Hildegarde of Bingen
Context
A sense of history and perspective is necessary to more fully understand any one person, most especially Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was born in the summer of 1098, the cusp of the 11th century, to a family of nobility, wealth, and position. The 11th century was a time of tremendous conflicts, population growth and expansion, dramatic weather changes, and resulting poor harvests. It was a time when the role of wise women, midwives, healers, and counselors had become dangerous in large part because of their practice of perceiving the sacred in all of nature. This practice was ultimately condemned by church authorities and led to a veritable holocaust of women.
On the other hand, “with the recovery from the barbarian invasions, nation-states formed, agricultural productivity increased, commerce flourished, trade routes linked all of Europe, and cities grew in wealth and importance. A new era of learning – an era in which Hildegard flourished – took its place beside the monastic culture of teaching the desire for God. Urban cathedrals, many of which later became universities, prepared clerics whose goal was the acquisition of knowledge. Newly recovered writings of Aristotle were translated from Arabic into Latin and Crusaders left for Jerusalem.” According to Renate Crane, author of “Hildegard of Bingen, Prophet of the Cosmic Christ,” what set Hildegard’s century apart from our age of conflict and change was a religious structure within which every person knew his or her place in life as having been preordained by God.
Hildegard was the tenth child of Hiltebert Von Bermersheim and his wife, Mechthild. From early childhood on, Hildegard had visionary, mystical experiences that “shook her to the depth of her being.” When she was very young, she realized that not everyone around her shared her experiences. At that point, Hildegard began to keep her visions to herself.
This was an age when healing powers and direct access to God were
A sense of history and perspective is necessary to more fully understand any one person, most especially Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was born in the summer of 1098, the cusp of the 11th century, to a family of nobility, wealth, and position. The 11th century was a time of tremendous conflicts, population growth and expansion, dramatic weather changes, and resulting poor harvests. It was a time when the role of wise women, midwives, healers, and counselors had become dangerous in large part because of their practice of perceiving the sacred in all of nature. This practice was ultimately condemned by church authorities and led to a veritable holocaust of women.
On the other hand, “with the recovery from the barbarian invasions, nation-states formed, agricultural productivity increased, commerce flourished, trade routes linked all of Europe, and cities grew in wealth and importance. A new era of learning – an era in which Hildegard flourished – took its place beside the monastic culture of teaching the desire for God. Urban cathedrals, many of which later became universities, prepared clerics whose goal was the acquisition of knowledge. Newly recovered writings of Aristotle were translated from Arabic into Latin and Crusaders left for Jerusalem.” According to Renate Crane, author of “Hildegard of Bingen, Prophet of the Cosmic Christ,” what set Hildegard’s century apart from our age of conflict and change was a religious structure within which every person knew his or her place in life as having been preordained by God.
Hildegard was the tenth child of Hiltebert Von Bermersheim and his wife, Mechthild. From early childhood on, Hildegard had visionary, mystical experiences that “shook her to the depth of her being.” When she was very young, she realized that not everyone around her shared her experiences. At that point, Hildegard began to keep her visions to herself.
This was an age when healing powers and direct access to God were