Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard von Bingen

Academia

Important author of the 12th century who composed music and wrote on medical treatments

Amy French

Image: Wiki Commons

1098

County Palatine of the Rhine, Holy Roman Empire

1179

Writer, composer, philosopher, Benedictine abbess

Bingen was a medieval abbess, mystic, composer, and author. Hildegard of Bingen began receiving visions at a young age, but kept quiet for fear of how those visions would be interpreted. As an adult, Hildegard became head of her monastic community at Bingen in present-day Germany and began writing music for her nuns to sing as prayer. She wrote a medical treatise for her community as well as recording her visions after receiving encouragement. She became an important cultural figure whose advice was sought after by the movers and shakers of her day. She has been called the Sibyl of the Rhine.

Baird, Joseph L and Ehrman, Radd K. The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Flanagan, Sabina. Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary Life. (London: Routledge, 1998).

Wilson, Katharina. Medieval Women Writers. (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1984).

The Life and Works of Hildegard von Bingen: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.asp