Altogether Hildegard wrote 77 songs, of which there are 43 antiphons, 18 responsories (i.e. songs which ‘respond’ to the readings in the church service), six sequences (longer pieces inserted into the liturgy of the mass), four hymns, three hymn-like songs, one kyrie, one alleluia, and one opera. The latter piece, known by its title Play of the Virtues, is unique for its time in being a kind of sung Morality play on the theme of the Soul as she is aided by the Virtues to return to the Church – despite the machinations of the devil, a character who cannot sing, but only makes noises.
The songs were collected together in 1158 in her work the Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations, a title which is characteristic of Hildegard’s views on music.
In 1146 Hildegard wrote to Bernard of Clairvaux appealing to him to judge whether she was afflicted by spiritual pride.
“By the brightness of the Father, by his wonderful Word, by the sacred sound through which all creation resounds, by the Word from which all the world was created, by the height of the Father who through the sweet power of green vigour sent the Word to the Virgin’s womb where it took on flesh like the honey in the honeycomb’.
For Hildegard, ‘greenness’ means the force which gives life to the body and renewal in nature; in a religious sense it signifies both the power of the Spirit at work in the world and the moral force that gives life and fruitfulness to human actions.
For the first forty-two years of her life Hildegard led a sheltered existence, much of it within the walls of a monastery. Born at Bermersheim in 1098 into a well-established noble family, she was given to the monastic life as a young child; according to Guibert’s Life of Hildegard her parents felt a need to offer their tenth and youngest child as a ‘tithe’, to be presented to the Church in dedication.
According to Theoderich’s Life of Hildegard, she was aged eight at the time, and she was put into the care of the pious Countess Jutta von Spondheim.
The Cistercians
The period in which Hildegard lived was a time of great renewal, often referred to as the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. One driving force was the new monastic order of the Cistercians, an offshoot of the Benedictine Order, who called for a return to the basics of the Benedictine Rule, including simplicity of worship (in contrast to the elaborate rituals of the established Cluniac monasteries), and manual labour; they also emphasized the role of meditation and reading. The most important personality of Cistercian monasticism was clearly Bernard of Clairvaux, who taught the future Pope Eugenius III. Bernard’s writings, mostly spiritual and contemplative, were extremely influential in the period, and his political influence was immense. Here, to give a brief example, is an admonition from his On Consideration, a series of reflections on government which he addressed to Pope Eugenius III:
“See where your accursed occupations are bound to drag you if you carry on as you have begun, that is to say, giving yourself wholly to them and saving nothing of yourself for you. You are wasting time and, if I may play Jethro to your Moses, you, like him, are wearing yourself out in foolish labour over things which are nothing but an affliction of spirit, the dissipation of your mental energies and an expense of grace. And what does it yield you in the end but cobwebs?”
On a humorous note, Bernard could also write a satirical view of a wealthy Cluniac abbot travelling round the country in a grand style with all his rich household goods and ‘sixty or more horses in his train’. Another note is sounded in his advice in a letter to Oger, canon of Mont-Saint-Éloui:
“Let us rest our brains from composition, our lips from speaking, our hands from writing and our messengers from scurrying back and forth, but let our minds never rest from meditating day and night on the law of the Lord, which is the law of love.”
In Hildegard’s first securely datable piece of writing, the letter to Bernard of 1146, we have a case of a writer seeking reassurance for unpublished literary work that was already highly developed. It is a curious mixture of doubt and insecurity blended with a confident style. A similar effect is given in another early letter, her first to Pope Eugenius III, probably written shortly after the Synod of Trier. To explain her complex feelings, Hildegard made use of an image of a feather lifted up on the wind:
“A strong king sat in his hall, high pillars before him covered in gold bands and adorned with pearls and precious stones. And the king chose to touch a tiny feather, so that it soared up marvellously, and a strong wind bore it up so that it did not fall.”
The image derives partly from the courtly world of the German aristocracy to which Hildegard belonged and partly from the Bible and the monastic liturgy with which she had been familiar all her life. The same fable or parable occurs in the letter to Odo of Soissons, here with an exegesis of its symbolic meaning:
“Listen now: a king sat on his throne, high pillars before him splendidly adorned and set on pediments of ivory. They showed the king’s vestments in great honour everywhere. Then the king chose to lift a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly just as the king himself wished. But a feather does not fly of its own accord; it is borne up by the air. So too I am not imbued with human doctrine or strong powers. Nor do I desire good bodily health. Rather, I depend entirely on God’s help.”
