Hildegard of Bingen: More Than a Visionary, an Authority

By: Kimberly Sams

Female mystics, such as Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, are well-known

for writing about visionary episodes they experienced. At first glance, the writing of

Hildegard of Bingen seems to belong to this same tradition, but a deeper consideration

reveals that her experiences were very different from those of female mystics. While

mystics recorded their visionary experiences, Hildegard employed her visions to

prophesize and guide by means of her theocratic teachings. Further separating Hildegard

from mystics, she did not live as an anchoress or as an aesthetic, using periods of extreme

contemplation, isolation, and depravation to invoke her visions. Rather, Hildegard began

having visions when she was still an infant. However, she chose not to reveal her visions

to contemporaries until she was forty-two years of age.

Hildegard doubtless had many reasons for keeping her visions a secret, but the

actions surrounding her decisions to finally reveal her gift demonstrate her strongest

motivation. Hildegard was equally aware of the dangers her visions could impose if the

Pope and Catholic Church decided they were heretical and of the likelihood that her

status as a woman would severely affect the churchs reaction. Therefore, Hildegard

strategically waited until she had secured the respect of the religious community,

including important religious leaders, before announcing her prophetic mission. This

1
 Sams 2

strategy allowed her to gain the critical sanction of the Pope, and therefore the Catholic

Church. This was a demonstration of her keen understanding of the prevailing

misogynistic attitudes and, more importantly, of her ability to claim authority for herself

as a woman, even within the male leadership of the Catholic Church. Ultimately, she

grew in confidence and learned that she did not need the authority of the Church or any

man, because she was a divine prophetess.

Very little is known about the early life of Hildegard and although she is

commonly referred to as Hildegard of Bingen, this was merely the site of her monastery

school, and not of her birth. It is more likely that she was born in Bermersheim, which

was significantly close to the seat of the German imperial powers of the time. Although

she wrote that she was born in 1100, records suggest that this was an approximation and

that she was actually born in 1098.1 Her parents were Hildebert of Bermersheim and

Mechthild of Merxheim, owners of vast estates and, although not titled nobility, well

connected to elite.2 Hildegard was their tenth child and as such, she was dedicated to the

church at birth as a tithe.3 This was a customary practice, since even noble families could

not be certain of their ability to feed so many children.4

As a result, Hildegard became an oblate at early age under the care of an anchoress

named Jutta. For centuries, scholars believed that Hildegard entered a monastery along

1. Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age (New York: Doubleday,
2001)., 9-10.
2. Ibid., 18.
3. Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom : St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1987)., 5.
4. Kristina Lerman, "The Life and Works of Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179)," Fordham
University, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html (accessed December 4, 2010)., 1.
 Sams 3

with Jutta at the age of eight. However, in recent years an account of Jutta has been

revealed that suggests that this may not have been the case. This Vita Jutta has not be

confirmed or denied as reliable but, if it is indeed a reliable account, it appears that

Hildegard actually joined Jutta on her family estate in Sponheim when she was eight.

Later, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, she would have followed Jutta to a monastery.5

As an anchoress, Jutta lived as a recluse along with Hildegard and two other girls

under her care. Anchors could be male or female, but it appears that women chose this

form of ascetic life more often than men. They would live within the confines of a small

room, which they normally would not leave. Therefore, the room would be built next to

the church, so they could hear the services. Typically there would be a small window

that allowed food to be passed in to them and excrement to be passed out. The solitude

allowed an anchoress to devote her time to prayer and meditation. 6

Jutta was a dedicated aesthetic, devot[ing] herself to prayer, fasting, vigils,

nakedness and cold; she tortured her body with a hairshirt and iron chain [] and she

refused to eat meat for years in defiance of her abbot.7 In addition to her aesthetic

contemplation, Jutta served as Hildegards primary educator. Without a doubt, Jutta

would have taught Hildegard the Psalter, which would have also required a rudimentary

understanding of Latin. However, Hildegard repeatedly belittles her own knowledge and

education, even stating that she had scarcely any knowledge of letters, as an uneducated

5. Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 18-19.

