Editing Hildegard of Bingen (section)

==Biography==

Hildegard was born around 1098. Her parents were Mechtild of Merxheim-Nahet and Hildebert of Bermersheim, a family of the free lower nobility in the service of the Count Meginhard of [[County of Sponheim|Sponheim]].<ref>''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), 40; Maddocks, Fiona. ''Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age'' (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 9.</ref> Sickly from birth, Hildegard is traditionally considered their youngest and tenth child,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gies |first1=Frances |url=https://archive.org/details/womeninmiddleag000gies/page/63 |title=Women in the Middle Ages |last2=Gies |first2=Joseph |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-06-464037-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/womeninmiddleag000gies/page/63 63] |url-access=registration}}</ref> although there are records of only seven older siblings.<ref>''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), pp. 278–79.</ref><ref>Fiona Bowie, Oliver Davies. ''Hildegard of Bingen: An Anthology''. SPCK 1990. Some sources note younger siblings, specifically Bruno.</ref> In her {{lang|la|[[Hagiography|Vita]]}}, Hildegard states that from a very young age she experienced [[vision (religion)|visions]].<ref name="Ruether, Rosemary Radford 2002">''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), p. 138; Ruether, Rosemary Radford. ''Visionary Women'' (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002), p. 7.</ref>

===Spirituality===
From early childhood, long before she undertook her public mission or even her monastic vows, Hildegard's spiritual awareness was grounded in what she called the {{lang|la|umbra viventis lucis}}, the reflection of the living Light. Her letter to [[Guibert of Gembloux]], which she wrote at the age of 77, describes her experience of this light:

{{blockquote|From my early childhood, before my bones, nerves, and veins were fully strengthened, I have always seen this vision in my soul, even to the present time when I am more than seventy years old. In this vision, my soul, as God would have it, rises up high into the vault of heaven and into the changing sky and spreads itself out among different peoples, although they are far away from me in distant lands and places. And because I see them this way in my soul, I observe them in accord with the shifting of clouds and other created things. 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. And I am constantly fettered by sickness, and often in the grip of pain so intense that it threatens to kill me, but God has sustained me until now. The light which I see thus is not spatial, but it is far, far brighter than a cloud which carries the sun. I can measure neither height, nor length, nor breadth in it; and I call it "the reflection of the living Light." And as the sun, the moon, and the stars appear in water, so writings, sermons, virtues, and certain human actions take form for me and gleam.<ref>Newman, Barbara. "Hildegard of Bingen: Visions and Validation." ''Church History'' 54, no. 2 (1985): 163–75.</ref>}}

===Monastic life===
Perhaps because of Hildegard's visions or as a method of political positioning, or both, Hildegard's parents offered her as an [[oblate]] to the [[Order of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] monastery at [[Disibodenberg]], which had been recently reformed in the [[Palatinate Forest]]. The date of Hildegard's [[Enclosed religious orders|enclosure]] at the monastery is the subject of debate. Her {{lang|la|[[Hagiography|Vita]]}} says she was eight years old when she was professed with [[Jutta von Sponheim|Jutta]], who was the daughter of Count [[Stephen II, Count of Sponheim|Stephan II of Sponheim]] and about six years older than Hildegard.<ref>''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), p. 139.</ref> Jutta's date of enclosure is known to have been in 1112, when Hildegard would have been 14.<ref>''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), pp. 52–55, 69; and John Van Engen, "Abbess: 'Mother and Teacher', in Barbara Newman, ed., ''Voice of the Living Light'' (California: University of California Press, 1998), pp. 30–51, at pp. 32–33.</ref> Their vows were received by Bishop [[Otto of Bamberg]] on All Saints Day 1112. Some scholars speculate that Hildegard was placed in the care of Jutta at the age of eight, and that the two of them were then enclosed together six years later.<ref>Michael McGrade, "Hildegard von Bingen", in ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: allgemeine Enzyklopaldie der Musik,'' 2nd edition, T.2, Vol. 8, ed. Ludwig Fischer (Kassel and New York: Bahrenreiter, 1994).</ref>

