Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard was born around 1098. Her parents were Mechtild of Merxheim-Nahet and Hildebert of Bermersheim, a family of the free lower nobility in the service of the Count Meginhard of Sponheim. Sickly from birth, Hildegard is traditionally considered their youngest and tenth child, although there are records of only seven older siblings. In her , Hildegard states that from a very young age she experienced visions. Monastic life Perhaps because of Hildegard's visions or as a method of political positioning, or both, Hildegard's parents offered her as an oblate to the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg, which had been recently reformed in the Palatinate Forest. The date of Hildegard's enclosure at the monastery is the subject of debate. Her says she was eight years old when she was professed with Jutta, who was the daughter of Count Stephan II of Sponheim and about six years older than Hildegard. Jutta's date of enclosure is known to have been in 1112, when Hildegard would have been 14. Their vows were received by Bishop Otto of Bamberg on All Saints Day 1112. Some scholars speculate that Hildegard was placed in Jutta's care at the age of eight and that the two were enclosed together six years later. In any case, Hildegard and Jutta were enclosed together at Disibodenberg. They formed the core of a growing community of women attached to the monastery of monks, known as a Frauenklause, a type of female hermitage. Jutta was also a visionary and thus attracted many followers who came to visit her at the monastery. Hildegard states that Jutta taught her to read and write, but that she was unlearned, and therefore incapable of teaching Hildegard sound Biblical interpretation. The written record of the Life of Jutta indicates that Hildegard probably assisted her in reciting the psalms, working in the garden, other handiwork, and tending to the sick. This might have been a time when Hildegard learned how to play the ten-stringed psaltery. Volmar, a frequent visitor, may have taught Hildegard simple psalm notation. The time she studied music could have been the beginning of the compositions she would later create. Upon Jutta's death in 1136, Hildegard was unanimously elected as of the community by her fellow nuns. Abbot Kuno of Disibodenberg asked Hildegard to be prioress, which would be under his authority. Hildegard, wanting more independence for herself and her nuns, asked Abbot Kuno to allow them to move to Rupertsberg. This was to be a 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 died in 1179, a problem arose with the clergy of Mainz: a man buried in Rupertsberg had died after being excommunicated by the Catholic Church. Therefore, the clergy wanted to remove his body from the sacred ground. Hildegard rejected this idea, saying it was a sin and that the man had been reconciled to the church at the time of his death. === Friendship with Richardis von Stade === While completing Scivias, Hildegard found a close friend and personal assistant in Richardis von Stade, a fellow nun. In 1151, Richardis was elected abbess of a distant convent, much to Hildegard's displeasure. In a series of letters to multiple church officials (including the Pope), Richardis' family, and even Richardis herself, Hildegard pleaded for her companion to be allowed to stay with her. Hildegard remained adamant that it was "not God's will" for Richardis and her to be separated. Despite Hildegard's efforts, Richardis was eventually moved. A year later, Richardis' brother sent Hildegard a letter notifying her that Richardis had died, and had met "a good Christian end". In response to this, Hildegard grieved the death of her friend, and assured her brother that she was confident in Richardis' salvation, and that she cherished Richardis with "divine love". Visions Hildegard said that she first saw "The Shade of the Living Light" () at the age of three, and by the age of five, she began to understand that she was experiencing visions. She used the term (Latin for 'vision') to describe this feature of her experience, and she recognized that it was a gift that she could not explain to others. Hildegard explained that she saw all things in the light of God through the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. Her letter to Guibert of Gembloux, which she wrote at the age of 77, describes her experience of this light: Hildegard was hesitant to share her visions, confiding only to Jutta, who in turn told Volmar, Hildegard's tutor and, later, secretary. Throughout her life, she continued to have many visions, and in 1141, at the age of 42, Hildegard received a vision she believed to be an instruction from God, to "write down that which you see and hear." Still hesitant to record her visions, Hildegard became physically ill. The illustrations recorded in the book of were visions that Hildegard experienced, causing her great suffering and tribulations. In her first theological text, ("Know the Ways"), Hildegard describes her struggle within: It was between November 1147 and February 1148 at the synod in Trier that Pope Eugenius heard about Hildegard's writings. It was from this that she received papal approval to document her visions as revelations from the Holy Spirit, giving her instant credence. On 17 September 1179, when Hildegard died, her sisters said they saw two streams of light appear in the skies and cross over the room where she was dying. Theoderic utilized sources Guibert had left behind to complete the . ==Works==