6 . Lerman, The Life and Works of Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179), 7., 1.
7 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 6.
 Sams 4

woman had taught her.8 This is a surprising claim, since Jutta came from a noble

background and sources praise her knowledge of Latin and the scriptures.9

It is not surprising, however, that Hildegard claimed she was herself uneducated.

The education she received from Jutta, regardless of the anchoress personal aptitude,

could not have been equal to the education she would have received if she had attended a

cathedral school, like young boys of her station often received. Although some women

within monastic orders benefited from superior education and libraries within the

monastic house, Hildegard was not so fortunate. The monastery of Saint Disibod, where

Hildegard was cloistered, had endured a period of disrepair and was only finally being

restored while Hildegard was in residence. Therefore, it was not until years later that the

library would have provided Hildegard with substantial opportunities for learning.10

Consequently, Hildegards education did not include the traditional liberal arts,

which were normally a requirement for anyone if political or clerical office. The

designation liberal arts does not refer to the arts as they are conceived today, but refers

to the Latin word liber, or free, referring to the education that a free man would have

received in the classical world. One who was privileged enough to receive this education

need not worry about the traditional economic education and could pursue a more

8 . Barbara Newman, ""Sibyl of the Rhine": Hildegard's Life and Times," in Voice of the Living
Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, ed. Barbara Newman (Berkeley (Calif.); Los Angeles
(Calif.); London: University of California press, 1998), 1-29., 6.
9 . Ibid., 6.
10. Ibid., 6.
 Sams 5

scholarly one. There were seven liberal arts in all: (1) grammar, (2) rhetoric, (3) logic,

(4) arithmetic, (5) geometry, (6) astronomy, and (7) music.11

Despite this disadvantage, Hildegard probably learned a great deal from Jutta. She

became a model of devotion, which Hildegard followed to a limited degree in her own

life. Following in Juttas footsteps, Hildegard took the sacred veil at a young age.

However, unlike Jutta, Hildegard favored a more moderate approach, never becoming an

anchoress herself.12 Rather, after Jutta died at the early age of forty-four, Hildegard was

elected by the nuns as their magistra. Although modern scholars typically refer to

Hildegard as an abbess, technically the Disibodenberg community was too informal to

retain an actual abbess. Therefore, Hildegard was officially referred to as magistra or

prioress. However, the duties she performed were essentially equal to that of an abbess

and her contemporaries, except those desiring to emphasize their own superior station,

typically used the title abbess when referring to Hildegard.13

Jutta was also a confidant for Hildegard and before her death Hildegard confided

in the anchoress that she had been having visions since infancy, which she could clearly

remember since she was three years old. One account of a vision she had when she was

only five years of age describes her looking at a pregnant cow and shocking her nurse

with an accurate description of the unborn calf.14 Modern readers have attempted to find

11 . Otto Willmann, "The Seven Liberal Arts," in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907), http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm (accessed 6 December
2010).
12 . Newman, Sister of Wisdom : St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 7.
13 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 54.
14 . Newman, Sister of Wisdom : St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 7-8.
 Sams 6

scientific or medical explanations for these visions, including suggestions that she was

suffering from acute migraines. According to Charles Singer, who is a historian of

science, the classical migraine aura can produce disturbances of the visual field

(scintillating scotomata) much like what Hildegard experienced in her visions of

shimmering lights, falling stars as well as the symptoms of illness she endured, such as

fleeting blindness and burdensome feeling of paralysis.15 While this diagnosis is

completely plausible, at least for her physical symptoms, they do not assist modern

readers understanding of how Hildegard or her contemporaries experienced her visions.