In any case, Hildegard and Jutta were enclosed together at Disibodenberg and formed the core of a growing community of women attached to the monastery of monks, named a ''Frauenklause,'' a type of female hermitage. Jutta was also a visionary and thus attracted many followers who came to visit her at the monastery. Hildegard states that Jutta taught her to read and write, but that she was unlearned, and therefore incapable of teaching Hildegard sound Biblical interpretation.<ref>Ruether, Rosemary Radford. ''Visionary Women'' (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002), p. 6.</ref> The written record of the ''Life of Jutta'' indicates that Hildegard probably assisted her in reciting the psalms, working in the garden, other handiwork, and tending to the sick.<ref>''Jutta & Hildegard: The Biographical Sources'', trans. Anna Silvas (Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999), pp. 70–73; Reed-Jones, Carol. ''Hildegard of Bingen: Women of Vision'' (Washington: Paper Crane Press, 2004), p. 8.</ref> This might have been a time when Hildegard learned how to play the ten-stringed [[psaltery]]. [[Volmar (monk)|Volmar]], a frequent visitor, may have taught Hildegard simple psalm notation. The time she studied music could have been the beginning of the compositions she would later create.<ref>Reed-Jones, Carol. ''Hildegard of Bingen: Women of Vision'' (Washington: Paper Crane Press, 2004), p. 6.</ref>

Upon Jutta's death in 1136, Hildegard was unanimously elected as {{lang|la|magistra}} of the community by her fellow nuns.<ref>Furlong, Monica. ''Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics'' (Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1996), p. 84.</ref> Abbot Kuno of Disibodenberg asked Hildegard to be [[prioress]], which would be under his authority. Hildegard wanted more independence for herself and her nuns and asked Abbot Kuno to allow them to move to [[Rupertsberg]].<ref>Furlong, Monica. ''Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics'' (Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1996), p. 85.</ref> This was to be a move toward poverty, from a stone complex that was well established to a temporary dwelling place. When the abbot declined Hildegard's proposition, Hildegard went over his head and received the approval of [[Archbishop Henry I of Mainz]]. Abbot Kuno did not relent, however, until Hildegard was stricken by an illness that rendered her paralyzed and unable to move from her bed, an event that she attributed to God's unhappiness at her not following his orders to move her nuns to Rupertsberg. It was only when the Abbot himself could not move Hildegard that he decided to grant the nuns their own monastery.<ref>McGrade, "Hildegard", ''MGG''.</ref> Hildegard and approximately 20 nuns thus moved to the St. Rupertsberg monastery in 1150, where [[Volmar (monk)|Volmar]] served as provost, as well as Hildegard's confessor and scribe. In 1165, Hildegard founded a second monastery for her nuns at [[St. Hildegard, Eibingen|Eibingen]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in art and music |url=https://wam.rutgers.edu/profiles/hildegard-of-bingen-an-interview-with-dr-margot-fassler/ |website=rutgers.edu}}</ref>

Before Hildegard's death in 1179, a problem arose with the clergy of Mainz: a man buried in Rupertsberg had died after excommunication from the Catholic Church. Therefore, the clergy wanted to remove his body from the sacred ground. Hildegard did not accept this idea, replying that it was a sin and that the man had been reconciled to the church at the time of his death.<ref>Flanagan, Sabina. ''Hildegard of Bingen, 1098–1179: a visionary life'' (London: Routledge, 1989), p. 11.</ref>

