Review

She was one of the most versatile and influential women of the Middle Ages in 12th century Western Europe. She was a mystic, an abbess, a theologian, writer of an extensive collection of letters, religious texts and scientific books on plants and minerals and their healing powers, as well as on the functioning of the human body (after the Second World War, her medicinal healing knowledge was recovered in Germany in the face of the shortage of medicines, and her figure was rescued after eight centuries of silence); she was also the creator of the Lingua Ignota, composer of sacred music and an Ordo, with a theatrical staging. She founded two monasteries in Germany and was the abbess of one of them. She was one of the few women in history whom the Church allowed to preach to the clergy and to the population in churches and abbeys.

Justifications

• One of the most important figures of the Middle Ages. A polymath who dealt with the scientific, artistic, cultural and religious spheres.
• She was a mystic.
• Paradigmatic example of medieval monastic culture and female authority. Benedictine abbess and founder of two monasteries in Germany.
• Theologian and thinker. Author of important theological texts.
• Naturalist and scientist. Author of scientific treatises on medicine, on the knowledge of plants and minerals and on the functioning of the human body. The importance she attached to hygiene, a balanced diet and daily exercise, which she passed on to her nuns, made her a reference point for healthy living. Although her proposals - shared by Trota of Salerno - were later forgotten, time has proved them right.
• Musician and composer of sacred music, liturgical monody and ordo. She used music for healing, being a precursor of Oliva Sabuco's proposals (17th century) and precedent of music therapy.
• Creator of a language, the Lingua ignota.
• Writer and epistolographer. Her abundant correspondence with popes, emperors, abbots, abbesses, nobility and peasantry covers all social strata.
• Painter. She drew and painted her mystical visions. Her artistic expression is framed within Romanesque art.
• Monastery builder.

Biography

Hildegard is one of the most versatile and influential women of the late Middle Ages in 12th-century Western Europe. She was an enormously prolific author and pioneer in many fields, leaving us a legacy of incalculable value.

She was born in Bermersheim (Germany) in the Rhine Valley in 1098 to a German noble family. When she was only 8 years old, her parents left her in the care of Jutta von Sponhein at the monastery of St. Disibodenberg. Jutta was only 6 years older than Hildegard, and two years earlier she had asked to retire to the life of an anchorite, fully dedicated to prayer. The monastery gave her a small attached house for this purpose. Jutta was only 14 years old when she put herself "in a mother's place", as Luisa Muraro would say. She was Hildegard's teacher and, at first, they did not belong to any convent of nuns. But as a result of Jutta's reputation as a wise woman, other families wanted to take their daughters there. Gradually, they became a community of nuns. Hildegard took the veil at the age of 15 and Jutta went from being only the headmistress and teacher of the community to becoming the abbess. From her, she received an education based on the teaching of the Latin language, the reading of Holy Scripture and Gregorian chant.

A visionary from childhood and a mystic, she was able to express her knowledge in the form of visions without being accused of being heretic, as the Church itself would confirm them as inspired by God.

When Jutta died, Hildegard was chosen by the nuns as the new abbess. In 1141, at the age of 42, she received a divine command to write down the visions she had. In 1148, a committee of theologians, at the request of Pope Eugenius III, studied and approved part of the book, beginning not only the canonically approved literary activity, but also the epistolary relationship with many personalities of the time. 

At the age of 52, she began her musical vocation, bequeathing us 77 compositions with words and music, compiled in "Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum", and an auto sacramental set to music called Ordo Virtutum.

Between the ages of 53 and 60, she wrote her works on medicine, theology (visions, which she drew and painted) and, throughout her life, an extensive collection of over 400 letters to popes, emperors, queens (Eleanor of Aquitaine) and kings.

She was also the creator of a language of her own, the Lingua ignota.

At the age of 62, she began to preach in squares and convents until she was 72. She was one of the few women whom the Church allowed to preach to the clergy and the population, in churches and abbeys.

And at the age of 67, she founded another monastery due to the increase in the number of nuns: Eidenberg, on the banks of the Rhine. She founded two monasteries in Germany and was abbess of one of them. She succeeded in avoiding subordination to a male monastery.