In the twelfth-century, people were comfortable with a long history of visionary

experience and even attempted to distinguish between several kinds of visions, such as

the imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual and valued visions of pure, imageless

contemplation as higher than physical visions.16

Most interesting about Hildegards visions is the fact that they defied

contemporary means of identification. In a letter that she wrote when she was seventy-

seven, Hildegard explains:

I do not hear them with my outward ears, nor do I perceive them by the thoughts

of my own heart or by any combination of my five senses, but in my soul alone,

while my outward eyes are open. So I have never fallen prey to ecstasy in the

visions, but I see them wide awake, day and night.

15 . Newman, "Sibyl of the Rhine": Hildegard's Life and Times, 1-29., 10.
16 . Barbara Newman, Voice of the Living Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World (Berkeley
(Calif.); Los Angeles (Calif.); London: University of California press, 1998)., 9.
 Sams 7

[] Now whatever I have seen or learned in this vision remains in my memory

for a long time, so that, when I have seen and heard it, I remember; and I see, hear,

and know all at once, as if in an instant I learn what I know [] And the words in

this vision are not like words uttered by the mouth of man, but like a shimmering

flame, or a cloud floating in a clear sky.17

This description of Hildegards visionary experience was atypical, and did not ever

become typical. Famed mystics Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe both experienced

their visions in a dream-like state, which they explored with their senses. Hildegard, on

the other hand, did not require periods of recluse to enter a visionary state, nor was she

plagued with difficulty remembering her experiences. Rather, she claimed that she

remembered her visions perfectly, explaining they were beyond the comprehension of

human senses, experienced only within her soul.

These visions often allowed Hildegard to foretell future events, but when, as a

child, she realized that she was unique in her ability, she hid it from her associates.

Explaining the moment of this realization, she recounts, Then I was seized with a great

fear and did not dare reveal this to anyone.18 One can imagine the fear and

embarrassment she must have experienced at this startling realization. These visions

were accompanied by acute illness, which was likely exacerbated by the anxiety she

experienced while attempting to keep her visions a secret.19 Jutta and Volmar, a monk

17 . Newman, Sister of Wisdom : St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine, 6-7.

18 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 55.
19 . Ibid., 55.
 Sams 8

that Hildegard had learned from and confided in, were Hildegards only associates aware

of her ability until she received a prophetic vision, demanding that she make the details of

her visions known, when she was forty-two years of age.20

Hildegard did not have this vision until after Jutta passed away and she had been

elected as the new abbess. This is not to say that Hildegard faked a vision. This was

certainly not the case; Hildegard was still so overwrought with worry about what she

knew she must do that she became seriously ill. Experiencing illness was not unusual for

her, or for other visionaries throughout medieval history. An illness, spurred by a

command to write about ones visions, was a reoccurring account for many female

visionaries, whose repressive society made them acutely aware of their own

inadequacies. The illness had a two-pronged affect: (1) punishment for failure to comply

with their mission, and (2) motivation to undertake their assignment, regardless of their

limitations and apprehensions.21

For Hildegard, the visionary admonition she received at forty-two was not the first

that had compelled her to accept her assignment as a prophet. When she was just twenty-

four years old, she received a vision, which she described as:

[] an extremely strong, sparkling, fiery light coming from the open heavens. It

pierced my brain, my heart and my breast through and through like a flame which

did not burn; however it warmed me. It heated me up very much like the sun

warms an object on which it is pouring out rays. And suddenly I had an insight

20 . Newman, Voice of the Living Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, 8.
21 . Ibid., 8.
 Sams 9

into the meaning and interpretation of psalter, the Gospel, and the other Catholic

writings of the Old and New Testaments, but not into the meaning of the sentence

structure and the hyphenation; also I had no understanding of the events of the

times.22

She had been given a gift of understanding the Holy Cannon, but that knowledge left her

anxious, not invigorated. Rather, as she admitted, it was her fear of people that kept her

from fulfilling her prophetic work.23

Even though Hildegard was certain that God had commissioned her, she remained

fearful and hesitated to begin writing. Some have suggested that she suffered from a lack

of self-esteem, since she repeatedly writes of her own inadequacy. While possible, it is

more likely that she hesitated out of fear for the repercussions from the Catholic Church.