Hildegard's works include three great volumes of visionary theology; a variety of musical compositions for use in the liturgy, as well as the musical morality play ; one of the largest bodies of letters (nearly 400) to survive from the Middle Ages, addressed to correspondents ranging from popes to emperors to abbots and abbesses, and including records of many of the sermons she preached in the 1160s and 1170s; two volumes of material on natural medicine and cures; an invented language called the ('unknown language'); and various minor works, including a gospel commentary and two works of hagiography. Several manuscripts of her works were produced during her lifetime, including the illustrated Rupertsberg manuscript of her first major work, ; the Dendermonde Codex, which contains one version of her musical works; and the Ghent manuscript, which was the first fair-copy made for editing of her final theological work, the . At the end of her life, and probably under her initial guidance, all of her works were edited and gathered into the single Riesenkodex manuscript. The Riesenkodex manuscript is a collection of 481 folios of vellum bound in pig leather over wooden boards that measure . Visionary theology Hildegard's most significant works were her three volumes of visionary theology: ("Know the Ways", composed 1142–1151), ("Book of Life's Merits" or "Book of the Rewards of Life", composed 1158–1163); and ("Book of Divine Works", also known as , "On God's Activity", begun around 1163 or 1164 and completed around 1172 or 1174). In these volumes, the last of which was completed when she was well into her seventies, Hildegard first describes each vision, whose details are often strange and enigmatic. Then she interprets their theological contents in the words of the "voice of the Living Light." ======== With permission from Abbot Kuno of Disibodenberg, she began journaling her visions (the basis for ). is a contraction of ('Know the Ways of the Lord'), and it was Hildegard's first major visionary work, and one of the biggest milestones in her life. Perceiving a divine command to "write what you see and hear," Hildegard began to record and interpret her visionary experiences. In total, 26 visionary experiences were captured in this compilation. In early 1148, the Pope sent a commission to Disibodenberg to learn more about Hildegard and her writings. The commission found the visions authentic and returned them to the Pope, along with a portion of . Portions of the uncompleted work were read aloud to Pope Eugenius III at the Synod of Trier in 1148, after which he sent Hildegard a letter with his blessing. This blessing was later construed as papal approval for all of Hildegard's wide-ranging theological activities. Towards the end of her life, Hildegard commissioned a richly decorated manuscript of (the Rupertsberg Codex); although the original has been lost since its evacuation to Dresden for safekeeping in 1945, its images are preserved in a hand-painted facsimile from the 1920s. Amongst the work's innovations is one of the earliest descriptions of purgatory as the place where each soul would have to work off its debts after death before entering heaven. Hildegard's descriptions of the possible punishments there are often gruesome and grotesque, which emphasize the work's moral and pastoral purpose as a practical guide to the life of true penance and proper virtue. ======== Hildegard's last and grandest visionary work, , had its genesis in one of the few times she experienced something like an ecstatic loss of consciousness. As she described it in an autobiographical passage included in her , sometime in about 1163, she received "an extraordinary mystical vision" in which was revealed the "sprinkling drops of sweet rain" that she stated John the Evangelist experienced when he wrote, "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). Hildegard perceived that this Word was the key to the "Work of God", of which humankind is the pinnacle. The Book of Divine Works, therefore, became in many ways an extended explication of the prologue to the Gospel of John. The ten visions in this work's three parts are cosmic in scale, illustrating various ways of understanding the relationship between God and his creation. Often, that relationship is established by grand allegorical female figures representing Divine Love () or Wisdom (). The first vision opens the work with a salvo of poetic and visionary images that swirl around to characterize God's dynamic activity in the history of salvation. The remaining three visions in the first part depict the image of a human standing astride the spheres that make up the universe and detail the intricate