Hildegard herself is the feather and she derives her support from the air that bears her up; in short, the air is the divine strength on which she draws and the breath of inspiration which she needs for her writing and teaching.
Having achieved a secure position, Hildegard felt able to tell selected friends about her visionary experiences and creative abilities. Encouraged by her friend the monk Volmar, schoolmaster of the monastery, she began in 1141 to put her ‘vision’ into writing. Work continued until the eventful synod of 1147–8, when, prompted by Kuno, the abbot of Disibodenberg, and supported by Heinrich, the archbishop in the local diocese of Mainz, she presented it for papal approval.
From this point on Hildegard’s life was transformed as she assumed the active role of author, preacher, counsellor and (to use a modern term) a form of therapist.
Soon after the Synod of Trier, her outer circumstances changed. In about 1150, as she was completing Scivias, she abandoned the monks at Disibodenberg and set up her own foundation at Rupertsberg.
Twelfth-century humanists
The cathedral schools placed considerable emphasis on the liberal arts and sciences of classical antiquity, particularly those of Rome; works of Greek origin also came to be known in Latin translation, including works on physics by Aristotle and on astronomy by Ptolemy. New scientific and medical knowledge from the Arab world also made its way into Europe through the experience of the Crusades. Typical classical humanists of the period are John of Salisbury, who studied under Bernard of Chartres, and Gerald of Wales, who studied in Paris from 1165 to 1174.
For much of his career, John of Salisbury acted as secretary to Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry II, King of England, and had contacts with Pope Eugenius III. A letter of 1167, written around the time when the imperial army under Frederick Barbarossa had invaded Italy and taken Rome, is interesting for its mention of Hildegard and her remarkable prophetic writings.
Scivias
John has heard of a book, which he would like to consult; but this is an age of manuscripts, when books were published by the slow process of sending them to scribes to be carefully copied. So he asks his correspondent, Master Gerard Pucelle, to look through the book while he is abroad to see what he can find:
‘If you do not come on anything else not available to our folk, at least the visions and prophecies of the blessed and most famous Hildegard are available to you. I hold her in commendation and reverence since Pope Eugenius cherished her with an intimate bond of affection. Look carefully too and let me know whether anything was revealed to her at the end of this schism.”
In the Scivias the feudal and courtly images of king and retainer, lord and servant, are particularly striking, often blended with material from biblical parables, as in this stern parable about the magic arts:
“A lord, who had many servants under him, issued each of the servants with weapons and said, ‘Prove yourselves worthy and useful. Cast away from you all slackness and indolence.’ But when they were travelling with him on a journey, the servants saw a magician – a false illusionist – at the side of the road. Deceived, some of them said, ‘Let us learn this man’s tricks!’ And they threw away the weapons they had with them and ran to him. The others said to them, ‘What are you doing, following this illusionist and provoking our lord’s anger?’ And they replied, ‘How does it harm our lord?’
But their lord said to them, ‘You wicked servants! Why did you throw away the weapons I gave you? And why do you prefer to love vanity rather than serving me your lord, whose servants you are? Follow this magician if you will, since you do not want to work in my service, and see what good your folly will do you!’ And he rejected them.”
The model provided by biblical parables is strongly influential in the following story, in which Hildegard develops her motif of the ‘pearl’ as a symbol for humanity:
“The same lord who lost his sheep but so gloriously restored it to its life, also owned a costly pearl. The same happened again: the pearl was lost, and it fell into the ugly dirt. But he did not leave it lying in the dirt. He lifted it out carefully, and he cleaned it of the mud into which it had fallen, like gold purified in the furnace. He restored it to its former beauty till it gleamed even brighter than before.”
The move to Rupertsburg was 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. Hildegard and approximately 20 nuns thus moved to the St. Rupertsberg monastery in 1150, where Volmar served as provost, as well as Hildegard’s confessor and scribe. In 1165, Hildegard founded a second monastery for her nuns at Eibingen.
