German mystic
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- National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Visions of Hildegard of Bingen
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- Ancient Origins - Saint Hildegard of Bingen – Visionary, Mystic, Writer, and Composer
- Catholic Online - St. Hildegard of Bingen
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- Eternal Word Television Network - St Hildegard of Bingen
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While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
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External Websites
- National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - The Visions of Hildegard of Bingen
- Famous Philosophers - Biography of Hildegard Of Bingen
- World History Encyclopedia - Hildegard of Bingen
- Hektoen International - Body and soul, balance and the Sibyl of the Rhine: the life and medicine of Saint Hildegard of Bingen
- University of Notre Dame - FaithND - St. Hildegard of Bingen
- Brooklyn Museum - Hildegarde of Bingen
- Ancient Origins - Saint Hildegard of Bingen – Visionary, Mystic, Writer, and Composer
- Catholic Online - St. Hildegard of Bingen
- She Thought It - Hildegard of Bingen
- Eternal Word Television Network - St Hildegard of Bingen
Also known as: Hildegard of Bingen, Hildegard von Bingen, Sibyl of the Rhine
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St. Hildegard
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- Also called:
- Hildegard of Bingen or Hildegard von Bingen
- Byname:
- Sibyl of the Rhine
- Born:
- 1098, Böckelheim, West Franconia [Germany]
- Died:
- September 17, 1179, Rupertsberg, near Bingen (aged 81)
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Top Questions
Who is St. Hildegard?
Who is St. Hildegard?
St. Hildegard was a Benedictine abbess, writer, poet, and composer who lived in 12th-century Germany. She had numerous prophetic and mystical visions during her life and is said to have been a miracle worker.
What was St. Hildegard’s childhood like?
What was St. Hildegard’s childhood like?
Why is St. Hildegard famous?
Why is St. Hildegard famous?
St. Hildegard is one of the few prominent women inmedievalchurch history. In fact, she is one of only four women who were named a doctor of the church, meaning that her doctrinal writings have special authority in Roman Catholicism. She is considered by many to be a patron saint of musicians and writers.
St. Hildegard (born 1098, Böckelheim, West Franconia [Germany]—died September 17, 1179, Rupertsberg, near Bingen; canonized May 10, 2012; feast day September 17) was a German abbess, visionary mystic, and composer.
Hildegard was born of noble parents and was educated at the Benedictine cloister of Disibodenberg by Jutta, an anchorite (religious recluse) and sister of the count of Spanheim. Hildegard was 15 years old when she began wearing the Benedictine habit and pursuing a religious life. She succeeded Jutta as prioress in 1136. Having experienced visions since she was a child, at age 43 she consulted her confessor, who in turn reported the matter to the archbishop of Mainz. A committee of theologians subsequently confirmed the authenticity of Hildegard’s visions, and a monk was appointed to help her record them in writing. The finished work, Scivias (1141–52), consists of 26 visions that are prophetic and apocalyptic in form and in their treatment of such topics as the church, the relationship between God and humanity, and redemption. About 1147 Hildegard left Disibodenberg with several nuns to found a new convent at Rupertsberg, where she continued to exercise the gift of prophecy and to record her visions in writing.
A talented poet and composer, Hildegard collected 77 of her lyric poems, each with a musical setting composed by her, in Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum. Her numerous other writings included lives of saints; two treatises on medicine and natural history, reflecting a quality of scientific observation rare at that period; and extensive correspondence, in which are to be found further prophecies and allegorical treatises. She also for amusem*nt contrived her own language. She traveled widely throughout Germany, evangelizing to large groups of people about her visions and religious insights.
Her earliest biographer proclaimed her a saint, and miracles were reported during her life and at her tomb. However, she was not formally canonized until 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI declared her to be a saint through the process of “equivalent canonization,” a papal proclamation of canonization based on a standing tradition of popular veneration. Later that year Benedict proclaimed Hildegard a doctor of the church, one of only four women to have been so named. She is considered a patron saint of musicians and writers.
As one of the few prominent women in medieval church history, Hildegard became the subject of increasing interest in the latter half of the 20th century. Her writings were widely translated into English; several recordings of her music were made available; and works of fiction, including Barbara Lachman’s The Journal of Hildegard of Bingen (1993) and Joan Ohanneson’s Scarlet Music: A Life of Hildegard of Bingen (1997), were published.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.