relationships between the human as microcosm and the universe as macrocosm. This culminates in the final chapter of Part One, Vision Four, with Hildegard's commentary on the prologue to the Gospel of John (John 1:1–14), a direct rumination on the meaning of "In the beginning was the Word". The single vision that constitutes the whole of Part Two stretches that rumination back to the opening of Genesis, and forms an extended commentary on the seven days of the creation of the world told in Genesis 1–2:3. This commentary interprets each day of creation in three ways: literal or cosmological; allegorical or ecclesiological (i.e. related to the church's history); and moral or tropological (i.e. related to the soul's growth in virtue). Finally, the five visions of the third part draw on the building imagery of to describe the course of salvation history. The final vision (3.5) contains Hildegard's longest and most detailed prophetic program of the life of the church from her own days of "womanish weakness" through to the coming and ultimate downfall of the Antichrist. Music from the Wiesbaden Codex, 1180 – 1190 Attention in recent decades to women of the medieval Catholic Church has led to a great deal of popular interest in Hildegard's music. In addition to the , 69 musical compositions, each with its own original poetic text, survive, and at least four other texts are known, though their musical notation has been lost. This is one of the largest repertoires among medieval composers. One of her better-known works, (Play of the Virtues), is a morality play. It is uncertain when some of Hildegard's compositions were composed, though the is thought to have been composed as early as 1151. It is an independent Latin morality play with music (82 songs); it does not supplement or pay homage to the Mass or the Office of a certain feast. It is, in fact, the earliest known surviving musical drama that is not attached to a liturgy. The devil's part is entirely spoken or shouted, with no musical setting. All other characters sing in monophonic plainchant. This includes patriarchs, prophets, a happy soul, an unhappy soul, and a penitent soul, along with 16 virtues (including mercy, innocence, chastity, obedience, hope, and faith). In addition to the , Hildegard composed many liturgical songs that were collected into a cycle called the . The songs from the Symphonia are set to Hildegard's own text and range from antiphons, hymns, and sequences (such as Columba Aspexit), to responsories. Her music is monophonic, consisting of exactly one melodic line. Its style has been said to be characterized by soaring melodies that can push the boundaries of traditional Gregorian chant and to stand outside the normal practices of monophonic monastic chant. Researchers are also exploring ways in which it may be viewed in comparison with her contemporaries, such as Hermannus Contractus. Another feature of Hildegard's music that both reflects the 12th-century evolution of chant, and pushes that evolution further, is that it is highly melismatic, often with recurrent melodic units. Scholars such as Margot Fassler, Marianne Richert Pfau, and Beverly Lomer also note the intimate relationship between music and text in Hildegard's compositions, whose rhetorical features are often more pronounced than in 12th-century chant. As with most medieval chant notation, Hildegard's music lacks any indication of tempo or rhythm; the surviving manuscripts employ late German style notation, which uses very ornamental neumes. The reverence for the Virgin Mary reflected in music shows how deeply influenced and inspired Hildegard of Bingen and her community were by the Virgin Mary and the saints. Scientific and medicinal writings Hildegard's medicinal and scientific writings, although thematically complementary to her ideas about nature in her visionary works, differ in focus and scope. Neither claims to be rooted in her visionary experience and its divine authority. Rather, they spring from her experience helping in and then leading the monastery's herbal garden and infirmary, as well as the theoretical information she likely gained through her wide-ranging reading in the monastery's library. As she gained practical skills in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, she combined physical treatment of physical diseases with holistic methods centered on "spiritual healing". She became well known for her healing powers involving the practical application of tinctures, herbs, and precious stones. She combined these elements with a theological notion ultimately derived from Genesis: all things put on earth are for the use of humans. In addition to her hands-on experience, she also gained medical knowledge, including elements of her humoral theory, from traditional Latin texts. The second, , is an exploration of the human body, its connections to the rest of the natural world, and the causes and cures of various diseases. Hildegard documented various medical practices in these books, including the use of bleeding and home remedies for many common ailments. She also explains remedies for common