At that time, they strictly adhered to Saint Pauls orders to the Corinthian Congregation

to let the woman keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak

and that it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.24 Therefore, Hildegard had

ample reason to fear the response of the church, who taught women to be humble and

quiet; to act otherwise would usually result in being compared with Eve, whose boldness

had been the down fall of Mankind.25

22 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 55.

23 . Ibid., 56.
24. 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35, American Standard Version.
25 . Ibid., 59.
 Sams 10

Yet, her vision at the age of forty-two finally compelled her to cast aside her fears

and begin her assignment. As she explains, something about this vision was different and

clarifying, finally compelling her to overcome her fears:

As I was gazing with great fear and trembling attention at a heavenly vision, I

saw a great splendor in which resounded a voice from Heaven saying to me,

O fragile human, ashes of ashes, and filth of filth! Say and write what you see

and hear. But since you are timid in speaking, and simple in expounding, and

untaught in writing, speak and write these things not by a human mouth, and not

by the understanding of human invention, and not by the requirements of human

composition, but as you see and hear them on high in the heavenly places in the

wonders of God. Explain these things in such a way that the hearer, may expound

them in those words, according to that will, vision and instruction []. 26

Finally in explicit terms Hildegard has been given a mission, one that has been looming

since she was a young girl, but that she only now fully comprehends. Although modern

readers may read this skeptically, noting that she finds clarity only after she has been

elected as abbess and finally has attained a position of power and autonomy, it is

important to note that this vision did not occur immediately after her appointment in

1136, but five years later in 1141.27

26 . Ibid., 60-1.
27 . Ibid.
 Sams 11

Before making this revelation to the public, particularly revealing herself to the

Catholic Church, Hildegard made sure she had taken certain precautionary measures that

would protect her from the accusations of heresy. She had already received the support

of the monk Volmar, who had become her personal scribe, advisor, and friend. However,

Hildegard sought more influential endorsement, so she wrote to the influential abbot of

Clairvaux, Saint Bernard. Bernard of Clairvaux enjoyed the favor of Pope Eugene III,

who had commissioned him to promote the Second Crusade, as well as the adulation of

the populace.28 Therefore, his endorsement would be a powerful protection against future

allegations of heresy.

By this point Hildegard no longer questioned what she must do. Rather, she

recognized the challenges of her commission and skillfully used her knowledge of her

contemporaries to aid her. In her letter to Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard belittled

herself as wretched and more than wretched in the name of a woman in comparison to

Bernard of Clairvaux, who she proclaimed was courageous, like an eagle gazing straight

into the sun.29 After successfully flattering him, she meekly sought his advice, which he

gladly bestowed, advising her to rejoice in the grace of God.30 From this point on

Hildegard continued her correspondence with Bernard of Clairvaux, continuing to

humbly seek his advice and favor. Hildegards keen understanding of the politics within

the church were rewarded less than a year later when the archbishop of Mains brought

28 . Newman, "Sibyl of the Rhine": Hildegard's Life and Times, 1-29., 10-11.
29 . Ibid., 11.
30 . Ibid., 11.
 Sams 12

forward concerns about Hildegards visions, perhaps with the hope of expanding his own

reputation.31

Hildegard, however, had already established a relationship with and secured the

approval of Bernard of Clairvaux. As a result, rather than being declared a heretic, when

Pope Eugene II investigated her visions by sending a Papal commission to retrieve her

writing, Bernard of Clairvaux readily testified in her behalf. In the end, the Pope not only

allowed her to continue her work, but taking them up with his own hands, he himself

read publicly in lieu of a recite before the archbishop, the cardinals, and all the clergy

who were present and stirred the minds and voices of all to rejoicing and praise of the

Creator.32 Hildegard had cleverly avoided being branded as a heretic, and instead had

received the ultimately earthly authorization for the Pope himself.