===Visions===

Hildegard said that she first saw "The Shade of the Living Light" at the age of three, and by the age of five, she began to understand that she was experiencing visions.<ref>Underhill, Evelyn. ''Mystics of the Church'' (Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing, 1925), p. 77.</ref> She used the term {{lang|la|visio}} (Latin for 'vision') to describe this feature of her experience and she recognized that it was a gift that she could not explain to others. Hildegard explained that she saw all things in the light of God through the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.<ref>Schipperges, Heinrich. ''Hildegard of Bingen: Healing and the Nature of the Cosmos'' (New Jersey: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997), p. 10.</ref> Hildegard was hesitant to share her visions, confiding only to [[Jutta von Sponheim|Jutta]], who in turn told Volmar, Hildegard's tutor and, later, secretary.<ref>Maddocks, Fiona. ''Hildegard of Bingen: The Woman of Her Age'' (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 55.</ref> Throughout her life, she continued to have many visions, and in 1141, at the age of 42, Hildegard received a vision she believed to be an instruction from God, to "write down that which you see and hear."<ref>Ruether, Rosemary Radford. ''Visionary Women'' (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002), p. 8.</ref> Still hesitant to record her visions, Hildegard became physically ill. The illustrations recorded in the book of {{lang|la|Scivias}} were visions that Hildegard experienced, causing her great suffering and tribulations.<ref>Underhill, Evelyn. ''Mystics of the Church'' (Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing, 1925), pp. 78–79.</ref> In her first theological text, {{lang|la|[[Scivias]]}} ("Know the Ways"), Hildegard describes her struggle within:

{{blockquote|But I, though I saw and heard these things, refused to write for a long time through doubt and bad opinion and the diversity of human words, not with stubbornness but in the exercise of humility, until, laid low by the scourge of God, I fell upon a bed of sickness; then, compelled at last by many illnesses, and by the witness of a certain noble maiden of good conduct [the nun [[Richardis von Stade]]] and of that man whom I had secretly sought and found, as mentioned above, I set my hand to the writing. While I was doing it, I sensed, as I mentioned before, the deep profundity of scriptural exposition; and, raising myself from illness by the strength I received, I brought this work to a close – though just barely – in ten years.{{nbsp}}[...] And I spoke and wrote these things not by the invention of my heart or that of any other person, but as by the secret mysteries of God I heard and received them in the heavenly places. And again I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, 'Cry out, therefore, and write thus!'|Hildegard von Bingen, {{lang|la|Scivias}}, translated by Columba Hart and Jane Bishop, 1990<ref>Hildegard von Bingen, ''Scivias'', translated by Columba Hart and Jane Bishop with an Introduction by Barbara J. Newman, and Preface by Caroline Walker Bynum (New York: Paulist Press, 1990), pp. 60–61.</ref>}}

It was between November 1147 and February 1148 at the synod in Trier that [[Pope Eugene III|Pope Eugenius]] heard about Hildegard's writings. It was from this that she received Papal approval to document her visions as revelations from the Holy Spirit, giving her instant credence.<ref name="ReferenceA">Oliveira, Plinio Correa de. "St. Hildegard Von Bingen, 17 September". St. Hildegard von Bingen, Saint of 17 September.</ref>

On 17 September 1179, when Hildegard died, her sisters claimed they saw two streams of light appear in the skies and cross over the room where she was dying.<ref name="Madigan, Shawn 1998" />

=== {{lang|la|Vita Sanctae Hildegardis}} ===

Hildegard's [[hagiography]], {{lang|la|Vita Sanctae Hildegardis}}, was compiled by the monk Theoderic of Echternach after Hildegard's death.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silvas |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_WL9R92dF4C |title=Jutta and Hildegard: The Biographical Sources |date=1998 |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-01954-3 |location=University Park, PA |page=120 |access-date=28 October 2014}}</ref> He included the hagiographical work {{lang|la|Libellus}}, or "Little Book", begun by Godfrey of Disibodenberg.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silvas |first=Anna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_WL9R92dF4C |title=Jutta and Hildegard: The Biographical Sources |date=1998 |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-01954-3 |location=University Park, PA |page=122 |access-date=28 October 2014}}</ref> Godfrey had died before he was able to complete his work. Guibert of Gembloux was invited to finish the work; however, he had to return to his monastery with the project unfinished.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coakley |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/womenmenspiritua00coak |title=Women, Men, and Spiritual Power: Female Saints and Their Male Collaborators |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-231-13400-2 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womenmenspiritua00coak/page/n57 45]–67 |chapter=A Shared Endeavor? Guibert of Gembloux on Hildegard of Bingen |url-access=limited}}</ref> Theoderic utilized sources Guibert had left behind to complete the {{lang|la|Vita}}.