agricultural injuries such as burns, fractures, dislocations, and cuts. In addition to its wealth of practical evidence, is also noteworthy for its organizational scheme. Its first part sets the work within the context of the creation of the cosmos, with humanity as its summit, and the constant interplay of the human person as a microcosm, both physically and spiritually, with the macrocosm of the universe informs all of Hildegard's approach. Her hallmark is to emphasize the vital connection between the "green" health of the natural world and the holistic health of the human person. , or greening power, was thought to sustain human beings and could be manipulated by adjusting the balance of elements within a person. As Hildegard elaborates the medical and scientific relationship between the human microcosm and the macrocosm of the universe, she often focuses on interrelated patterns of four: "the four elements (fire, air, water, and earth), the four seasons, the four humors, the four zones of the earth, and the four major winds." Although she inherited the basic framework of humoral theory from ancient medicine, Hildegard's conception of the hierarchical inter-balance of the four humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) was unique, based on their correspondence to "superior" and "inferior" elements – blood and phlegm corresponding to the "celestial" elements of fire and air, and the two biles corresponding to the "terrestrial" elements of water and earth. Hildegard believed that the disease-causing imbalance of these humors resulted from the improper dominance of the subordinate humors. This disharmony reflects that introduced by Adam and Eve in the Fall, which, for Hildegard, marked the indelible entrance of disease and humoral imbalance into humankind. As she writes in c. 42: and Hildegard also invented an alternative alphabet. ('Alternate Alphabet') was another work and was more or less a secret code, or even an intellectual code, much like a modern crossword puzzle today. Hildegard's ('unknown language') consisted of a series of invented words that corresponded to an eclectic list of nouns. The list is approximately 1,000 nouns; there are no other parts of speech. The two most important sources for the are the Wiesbaden, Hessische Landesbibliothek 2 (nicknamed the Riesenkodex) Sarah Higley disagrees and notes that there is no evidence of Hildegard teaching the language to her nuns. She suggests that the language was not intended to remain secret; rather, the presence of words for mundane things may indicate that it was for the whole abbey and perhaps the larger monastic world. Higley believes that "the Lingua is a linguistic distillation of the philosophy expressed in her three prophetic books: it represents the cosmos of divine and human creation and the sins that flesh is heir to." The text of her writings and compositions reveals Hildegard's use of this form of modified medieval Latin, which includes many invented, conflated, and abridged words. Because she invented words for her lyrics and used a constructed script, many conlangers look upon her as a medieval precursor. ==Significance==

During her lifetime Maddocks claims that it is likely Hildegard learned simple Latin and the tenets of the Christian faith, but was not instructed in the Seven Liberal Arts, which formed the basis of all education for the learned classes in the Middle Ages: the of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric plus the of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. The correspondence she kept with the outside world, both spiritual and social, transcended the cloister as a space of spiritual confinement and served to document Hildegard's grand style and strict formatting of medieval letter writing. Contributing to Christian European rhetorical traditions, Hildegard "authorized herself as a theologian" through alternative rhetorical arts. Hildegard was creative in her interpretation of theology. She believed that her monastery should exclude novices who were not from the nobility because she did not want her community to be divided based on social status. She also stated that "woman may be made from man, but no man can be made without a woman." Because of the church's limitations on public discursive rhetoric, the medieval rhetorical arts included preaching, letter writing, poetry, and the encyclopedic tradition. Hildegard's participation in these arts speaks to her significance as a female rhetorician, transcending bans on women's social participation and interpretation of scripture. The acceptance of public preaching by a woman, even a well-connected abbess and acknowledged prophet, does not fit the stereotype of this time. Her preaching was not limited to monasteries; she preached publicly in Germany in 1160. She conducted four preaching tours throughout Germany, speaking to both clergy and laity in chapter houses and in public, mainly denouncing clerical corruption and calling for reform. Many abbots and abbesses asked her for prayers and opinions on various matters. Hildegard corresponded with popes such as Eugene III