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.
Political background
The preaching tours are an example of where Hildegard the Benedictine nun came into direct personal contact with the outside world. Another instance is in 1163, when she secured from the Emperor an assurance that his troops would protect the Rupertsberg and leave it undamaged. Her need for such a safeguard takes us into the heart of a bitter dispute between German emperor and Roman pope that plagued the political life of the twelfth century. In 1073 the zealous reformer Hildebrand was elected to the papal throne. One of the first actions of Pope Gregory VII, as he was now called, was to attack limitations on his papal authority. The two main abuses were clerical marriage, a perennial issue, and simony, which literally meant the sale of ‘holy things’, but in this context meant the sale and purchase of bishoprics, abbacies and other ecclesiastical offices. . His major new move, however, was to assert his power over and against the German king, Henry IV, particularly over the question of the right to appoint bishops.
By Hildegard’s time from 1160 Frederick Barbarossa (King and now also Emperor of Germany) and Pope Alexander III became embroiled in a seventeen-year schism with little compromise on either side. Frederick three times appointed his own rival candidates to the papal throne, the so-called ‘antipopes’, and the imperial-papal wars dragged on. Hildegard, who supported the Pope, nevertheless aimed to preserve good relations with the Emperor, hence her concern to protect her abbey from attack by imperial troops. A number of oblique references to the current political situation survive in the correspondence, and some knowledge of events is necessary to detect them, particularly when they are couched in the apocalyptic imagery and other metaphors which Hildegard so loved to use. Her letters to Frederick, in particular, show an increasingly aggressive tone on her part as she sought to influence him towards reconciliation and the ending of the schism.
Hildegard’s drama of the Play of the Virtues (Ordo Virtutum) was possibly the first medieval morality play. it begins with the lament of the soul:
“Where am I in my exile? In the shadow of death. What is this path I am walking on? The path of error. And what comfort do I have? The comfort of pilgrims. I was to have had a tent, a tabernacle decorated with five square stones that shone brighter than the sun and the stars. And the stones were to shine not with the rising sun and stars but with the glory of the angels. Its foundations were to be topaz, with gemstones for its roof and walls. Its steps were to be covered with crystal and its streets paved with gold. I was to be the companion of angels! For I am the living breath which God breathed into the dry dust of the earth. And so I was to know God and to feel God.”
Along with seventeen or eighteen female solo voices, the Ordo Virtutum included one male solo voice: the voice of the devil. The virtue-women and the soul-woman sing lyrical poetry. The devil-man shouts unpoetically. The play poetically figures destroying the “voracious wolf” and binding and laying low the “age-old snake”; it also refers to “man’s wantonness.” Such rhetoric is common in the long and unloving history of disparaging men’s sexuality.
Ordo Virtutum, however, is far more poetically sophisticated than caricaturing women as virtuous and men as demonic. The devil-man shouts his worldly promises. The underlying cause of the soul-woman’s fall is her incompletely formed carnal desire, her impetuousness, and her pride. Treating men as show horses merely to be ridden impetuously and pridefully in a sexual carousel demeans men’s persons. That behaviour also tends to dry women’s sexuality to aridity. Storms that produce heavy wind and rain can pass through quickly to leave a scorching desert.
The exact date of the first version of the play is not known, although Abbess Tengswich of Andernach may be referring to a performance of the play in a letter dated 1148–50. One of the letter’s criticisms is of Hildegard’s unusual liturgical practices, for after a respectful opening, Tengswich continues:
“But a report of something unusual in your practices has also reached us. On feast days, your nuns stand in church chanting psalms with unbound hair and for decorative purposes wear long white silk veils which reach down to the ground. On their heads they wear crowns of woven gold in which crosses have been placed on each side and at the back, while a figure of the lamb is placed neatly at the front. And they adorn their fingers with golden rings. And they do this although the first shepherd of the Church forbade such things in his epistle, saying that women are to dress ‘with propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes”.
In the play the final triumph of the soul is brought about by the virtues seizing the enemy, Discord, and so defeating him.
“For the encouragement of the virtues and the contradiction of the wiles of the devil And again that sound was heard, like the voice of a multitude, for the exhortation of the virtues to assist humankind, for the contradiction of the hostile devices of the devil, for the defeat of the vices by the virtues and the return of men and women to penance by divine inspiration.”
