208.Though the gardening of Charlemagne, in the eighth century, was chiefly of the useful kind, yet he is said (see Nigellius) to have had a noble palace at Nieder Ingelheim, on the Rhine, supported by a hundred columns of Italian marble. This could hardly be erected without an accompanying and decorative garden, though the frugal habits of the prince might prevent an extravagant display of design. Williams informs us that some fragments of the marble pillars which once adorned Charlemagne's palace are still shown in the church. (Travels, &c. p. 27.) From the Hortulus of Walafrid, published in the beginning of the ninth century, it appears that gardens were in those times made only within the walls of castles and monasteries. (Walafridus Strabus, Hortulus, 4 to, Norimbergï¾µ, 1512.) He wrote in the ninth century, about 842.