Hildegard did not need seek that authorization for her own validation, but rather to

avoid difficulty as she continued her work. She was very aware that the church doctrines

would not allow a woman to speak out as boldly as she was prepared to do, regardless of

her claims of divine visions, without the approval of the Pope. This, however, did not

keep her from speaking out once she was granted that authority. She repeatedly threatens

readers, invoking Gods displeasure if they were to alter or any way tamper with her

book:

As for anyone who rejects the mystical words of this book, I the Lord will stretch

forth my bow against him and pierce him with the arrows of my quiver, I will cast

31 . Ibid., 11.
32 . Ibid., 11.
 Sams 13

his crown from his head, and I will make him like those who fell upon Horeb

when they murmured against me. But as for anyone curses this prophecy, let that

curse which Isaac uttered come upon him.33

This warning, which was included in Scivias and is only one of many similar warnings,

demonstrates that Hildegard did not question her authority as a prophetic visionary and,

therefore, needed no authorization from the formal church.

This does not mean that her writing and rule over her abbey was without

opposition. She reports that people were frequently questioning her decisions; several of

her own nuns refused to follow her when she moved her order to the monastery at

Rupertsberg. Although there are no still-existing documents of these attacks, Hildegard

refers to them many times, recognizing that others are threatened by her traditionally

unacceptable behavior for a female. Revealing her contemporaries response to her work,

Hildegard said now, to the scandal of men, women are prophesying.34 Her tone is

clear; she is aware of their disapproval but she is not concerned with it. She knew that

she had been commissioned by God in her work and, therefore, she did not allow herself

to be troubled by the criticisms of others.

Her disregard for the approval of her contemporaries carried over into her

governance of her abbey. Technically, Hildegard reported to the Abbot Cuno, but she

quickly developed her own methods, which were contrary to popular practice. Among

33 . Barbara Newman, "Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation," Church History 54, no. 2
(Jun., 1985), pp. 163-175, http://libproxy.uta.edu:2055/stable/3167233., 171.
34 . Ibid., 171.
 Sams 14

other things, the nuns in her abbey did not behave or dress according to the strict rules of

Saint Benedict. 35 Due to her sudden fame, jealousies developed and made Hildegard an

even greater target. One of the canonesses at a nearby convent wrote a letter, attacking

Hildegard with a polite, but only slightly disguised malicious intent. Her flattery of

Hildegards nuns is followed by her direct accusation that we have, however, also heard

about certain strange and irregular practices that you countenance.36 These irregular

practices were Hildegards allowance of lavish garb for her nuns, who adorned

themselves as brides of Christ, with flowing hair, jewels and crowns.37 Such adornment

would have been frowned upon for most women, but particularly for nuns who were

supposed to follow the strict rule of Saint Benedict, which was feminized in the Rule for

Nuns and stated:

Let them have all their clothing in a simple and respectable colour there is

never to be anything covered or decorated with embroidery or needlework Let

not your apparel be notable, nor should you aspire to please in your clothing.38

Far from this description, the clothing of Hildegards nuns had attracted the attention of

neighboring canonesses!

For modern readers, this may seem a trivial matter to warrant any degree of

attention, but it is important to note that the vow of poverty was the defining

35 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 74-5.

36 . Ibid., 79.
37 . Ibid., 79.
38 . Ibid., 79-80.
 Sams 15

characteristic between a nun and a canoness.39 No wonder then, that it was a canoness

who enjoyed greater freedom of dress that was first insulted by, what was likely to her,

the nuns flouting of their vows of poverty. However, this attention traveled dangerously

far, to Hildegards former ally Bernard of Clairvaux, who joined in the attack, saying,

Soft clothing is a sign of moral flabbiness: the body would not be decked out with such

care had not neglected first left the soul unkempt of virtues.40

Hildegard is not derailed by these accusations, but rather responds to them in her

divinely inspired Liber vitae meritorum, where she sees virgins in paradise dressed in

gowns of purest gold and decked with precious jewels, wearing on their heads golden

crowns studded with gems and entwined with roses and lilies.41 Daring to challenge

male authority through her visionary work, Hildegard demonstrated that she had only

desired their authorization as a means of simplifying her work; not as validation of it.