Political Letters
As Hildegard became established at Rupertsberg, she began to gain a reputation for prophecy and political wisdom, as well as theological understanding, and it was in this role as adviser and prophetess that she became known as the ‘Sibyl of the Rhine’. Soon her direct advice was being sought, and given, in the current affairs of the German Empire and the Church. She wrote to Henry, Bishop of Liege:
“The living light says: the paths of the scriptures lead directly to the high mountain, where the flowers grow and the costly aromatic herbs; where a pleasant wind blows, bringing forth their powerful fragrance; where the roses and lilies reveal their shining faces. But because of the shadows of dark living air, that mountain did not appear until the Son of the most High had enlightened the world. On that day, the sun rose from the dawn, illuminating this world so that all the people could see its aromatic herbs. That day was very beautiful, and sweet tidings came forth. But O shepherds, now is the time for mourning and weeping, because in our time the mountain has been covered with a very black cloud so that it no longer sends forth its gentle fragrance. “
“You, Henry, must be a good shepherd, noble of character. And just as the eagle gazes at the sun, ponder and consider how you can call back the wanderers and exiles and bring some light to this mountain, so that you will live, and so that you will hear the most loving voice of the Judge on high: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Then your soul will shine with light like a soldier brilliant in the fight, who rejoices with his comrades because he has gained the victory. Therefore, teacher of the people, fight for the good victory. Correct those in error, and so wash the mud from the beautiful pearls. Prepare them for the high king. Let your mind pant with great eagerness to call those pearls back to the mountain, where the gift of God had its origin. May God protect you now and free your soul from eternal punishment.”
To Pope Hadrian IV she wrote:
“The one who gives life to the living says this. O man, you will sustain the fearful rage of lionesses and the great strength of leopards. You will experience shipwreck in the taking of spoils. For you have been given over to all those who seek refuge with you in their state of exhaustion. Nevertheless you have a ready understanding with which to pit yourself against the fierce behaviour of men. In raging at them you hang on firmly to the manes of the galloping horses, which run ceaselessly along the tracks of plunder. But you fight against yourself, when at times you favour the apparent probity of certain people, if you hide the treasure-chests of those killed in conflict on the open roads. Therefore you will suffer a fierce battle. But you will destroy the movable goods of the rest, who will fall into the pit because of their asperity. Yet you have the power of the strong key, which does not go willingly in the form of a ruby to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In your heart, therefore, seek the salvation of waters so that you do not fall into the whirlwind, and so that you may remain gentle to the distress and pain of those who are afflicted by the torment of many wounds, thus imitating your Saviour, who will redeem you. And God will not leave you, but you will see in his light.”
The Cosmos (from Causes and Cures I)
Causes and Cures, otherwise known as The Book of Compound Medicine, deals with the creation of the cosmos, the human body, health and the cure of ailments.
The creation of the world
“God was, before the creation of the world, without beginning, because he is. He was and is always light and glory, and he was always life. So when God wished to create the world, he made it from nothing, because all the material of the world was in his will.”
Matter
“When God’s will revealed itself, in order to create the whole of reality, just as he wished, the material of the world came out of his will still unformed and like a dark mass.”
The creation of the angels
“And the Father’s word sounded forth: ‘Let there be light’, and immediately everything was light and the world was full of angels shining with light. For the words ‘Let there be light’ did not signify individual lights, but rather the specially formed light, which is the angels. But when he said: ‘Let there be lights’, this signifies the light of the air which we can see.”
Gemstones (from Physica IV)
The Book of Gemstones or The Book of Simple Medicine, is a compendium of knowledge on herbs, trees, animals, gemstones, metals and rivers, showing the uses of these natural objects for human health. It follows a tradition that goes back to Greek and Roman writers such as Dioscorides and Pliny. In the extracts here we are given information on the occurrence of particular gems and how they can be used as medicine and food, sometimes accompanied by a prayer or charm in order to treat specific complaints and ailments. Such illnesses are usually understood in terms of an imbalance of one of the four elements or ‘humours’ within the human body.
