Hildegard Of Bingen Research Paper

Alyssa Waldon

HRS 155

Professor Jaoudi

March 9, 2016

Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen was a Benedictine nun and abbess during the twelfth century.

Hildegard was born in 1098 C.E. in Bemersheim Germany. She lived in Nahe Valley for most of her life. She died at the age of eighty-one in 1179 C.E. She was a known for being a writer, philosopher, a mystic, a saint, a musician, and so much more. She was a very kind woman who would tend to the sick and bring them herbs to make them feel better. She contributed to the intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic aspects of consciousness through her writings, philosophies, spiritual visions, and music. She wanted to bring balance and harmony to our consciousness.

During the Middle Ages majority of

Luckily, Hildegard was raised by an educated noblewoman named Jutta. Jutta, also known as her religious trainer, taught her Latin, scriptures, and other religious practices.

Hildegard became quite the intellectual. She was also educated by a priest named Volmar. So even though Hildegard was technically considered uneducated she was well-schooled thanks to

Jutta and Volmar. After Jutta died Hildegard became the leader of their community. The pope ended up writing to Hildegard instructing her to write. So that is what she did. When she was forty- three years old she became a writer. She wrote nine books, and she even produced a play.

Her main idea in majority of her writings was that all things refer, and or are related to God.

Many of her writings were based around nature and the environment. Hildegard discusses human intellect in her composition Canticles of Estasy. In that composition she states that human intellect is very powerful when it comes to God because God is everywhere, and no obstacle can stand against the power of God. Hildegard is a very intelligent woman who has also been known as the first German natural scientist and physician.

Hildegard was known as a nature mystic. She understood nature well because of

There was a song that she composed called Mystical Marriage that she produced, and it was used mystically as the song of mystical marriage. An incident occurred while Hildegard was the leader of the community or also known as an abbess. Somebody died and made a confession on his death bed and there wasn’t a priest around so Hildegard she performed the last rights over this mans body. After that the church tried her for it ,and she was supposed to have been burned at the stake. Luckily, she had people who depended on her and shared her beliefs. So instead the church decided that her punishment would be to take away all the music from nuns for three years. So they were not allowed to sing or play any of her music. Since Hildegard believe that music brought people closer to God then without music people would be unable to communicate with God.

Hildegard of Bingen is an important historical figure when it comes to the topic of mysticism. She was a remarkable woman who had many contributions. She loved people and the world. She believed everyone is sacred and has value. Everyone has a purpose in life. Even after her death her writings, philosophies, visions, and music has lived on. She was very prominent