She was an authority in her own right, because she had been put in her place by God.

As a prophet of God, Hildegard felt confident challenging popular concepts of theology,

such as the appropriate attire of nuns.

In addition to the visionary depictions of maidens exquisitely robed, she directly

answered the charges against her. She argued that the rules of dress requiring women to

dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate

hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes was admonition for married women and

39. David Dunford, "Canoness," in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1907), http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm (accessed 6 December 2010)..
40 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 80.
41 . Ibid., 80.
 Sams 16

not virgins.42 Her reasoning, which was mostly unsupported scripturally, was that virgins

were still as Eve before her fall and did not need to comply with scriptural instruction for

married women, who had already been tricked by the serpent.43 This conflict continued

throughout Hildegards life, and even at seventy-seven years of age she was being

criticized for her stance on the appropriate adornment for maidens.

Still determined to demonstrate her prophetic authority, Hildegard countered her

opponents by explaining:

I saw that all the orders of the church have distinct emblems according to their

celestial brightness, but that virginity has no such distinguishing emblem save the

black veil and the sign of the cross. And I saw that a white veil to cover a virgins

head was to be the proper emblem of virginity. For the veil stands for the white

garment which man once had, but subsequently lost, in Paradise. Furthermore,

upon the virgins head is to be set a circlet of three colours joined into one. For

this circlet stands for the Holy Trinity. To this circlet four others are to be joined:

in the front bearing the Lamb of God; the right, a cherubim; the left, an angel; and

the one behind, man. For all of these are pendants of the Trinity. This sign given

by God will bless God, for He once clothed the first man in the whiteness of light.

All of this is fully described in Scivias, as well as other volumes, according to true

vision, and I continue my writing up to the present day.44

42 . 1 Timothy 2:9, New International Version.

43 . Ibid., 82.
44 . Ibid., 83.
 Sams 17

In this response is ample evidence of Hildegards disregard for any authority other than

that granted to her by God. She does not hesitate to fully detail the appropriate dress for

virgins, even dictating the doctrine that surrounding each feature of the virginal crown.

Rather than citing scripture or another priestly authority to support her claims, she cites

her own book Scrivas and all other records of her visions. She is Gods prophet and

needs cite no other source than herself.

Hildegard took this same position throughout her life, using her own visions as an

authority against popular theology. At times, such as with the controversy over

appropriate attire for nuns, this led to heated disagreements that potentially threatened her

position. The most trying struggle occurred during Hildegards last year, when a battle

erupted over the burial of a noble man in Rupertsbergs cemetery. The clergy of Mainz

confronted Hildegard, claiming that this man had been excommunicated and, therefore,

could not be buried on sacred ground. They demanded that Hildegard have his body

interred and commanded that her nuns were forbidden to celebrate Mass or receive

sacrament until the body was removed.45 Hildegard refused, stating that the man had be

reunited with the church, even receiving the final sacraments before his death.46

When a sentence of interdict (i.e., prohibition) was placed on her convent and

confirmed by the Bishop, Hildegard did not yield or recognize the clerics of Mainz or the

45 . Ibid., 244.
46 . Francis Mershman, "St. Hildegard," in The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 1 (New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907), http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm (accessed 6 December
2010)..
 Sams 18

Bishop as superior authorities.47 Rather, she once again turned to her own authority as a

prophetess, recounting her vision:

By a vision which was implanted in my soul by God, the Great Artisan, before I

was born, I have been compelled to write these things because of the interdict by

which our superiors have bound us, on account of a certain dead man buried at our

monastery, a man buried without any objection, with his own priest officiating.

