(1098-1179) religious writer, mystic, composer
Hildegard von Bingen was born of noble parents in Bockelheim, West Frankonia (now Germany). She was educated at the Benedictine cloister of Dis-ibodenberg by the prioress, Jutta, whom she succeeded in 1136. Throughout her life she was subject to mystical visions, which she reported to her confessor at age 43. The archbishop of Mainz called a committee of theologians to convene to confirm the authenticity of her visions, after which a monk was appointed to help her record them in writing. The finished work, Scivias, which took over 10 years to complete, contains 26 of her prophetic and apocalyptic visions concerning the church, redemption, and the relationship between God and humans. The vivid images and poetic symbols of Scivias have been compared to those of William Blake and dante alighieri. One such image is her portrayal of “life’s journey as a struggle to ‘set up our tent.’” As Matthew Fox writes in his foreword to Hildegard von Bingen’s Mystical Visions, “The tent, in Hilde-gard’s view, comes folded up in us at the time of our birth as original blessings. But our life journey is that of setting up the tent.”
In 1147 Hildegard founded a new convent at Rupertsberg, where she continued to record her visions. She also wrote prolifically on a variety of other subjects such as medicine, natural history, and the lives of saints. Her Symphonia armonie ce-lestium revelationum (The Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations), which she finished in the early 1150s, is a collection of 77 of these lyric poems and chants, each with a musical setting. As she states in her letters, she regarded music as divine inspiration: “Sometimes when we hear a song we breathe deeply and sigh. This reminds the prophet that the soul arises from heavenly harmony.” The Symphony has recently enjoyed renewed critical interest.
Before 1158, Hildegard completed another musical work, Ordo, a collection of 82 melodies that is important as one of the first morality plays, in which good is pitted against evil. In her lifetime,
Hildegard von Bingen overcame almost insurmountable obstacles as a medieval woman and was consulted by bishops, popes, and kings for her religious insight. Though she has not been formally canonized, she is listed as a saint in the Roman Martyrology.
English Versions of Works by Hildegard von Bingen
Hildegard von Bingen’s Mystical Visions. Translated from Scivias by Bruce Hozeski. Introduction by Matthew Fox. Santa Fe, N.Mex.: Bear & Co., 1986.
Mystical Writings. Edited and introduced by Fiona Bowie and Oliver Davies with new translations by Robert Carver. New York: Crossroad, 1990.
A Work about Hildegard von Bingen
Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179: A Visionary Life. London; New York: Routledge, 1998.
