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There really is only one flower that has been universally known as a symbol of love and beauty throughout the world. The rose has had an influence on the culture of many civilizations for hundreds of years. The rose historically has had an important and significant impact on literature, art and poetry. As a symbol of beauty, romance, love, perfection, elegance, and life itself, the rose has served as the favorite flower of poets and artists.
From the botanical family Rosaceae, which includes close to 200 species and thousands of hybrids, has flourished for millions of years. Roses have been cultivated for so long that it's impossible to determine where or when the flower was first domesticated.
Roses in Ancient Historic Period
Historically the rose has always been a symbol of beauty and love, but the flower has also symbolized creation, secrecy, the Church, and the risen Christ. The rose windows featured in most Gothic cathedrals are thought by some to represent life and creation, or hope radiating from faith and the Church. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.
The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love referred to as Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret - derived from this ancient Roman practice.
Roman aristocrats strewed roses around their banquet halls and served a wine made from roses. Moslem monarchs in India bathed in pools with rose petals floating on top of the water. According to the Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the Caliph of Baghdad served a jam made from roses that held captive anyone who ate it.
The Empress Josephine of France, the wife of Napoleon, put the rose to a more singular use. Josephine built a huge rose garden at her estate at Chateau de Malmaison, with over 250 varieties of the flower flourishing, every variety known at the time. An estate seven miles west of Paris in the 1800s. This garden became the setting for Pierre Joseph Redoute's work as a botanical illustrator. In 1824, he completed his watercolor collection "Les Rose," which is still considered one of the finest records of botanical illustration.
War of the Roses
In medieval England, many families employed a representation of the rose in their coat of arms: the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York are two well-known examples. During the fifteenth century, these two houses fought for control of the English crown in a struggle that came to be known as the War of the Roses.
Curiously, during a key battle of the War of Roses, the Lancastrian forces mistook the star symbol of an ally for the "rose-and-sun" of their enemy, and set upon them in error, costing their side the victory. The house of Tudor, which took over the English crown after the war, shrewdly combined both red and white roses in its emblem.
Use of Roses
Rose oil extracts have been used in perfumes, cosmetics, and flavoring syrups, a practice that originated in the Near East, and did not appear in Europe until 1612. Rose hips, the fruits of the rose plant, are used to make tea, or as a source of Vitamin C.
A seventeenth-century German book lists thirty-three diseases that supposedly can be cured by rose water or oil.
During the eighteenth century, rose petals occasionally were included in English salads, and essence of roses was used to flavor ice cream.
Roses Today
There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, and fragrance and even for lack of prickles. Today, roses are grown extensively in many parts of the world, especially in France, India, and the Balkans.
There are about thirty-five species of rose thought to be native hybrids of North America. Various roses are the state flowers of Iowa, North Dakota, and New York.
Some roses smell like, well, roses, while others suggest green tea, hay, or various spices. Biologically, the rose's fragrance is quite important, since roses normally do not secrete nectar and depend mostly on aroma and color to attract pollinating insects.
The rose has been cultivated and hybridized for so long that there are, strictly speaking, no species of purely wild rose left on earth. Roses today range in size from just half an inch in diameter to varieties that spread to more than seven inches. Colors range from white through yellow, pink, red, and maroon.
Sources:
Big Site of Amazing Facts: http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-roses
University of Illinois Extension: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/roses/history.html
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose
