Hildegard von Bingen

Hildegard von Bingen

(born 1098, Böckelheim, West Franconia—died Sept. 17, 1179, Rupertsberg, near Bingen) German abbess and visionary mystic. She became prioress at the Benedictine cloister of Disibodenberg in 1136. Having experienced visions since childhood, she was eventually permitted to write Scivias (1141–52), in which she recorded 26 prophetic, symbolic, and apocalyptic visions; it was followed by two more such collections. She founded a convent at Rupertsberg c. 1147, where she continued to prophesy; she became known as the “Sibyl of the Rhine,” and her advice was sought by the most powerful and eminent figures of Europe. Her other works include a morality play, a book of saints' lives, treatises on medicine and natural history, and extensive correspondence. Her Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum consists of 77 lyrical poems, all with monophonic melodies; she is apparently the first woman composer in the Western tradition whose music is known. Though long regarded as a saint, she has never been formally canonized.