and Anastasius IV, politicians such as Abbot Suger, German emperors such as Frederick I Barbarossa, and other notable figures such as Bernard of Clairvaux, who advanced her work, at the behest of her abbot, Kuno, at the Synod of Trier in 1147 and 1148. Hildegard of Bingen's correspondence is an important component of her literary output. Veneration Hildegard was among the first for whom the Roman canonization process was officially applied. Still, the process took so long that four attempts at canonization were not completed, and she remained at the level of her beatification. Her name was nonetheless included in the Roman Martyrology at the end of the 16th century up to the current 2004 edition, listing her as "Saint Hildegard" with her feast on 17 September, which would eventually be added to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial. Numerous popes have referred to Hildegard as a saint, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Hildegard's pilgrimage church in Eibingen houses her relics. On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI extended the veneration of Saint Hildegard to the entire Catholic Church in a process known as "equivalent canonization," thus laying the groundwork for naming her a Doctor of the Church. On 7 October 2012, the feast of the Holy Rosary, the pope named her a Doctor of the Church. He called Hildegard "perennially relevant" and "an authentic teacher of theology and a profound scholar of natural science and music." Hildegard of Bingen also appears in the calendar of saints of various Anglican churches, such as that of the Church of England, in which she is commemorated on 17 September. Modern interest In recent years, Hildegard has become of particular interest to feminist scholars. They note her reference to herself as a member of the weaker sex and her belittling of women. Hildegard frequently referred to herself as an unlearned woman, completely incapable of Biblical exegesis. Such a statement on her part, however, worked slyly to her advantage because it made her statements that all of her writings and music came from visions of the Divine more believable, therefore giving Hildegard the authority to speak in a time and place where few women were permitted a voice. Hildegard used her voice to amplify the church's condemnation of institutional corruption, in particular simony. Hildegard has also become a figure of reverence within the contemporary New Age movement, largely because of her holistic, natural view of healing and her status as a mystic. Although her medical writings were long neglected and then studied without reference to their context, she was the inspiration for Dr. Gottfried Hertzka's "Hildegard-Medicine", and is the namesake for June Boyce-Tillman's Hildegard Network, a healing center that focuses on a holistic approach to wellness and brings together people interested in exploring the links between spirituality, the arts, and healing. Her reputation as a medicinal writer and healer was also used by early feminists to argue for women's rights to attend medical schools. whose visions of Holy Wisdom are often compared to Hildegard's. Sophiologist Robert Powell writes that hermetic astrology proves the match, while mystical communities in Hildegard's lineage include that of artist Carl Schroeder as studied by Columbia sociologist Courtney Bender and supported by reincarnation researchers Walter Semkiw and Kevin Ryerson. Recordings and performances of Hildegard's music have received critical acclaim and gained popularity since 1979. There is an extensive discography of her musical works. Hildegard of Bingen has also become of interest to modern scholars of queer medieval studies. One queer interpretation of Hildegard's work considers her "Cosmic Egg" vision of the universe in Scivias, whose mandorla-like appearance can also be compared to a vulva. In addition to potential queer readings of Hildegard's work as a mystic, there has also been interest in a queer reading of Hildegard's relationship with Richardis von Stade. The language used by Hildegard von Bingen to describe her relationship with Richardis von Stade, in addition to the fervor in which Hildegard expressed her disappointment in Richardis' appointment as abbess to another convent, and her attempts at drawing multiple other church officials to her aid in stopping this appointment, have led scholars of queer medieval studies to suspect that the relationship between Richardis and Hildegard might have been more than simply platonic. Queer readings of Hildegard von Bingen have inspired a variety of works. In November 2025, the LA Opera debuted a new opera titled "Hildegard," inspired by the life of Hildegard von Bingen. The opera was conceived by Sarah Kirkland Snider, who researched Hildegard and her work for eight years. Hildegard's life story has also been portrayed in a 2009 film called Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen, where the relationship between Hildegard and Richardis is explored. Additionally, Hildegard von Bingen inspired a play by lesbian feminist playwright Carolyn Gage titled "Artemisia and Hildegard." == In art ==

