Hildegard von Bingen (1098 to 1179)

After the death of the cloistered nun Jutta von Sponheim, Hildegard was elected spiritual mother of the nunnery at the age of 38. She was a woman of prayer and so she received many visions and documented them. This resulted in a body of writing that is unparalleled in the European history of the High Middle Ages and even surpassed the men of her time. Her first work: "SCIVIAS" (Know the Ways) describes her vision of creation and the redemption of the world.  

The Benedictine Hildegard explained her visions as a sudden knowledge of the contents of the Holy Scriptures. Thus, according to her visions, the deeper secrets of the divine scriptures were revealed to her. She attached great importance to the fact that the visions did not come over her in an ecstasy, but always in her right mind.

In the run-up to the papal synod of Trier in 1147/1148, papal commissions had examined and confirmed Hildegard of Bingen's gift of sight. As a consequence, Pope Eugene the Third officially recognised the gift of sight by reading from her work SCIVIA and encouraging her to continue her work. This confirmation from the highest ecclesiastical authority made Hildegard known far beyond her region.

Hildegard von Bingen founded the Rupertsberg monastery near Bingen in 1150. The community in the monastery grew over the years and she became very well known in the area. Many people came to her for pastoral advice and help. She maintained an extensive correspondence with important contemporaries from politics and the church. These included: Popes Eugene III, Anastasius IV, Hadrian IV, and Alexander III, the Archbishops of Cologne, Salzburg, Trier and Mainz, as well as the Emperor Barbarossa, King Henry II of England, King Conrad III, the Countess of Sulzbach and Empress of Byzantium, and numerous other dukes, abbots and priests.

But she also addressed the common people in written form to advise and support them. Thus she came to be known as the "Rhenish Sibyl", the ambassador of God. Her songs also offer a rich visionary perspective.

The seeress Hildegard's view of the world and of humanity is determined by the natural forces of the cosmos down to the most concrete details. Her fundamental joy in being goes hand in hand with her existential participation in all illnesses and the sick.

At the height of her creative powers, the following works were written:

- PHYSICA (Healing Power of Nature) and CAUSAE ET CURAE (Causes and Treatments of Diseases - Healing Knowledge).

- LIBER VITAE MERITORUM (Book of the Merits of Life)

- Also during these three years, Hildegard undertook three missionary and preaching journeys to Franconia, Lorraine and the Rhineland.

In 1163, the "Rhenish Sibyl" began writing her last important work, LIBER DIVINORUM OPERUM (The Book of Divine Works), concerning her visions.  

In about 1165 she took over the monastery of Eibingen near Rüdesheim. In 1170 she undertook a fourth missionary and preaching journey to Swabia. She supported the abbots of Maulbronn, Hirsau and Zwiefalten with her advice.

Hildegard died at the age of 81 (17.09.1179) on the Rupertsberg near Bingen. The "Vita" of Hildegard of Bingen states that God had told her of her own death in a vision. She then also communicated this to the nuns in the convent. It was reported that after her death a bright light shone over her grave for days. Afterwards, many miraculous healings took place at her grave, which is why people came en masse to ask for healing. This caused a lot of unrest in the tranquil life of the monastery and it became too much for the clergy. So the Bishop of Mainz was summoned and came to Hildegard's grave. There he forbade her to work any more miracles. The deceased obeyed beyond her death and so there were no more healing miracles. Hildegard was a woman who strictly followed the rules of the spiritual leaders during her lifetime.