“All gemstones contain energy and moisture. They terrify the devil, who hates and despises them, because he remembered that their beauty appeared in him before he fell from the glory which God had given him, and also because some precious stones are created from the fire and energy, in which he himself has his punishments. It was in fact by fire that the devil was defeated, through God’s will, and he fell into fire, just as he is also defeated by the fire of the Holy Spirit, whenever people are rescued from the devil’s jaws through the inspiring breath of the Holy Spirit.”
“God gave the first angel beauty as of precious stones, which Lucifer saw shining brightly in the divine mirror, and from these he received his knowledge, and in them he realized that God wished to carry out many marvels. Then his mind was raised in pride. He thought he could be the equal of God and more, and so his brightness was extinguished. But just as God raised Adam to a better part, so God allowed neither the beauty nor the virtue of the stones to perish, for he wished them to remain in the earth in honour and blessing, and for medicinal use.”
“The emerald (smaragdus) is formed by the first rays of the morning sun, “when the sun is already warm but the air is cold.” It possesses the freshness of grass and morning dew, and as such “is effective against all human weaknesses and infirmities, because it is brought forth by the sun and because all its material springs from the greenness of the air.” For pains in the stomach, heart, or liver it should be carried about, and will warm the body. But in case of a sudden malady (for example, an epileptic fit), then the emerald should be placed in the mouth.”
“Jacinth has its origins in fire at the first hour of the day when the air is moderately warm, and thus has more air than fire.” The jacinth is powerful against maladies of the eyes. “Hold up the jacinth to the sun and it will at once recall its generation from fire and warm up quickly. Moisten it immediately in a little saliva and as quickly as possible place it over the eyes so that they are warmed by it. Repeat frequently and the eyes will become clear and healthy.”
“Sardonyx is formed by the sun at high noon, when the power of fire is at its zenith. It gives a certain virtue to the five human senses and is a remedy for them, because it is born in the purity of the sun, when no impurity appears in the brightness of the sun. When someone places the stone on their bare skin and also puts it often in their mouth so that their breath touches it, then takes it out and puts it back in again. Then this will strengthen their intellect and knowledge, and all the senses of their body. Consequently, great anger, stupidity and indiscipline will be taken from them, and because of their cleanness the devil will hate and flee them.” “
“The sapphire is also formed at midday, but at that time when the heat passes through the air less readily and [the sun’s] splendor at that period appears not as fully as it does when the air has cooled a little. Sapphire is therefore opaque in appearance and bears more of a similarity to fire than air or water. Sapphire represents the fullness of wisdom. It has various uses against eye problems, and for someone suffering with gout. Have them put the stone in their mouth, and the gout will cease.”
A Vision of Love
This excerpt from The Book of Divine Works, written in the period 1163-73/4, sees Hildegard’s visionary gifts at their height. Beginning with a vision reminiscent of the prophet Ezekiel, Hildegard moves to a paean of divine immanence as embodied in a figure who is at once Love, Wisdom and Power. Its nearest equivalents are the sapiential tradition of the Old Testament Apocrypha, notably Wisdom of Solomon 7–8, and its theme is summed up in Ecclesiasticus 24:1, which states that ‘Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall glory in the midst of her people’.
“And I saw as amid the airs of the South in the mystery of God a beautiful and marvelous image of a human figure; her face was of such beauty and brightness that I could more easily have stared at the sun. On her head she had a broad band of gold. “
“And in that golden band above her head there appeared a second face, like an old man, whose chin and beard touched the top of the first head. Wings protruded from behind the neck of the figure on either side, and rising up clear of the golden band their tips met and joined overhead. On the right, above the sweep of the wing, was an image of an eagle’s head, and I saw it had eyes of fire in which there appeared the brilliance of angels as in a mirror. On the left, above the sweep of the wing, was the image of a human face, which shone like the brightness of the stars. These faces were turned towards the East.
“But from each of her shoulders, a wing extended down to the knee. And she wore a tunic like the glory of the sun and in her hands she carried a lamb like the bright light of day. But beneath her feet she trampled a monster of dreadful appearance, black and venomous, and also a serpent, which had fixed its teeth into the right ear of the monster and wound the rest of its body across its own head, and had stretched its tail on the left side.”