Hildegard Von Bingen Headstrong
Hildegard von Bingen was a headstrong woman. The convent in Disbodenberg. was both restrictive and liberating for those living in it. There were many rules in which the nuns had to follow and they did not have the power to do anything they wanted. This can be seen in the film when Richardis, a young nun in training, is seen running through the garden and proclaims that the rules of St. Benedict are “guidelines not commandments. (film)” This thought process is not taken fondly by Hildegard as she inexplicitly tells Richardis that she cannot act according to her own will and needs to follow the rules. The convent is mentally restrictive as there are people who punish themselves as they feel that that is a way to be forgiven by God or seen as
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She wanted her sisters and daughters to learn and think for themselves. She took pride in seeing one of the women get a question right when asked about the healing property of plants. She was clearly tired of male control and was visibly upset when Abbot Kuno blamed the young nun Sister Clara’s seduction on her getting pregnant. He would not admit that one of the brothers were equally to blame. She stood up for what she believed in and recorded her visions even though many were skeptic of them. She even convinced the Archbishop to let her move all the women to a new location, Rupertsberg, she saw in one of her visions. I feel like she struggled with having to clear everything through men as those were the people who were the highest in her religion. Although she asked permission before recording her visions or moving the convent, she clearly did not care about any of their opinions as she was planning on doing everything, even if they said no. She also had the women perform outside of their normal attire, wearing white dresses and their hair down. This did resonate well with the nun visiting, however Hildegard defended her choice of attire for the show by retorting that many of these policies applied to married women and those outside of the convent, not virgin nuns. Hildegard wanted to spread education to the masses and travelled in order to reach out and teach, something not many women of the time
She wanted her sisters and daughters to learn and think for themselves. She took pride in seeing one of the women get a question right when asked about the healing property of plants. She was clearly tired of male control and was visibly upset when Abbot Kuno blamed the young nun Sister Clara’s seduction on her getting pregnant. He would not admit that one of the brothers were equally to blame. She stood up for what she believed in and recorded her visions even though many were skeptic of them. She even convinced the Archbishop to let her move all the women to a new location, Rupertsberg, she saw in one of her visions. I feel like she struggled with having to clear everything through men as those were the people who were the highest in her religion. Although she asked permission before recording her visions or moving the convent, she clearly did not care about any of their opinions as she was planning on doing everything, even if they said no. She also had the women perform outside of their normal attire, wearing white dresses and their hair down. This did resonate well with the nun visiting, however Hildegard defended her choice of attire for the show by retorting that many of these policies applied to married women and those outside of the convent, not virgin nuns. Hildegard wanted to spread education to the masses and travelled in order to reach out and teach, something not many women of the time