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Hildegard von Bingen (b1098, d1179) was a visionary nun, student of 'natural sciences', mystic, composer, theologian and, if I may be perhaps a tad irreverent, all-round fine person.

Hers is one of the first known biographies of a composer. As a woman writing in a period not generally disposed to that sort of thing, she clearly expresses spirituality from a feminine viewpoint, in words which I can understand. (Well, okay, in words which, struggling with a dictionary and after many drafts to sort out the underlying meaning, I can understand, but there are some reasonable translations around).

The biography which follows is based on my own opinion; for other, fuller, more educated and more classical views of Hildegard's Life and Works, I suggest starting with the sites created by Bonnie Duncan and Kristina Lerman.

Hildegard was born in 1098 into what appears to have been a noble, though not very wealthy, family. As the tenth child, she was considered as a tithe and immediately dedicated to the church. In 1106, she was placed with the anchoress Jutta, at what was then the church of Disibodenberg, fifteen kilometers from the Rhine on the banks of the river Nahe. Here she received a rudimentary and ascetic education. She had begun having visions before that time, but, sensibly, kept quiet about them.

Following Jutta's death, Hildegard was elected head of what was by then a small convent. She confided her visions only to a few, including Vollmar, who became her scribe for the rest of his life. Eventually, she had a vision which commanded her to "write what you have seen, and speak what you have heard" Still her "doubts and low opinion" of herself made her resist, "not out of stubbornness but out of humility" until eventually she became too ill to do other than acquiesce to the vision.

Light and Dark Stars

It's fairly well accepted that Hildegard suffered from migraine. In fact, as I said in my introduction, I first became interested in her work because one of the illuminations looked similar to a visual effect I had experienced following an eye operation (and since). These effects are commonly known as "Entoptic Phenomena" and have been the subject of a fair amount of research. At the end of the day, the way in which Hildegard used the visions is much more important then the precise cause of the basic images.

Although she herself never doubted the divinity of her visions, the time in which Hildegard lived was fraught with schisms and she was investigated at the instigation of Pope Eugenius. The investigators left fully convinced and, with the approval of the Pope, Hildegard was able to finish her first visionary book, Sci Vias Dei, Know the Ways of the Lord, commonly known simply as "Scivias"

Around 1150 Hildegard moved her nuns from Disibodenberg to the low hill of Rupertsburg, just outside Bingen, at a bend in the river Rhine. The move was opposed by the then Abbot of Disbodenburg, who feared the loss of prestige. Hildegard 'became like stone' remaining rigid for three days until he relented. Finally, at Rupertsburg, the nuns were responsible for their own spiritual development. This is where Hildegard wrote the majority of her music and texts, probably including Ordo Virtutum (Play of Virtues). In addition to Scivias she wrote "Liber vitae meritorum" (Book of Life's Merits) and "Liber divinorum operum" (Book of Divine Works). These expand on her visions of an integrated cosmos with mankind at the peak of God's creation. Hildegard also wrote on natural history, in "Physica" and "Causae et Curae" (1150), both works on natural history and curative powers of various natural objects, together known as Liber subtilatum ("The book of subtleties of the Diverse Nature of Things"). These were not presented in a visionary form and don't contain any references to divine source or revelation. However, like her religious writings they reflected her religious philosophy - that the man was the peak of creation and everything was put in the world for mankind's use.

The Order of the Elements

Her scientific views were derived from the cosmology of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth, corresponding to four humours in the body: choler (yellow bile), blood, phlegm, and melancholy (black bile). Human constitution was based on balance of the humors; words like "sanguine" and "melancholy" are still used to describe personalities. Sickness upset the delicate balance of the humours and consuming the plant or animal which had the missing quality could restore health. Thus, "...Tansy is hot and a little damp and is good against all superfluous flowing humours and whoever suffers from catarrh and has a cough, let him eat [it]."