Through her texts, the abbess made interesting contributions to science. She dictated a total of twelve books. The first, written between 1141 and 1151, was Scivias, which deals with the creation of the world and the human being, as well as the past, present and future of the latter. Between 1151-1158 she carried out her medical work under a single title: Book on the natural properties of created things, which in the 13th century was divided into two texts. Physica (Natural History) or Liber simplicis medicinae (Book of Simple Medicine) (1180-1190); and Causae et Curae (Problems and Remedies) or Liber compositae medicinae (Book of Complex Medicine). Two scientific books on plants and minerals and their healing powers, as well as the workings of the human body. Although she believed in a divine origin, she did not think that creation was the result of supernatural intervention but of the presence of the four primordial elements, which she divided into two categories, the higher or "celestial" (fire and air) and the lower or "earthly" (water and mud). According to Hildegard, the two categories were related as were the macrocosm and the microcosm. Hildegard therefore tried to harmonise physics with anatomy and physiology.  She was also the one who introduced hops into beer and described the female orgasm.

Just as she can be considered a "disciple" of Jutta, Hildegard also had a very special and profound relationship with another woman: Richardis von Stade. Richardis joined the congregation and was under her tutelage until Richardis' family, out of political ambition, decided that she should move to another monastery to become abbess there.

After the Second World War, her medicinal healing knowledge was recovered in Germany in the face of the shortage of medicines, and her figure was revived after eight centuries of silence.

Hildegard is undoubtedly a key figure in understanding the Middle Ages.

Works

Spanish

• Kyrie
• O virtus Sapientiae

Bibliography

-Lerner, Gerda (1993). La creación de la conciencia feminista. Desde la Edad Media hasta 1870.  Pamplona: Katakrak (2019), p. 121

-Lorenzo Arribas, Josemi (2000). Hildegarda de Bingen (1098-1179). Madrid: Ediciones del Orto.

-Martínez Lira, Verónica (2014). El lenguaje secreto de Hildegard von Bingen. Ciudad de México: Ed. Fondo de Cultura Económica.

-Pernoud, Régine (2012). Hildegarda de Bingen. Una conciencia inspirada del siglo XII. Barcelona: Ed Paidós.

-Roldán Salgueiro, Manuel Jesús (2020). Historia del arte con nombre de mujer. Sevilla: Ed. El Paseo.

-Solsona Pairó, Núria (2014) "L'ús de textos de la història de la química d'autoria femenina a classe". Educació Química, nº16, pp. 38-46, (retrieved on 10/11/2022). <http://revistes.iec.cat/index.php/EduQ/article/view/85930/131792>

-Blog Hildegardiana, (retrieved on 15/03/2022). <http://www.hildegardiana.es/>

-Universitat Rovira i Virgili, (retrieved on 02/04/2022). <https://www.urv.cat/es/vida-campus/servicios/unidad-igualdad/ano-mujeres-ciencias/dones-i-ciencies/dones-metgesses/hildegardavonbingen/>

-Universitat Rovira i Virgili, (retrieved on 02/04/2022). <https://www.urv.cat/es/vida-campus/servicios/unidad-igualdad/ano-mujeres-ciencias/dones-i-ciencies/dones-filosofes/hildegardvonbingen/>

AUDIOVISUAL

-Conti, Michael (2016). "La Mística Rebelde: Santa Hildegarda de Bingen" in Vimeo, (retrieved on 10/11/2022). <https://vimeo.com/ondemand/santahildegarda>

-Von Trotta, Margarette (2009). "Hildegarda de Bingen, Vision En Español" in YouTube, (retrieved on 10/11/2022). <https://youtu.be/wHRDX5ZHoQg>

Didactic approach

Her life and work can be tackled in several subjects in the curriculum, thus allowing us to learn about the 12th century through music, science, language and literature, philosophy, and medieval history.

• In History, in the Middle Ages, to learn about the role of the Church. She represents monastic life in the 12th century, reflects the breakdown from male monasteries and women's permission to preach, which she obtained thanks to her intellectual value and her poweful social position. She is a key figure in 12th-century Renaissance.
• In Music, she can be included in the development of medieval music as an example of composer of monodic religious music and creator of musical plays.
• In Plastic and Visual Arts, though her art, in which she reflected her visions.
• In Language and Literature, through her letters and writings, both scientific and literary. Also through her Lingua Ignota.
• In Latin (or Classical Culture) for her writings in Latin. In CUC: Block Continuity of cultural heritage. In Latin 4º ESO: Legacy and heritage block.
• In Biology and Geology, when studying the human body. In her case, she focused on women, minerals, caregiving, and the use of medicinal plants.
• In Physics and Chemistry, because of her contributions to the field, like including hops in beer brewing or pharmaceutical recipes.
• In Physical Education, since she suggested leading a healthy life, eating several light meals, doing exercise daily, and paying special attention to hygiene.
• In Mathematics and ´Technical Drawing, working with the blueprints of the monasteries she built.
• In Ethical Values and Philosophy, to study her thoughts on the human being and on theological development.

Documents