Yet only a few days after his burial, these men ordered us to remove him from our

cemetery. Seized by no small terror, as a result, I looked as usual to the True

Light, and with wakeful eyes, I saw in my spirit that if this man were disinterred in

accordance with their commands, a terrible and lamentable danger would come

upon us like a dark cloud before a threatening storm.48

Hildegard not only resolutely refuses to listen to the orders of her so-called superiors,

but she warns them that to act against her would have catastrophic results. It is

noteworthy that, once again, Hildegard need only call upon her visions as an authority for

her severe pronouncements.

As this particular account reveals, Hildegard emphasized her ability to call upon

the visions at will. They were not merely experiences; they were a direct connection to

God that she could utilize in her hour of need for guidance from above. Rather than

continue battling Hildegard, who was revered throughout Christendom, the Archbishop

47 . Ibid..
48 . Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 245.
 Sams 19

lifted the interdict. In his letter of apology, he does reprove her actions as hasty, saying

that she should have waited for definitive proof based on the suitable testimony of good

men in the presence of the Church.49 Despite the reprimand, rather than requiring her to

acknowledge their authority, the church ultimately bowed to her authority,

acknowledging that these obvious signs of your holy life and such amazing testimonies

to the truth oblige us to obey your commands and to pay especial head to your

entreaties.50 Clearly, Hildegards authority stood on its own, even when it was in

opposition to the church.

While many male authorities publicly disagreed with her repeatedly throughout

her years, none claimed so much authority over her that they dared remove her. Rather,

throughout her remaining years both locals and foreigners continued to turn to her for

spiritual counsel and guidance, even members of the male laity.51 During her lifetime she

was greatly revered and in death she is commonly referred to as a saint. Although no

official canonization has ever been concluded, a process of information was ordered, first

by Pope Gregory IX (1227 -1241) and then in succession by Pope Innocent IV (1243

1254), Pope Clement V (1305 1314), and Pope John XXII (1316 1334).52 Hildegard

is also celebrated in the traditional manners of saints, including the inclusion of her name

49 . Ibid., 247.
50 . Ibid., 246.
51. Mershman, St. Hildegard.
52 . Ibid..
 Sams 20

in the Roman Matyrology and the celebration of a feast day in her honor in several

Dioceses.53

Both to her contemporaries and subsequent generations, Hildegard has

successfully gained the admiration and veneration of faithful patrons of the Catholic

Church. Despite her contemporaries traditional, misogynistic treatment of females, she

was able to act autonomously, using her visions as her only true authority. Her early

attempts to receive authorization from the church were successful, but were only a

demonstration of her understanding of the hierarchical system that she needed to work

within. As she demonstrated in succeeding years, her claims of feminine inadequacy

were not representations of her true feelings. Rather, she was an autonomous woman

who believed in feminine authority, as best summed up in her own words:

O, woman, what a splendid thing you are! For you have set your foundation in

the sun, and have conquered the world.54

53 . Ibid..
54. Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age, 82.
 Sams 21

Bibliography

Dunford, David. "Canoness." In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1907, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm (accessed 6
December 2010).

Lerman, Kristina. "The Life and Works of Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179)."
Fordham University. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html (accessed
December 4, 2010).

Maddocks, Fiona. Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age. New York: Doubleday,
2001.

Mershman, Francis. "St. Hildegard." In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1907, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm
(accessed 6 December 2010).

Newman, Barbara. ""Sibyl of the Rhine": Hildegard's Life and Times." In Voice of the
Living Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World, edited by Barbara Newman, 1-29.
Berkeley (Calif.); Los Angeles (Calif.); London: University of California press, 1998.

. "Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation." Church History 54, no. 2 (Jun.,
1985): pp. 163-175, http://libproxy.uta.edu:2055/stable/3167233.

. Sister of Wisdom : St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1987.

. Voice of the Living Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Berkeley
(Calif.); Los Angeles (Calif.); London: University of California press, 1998.

Willmann, Otto. "The Seven Liberal Arts." In The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907,
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm (accessed 6 December 2010).