The King of Sweden's Spice Cabinet, 1495

Hans Holbein painting of the ship like the Gribshunden

In 1495 the Swedish king's flagship, the Gribshunden – "Griffin Hound" – blew up and exploded in fairly shallow water. It was discovered by amateur divers some years ago and excavated in 2021. 

Sketch, made underwater, of a figurehead.

One of the discoveries was a chest containing spices and other foods for the king. A study of this material has just been published, and it is quite interesting. There was a lot of black pepper and cloves, a testimony to the scale of the spice trade with Asia, and also a large amount of saffron from the Mediterranean. The full list of the plants identified is:

grapes
raspberries
blackberries
dill
mustard
hazelnuts
caraway
saffron
henbane
black pepper
ginger
cloves
almonds

Generally what I would have expected, but what is henbane doing on this list? It tastes terrible. I suppose it must have been included for its supposed medicinal properties, since many spices were also used as medicines, although I guess there is some chance it was there so somebody could have visions. Anyway this spice chest is a remarkable find.