basil so some people thought that it was good for cheering
the spirit or clearing the brain but other people still thought it was
poisonous it was used in exorcisms and also believed to identify chastity
if you placed it in the hand of a woman
and it withered
that means
watch out
that woman is impure
the Middle Ages also give us some really kooky ways that
you're supposed to prepare basil one had the first purified the right hand by
washing it three times in three different Springs using only an oak
branch and wearing white linen clothes
now it's also in the Middle Ages that we
find Basil's most famous appearance in ancient artwork
in Giovanni Boccaccio's the Decameron
this story was later retold by John Keats in his poem Isabella or the
pots of basil go figure
it tells the happy-go-lucky story of up
nope nope
it's tragic it's tragic it's the Middle Ages I mean come on now in this tragic
tale elisabetta's lover Lorenzo is murdered by her brothers when she finds
out in a dream that he has been murdered she finds him removes his head and
places it in a pot that grows basil
and then as you would expect
she waters it
with her tears
now it's in the Renaissance that Basil's properties
are finally given some solid backing by Cosimo de'medici when he included it
amongst his fragrances in his Giardino dei Semplici
no not them it's an Italian soft rock band
this guy
basil finally makes its way over to the United Kingdom
in the 16th century after which
it makes its way over to America via the
Massachusetts Bay Colony where it is introduced in 1621
yay!
the most herbalist of the day couldn't actually agree on the properties of basil
in 1653 British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote that most herbalists or
so split about its properties
that it caused them to rail at one another
like lawyers,
scary.
despite all the modern advances in studies that claim basil was a good
thing to be used for medicinal purposes and for nutritional purposes in 1980s
British Ministry of Agriculture's bulletin on herbs it was stated to be of
little or no importance
thanks so much for watching if you really like this
video make sure that you click on the like button and share it with your friends
also you can look in the description down below if you want to
find out some more about the origins of basil
my question for today is did I get anything wrong
if so please say so in the comment section down below
I'd really like to hear it
for now
have a great day