La gaude

Abstract

During medieval and early modern times Reseda Luteola – weld - was used as a yellow dye, especially for dyeing silk. The yellow plant dyes belong to the well-known group of flavon-dyes. They are present in all major parts of the plant except the roots. The similar wide reseda (Reseda Lutea L.) contains the same flavonoid spectra but in much lower quantities. Weld was most probably already used by the ancient Greeks and Romans, but its use cannot yet be verified. The first clear written evidence of dyeing with weld is found in the mappae clavicula, a Carolingian manuscript dated around 800 AD. The first clear archeobotanical evidence for the use of weld is difficult to trace. Archeobotanical records are known from several late Neolithic lakeshore settlements in Switzerland but none of them clearly indicates the use of the plant for dyeing. In most cases single seeds may represent Reseda luteola as a ruderal plant of the disturbed vegetation in or near the settlements. In the Iron Age settlement of Hochdorf near Stuttgart (around 400 BC) seeds of weld were recorded together with woad Isatis tinctoria L. This co-incidence is a hint to the use as a dyeing agent. Some archeobotanical finds are discussed here, with regard to historical sources.