Historically, blessed thistle was very popular in Medieval England, most likely due to
the legend that King Charlemagne was visited by an angel that directed
use of the herb to counter everything from headache and poor memory to
the black plague and smallpox. This attribution, coupled with the fact
that monastery monks were tasked with cultivating blessed thistle in
quantity, is why the herb is also known as holy thistle and St. Benedict
thistle.
The bitter, astringent qualities of blessed thistle are due to tannins
and alkaloids, most notably a bitter compounds called cnicine. The herb
is traditionally prepared as tea, tonic infusion or tincture. Blessed
thistle is also made into herbal bitters and aperitif digestives. In
fact, it is an ingredient in the classic angostura bitters formula.