File:St. Hildegard von Bingen writing, Lucca codex, Liber Divinorum Operum (1163-1173).jpg|Lucca codex, Liber Divinorum Operum (1163-1173), detail of St. Hildegard von Bingen, writing File:St. Hildegard von Bingen receiving divine inspiration and writing, Lucca codex, Liber Divinorum Operum (1163-1173), detail.jpg|Lucca codex, Liber Divinorum Operum (1163-1173), detail of St. Hildegard von Bingen receiving divine inspiration and writing File:St. Hildegard von Bingen, The Salem Scivias (1200), detail.jpg|The Salem Scivias (1200), detail of St. Hildegard von Bingen File:Sylvestri Altar out right.JPG|altar in St. Sylvestri Church (1480), detail of St. Hildegard von Bingen File:St. Hildegard von Bingen, gilded panel, St. Rochus Chapel (1895), detail.webp|statue of St. Hildgard von Bingen in St. Rochus Chapel (1895) File:St. Hildegard von Bingen (attr. Wilhelm Fassbinder, 1898).webp|St. Hildegard von Bingen (attr. Wilhelm Fassbinder, 1898) File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard enters Disibodenberg Monastery, Eibingen Abbey (1907-1913).png|Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard Enters Disibodenberg Monastery, Eibingen Abbey (1907-1913) File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard Leaves Bingen for Rupertsberg (1907-1913).png|Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard Leaves Bingen for Rupertsberg (1907-1913) File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, How Hildegard Spoke to Emperor Barbarossa in Ingelheim (1907-1913).png|Fr. Paulus Krebs, How Hildegard Spoke to Emperor Barbarossa in Ingelheim (1907-1913). File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, How Hildegard Founded Eibingen and Healed a Blind Boy in Rudesheim (1907-1913).png|Fr. Paulus Krebs, How Hildegard Founded Eibingen and Healed a Blind Boy in Rudesheim (1907-1913) File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, Apparitions in the Sky at Hildegard's Death (1907-1913).png|Fr. Paulus Krebs, Apparitions in the Sky at Hildegard's Death (1907-1913) File:Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard, Prophetess (1907-1913).jpg|Fr. Paulus Krebs, St. Hildegard, Prophetess (1907-1913) File:St. Hildegard von Bingen, Liechtenstein Stamp Series, Great works of the human spirit (1983).jpg|St. Hildegard von Bingen, Liechtenstein Stamp Series, Great works of the human spirit (1983) File:Karlheinz Oswald Hildegard von Bingen, Eibingen.JPG|Karlheinz Oswald, St. Hildegard von Bingen (2012) ==In culture==

The following modern musical works are directly linked to Hildegard and her music or texts: • Alois Albrecht: Hildegard von Bingen, a liturgical play with texts and music by Hildegard of Bingen, 1998. • Azam Ali: O Vis Aeternitatis and O Euchari by Hildegard of Bingen, 2020 • The Beloved: The Sun Rising samples O Euchari, sung by Emily Van Evera on the album A Feather on the Breath of God by Gothic Voices • Orbital: Belfast also samples O Euchari • Cecilia McDowall: Alma Redemptoris Mater • Christopher Theofanidis: Rainbow Body, for orchestra, 2000 • David Lynch with Jocelyn Montgomery: Lux Vivens (Living Light): The Music of Hildegard Von Bingen, 1998 • Garmarna: "Euchari" (1999) and Hildegard von Bingen, 2001 • Devendra Banhart: Für Hildegard von Bingen, single from the 2013 album Mala. • Gordon Hamilton: The Trillion Souls quotes Hildegard's O Ignee Spiritus. • Ludger Stühlmeyer: O splendidissima gemma. 2012. For alto solo and organ, text: Hildegard of Bingen. Commissioned composition for the declaration of Hildegard of Bingen as Doctor of the Church. • Naomi Wood, Sophie Seita, The Hildegard von Bingen Society for Gardening Companions, 2022–present. Ongoing publications, performances, and events. • Peter Janssens: Hildegard von Bingen, a musical in ten scenes, text: Jutta Richter, 1997 • Richard Souther, Emily Van Evera, Sister Germaine Fritz (OSB): Vision: The Music Of Hildegard Of Bingen. CDC 7243 5 55246 21 1994. • Sofia Gubaidulina: Aus den Visionen der Hildegard von Bingen, for contra alto solo, after a text of Hildegard of Bingen, 1994 • Tilo Medek: Monatsbilder (nach Hildegard von Bingen), twelve songs for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano, 1997 • Wolfgang Sauseng: De visione secunda for double choir and percussion, 2011 • John Zorn: The Holy Visions for five female voices, 2012 • David Chalmin and Bryce Dessner: "Electric Fields" for soprano, two pianos, electronics, & multimedia, 2022 • Rosalía, Björk, and Yves Tumor: "Berghain" on the album Lux, 2025 The artwork The Dinner Party bu Judy Chicago features a place setting for Hildegard. Hildegard was the subject of season 2, episode 3 of the ZDF documentary Die Deutschen, titled Hildegard von Bingen und die Macht der Frauen ("Hildegard of Bingen and the Power of Women"), which was released in 2010. Hildegard was the subject of a 2012 fictionalized biographic novel Illuminations by Mary Sharatt. Hildegard was the subject of an episode of the Vision TV Apocalypse-themed documentary series 'I Prophesy' in 2012. The off-Broadway musical In the Green, written by Grace McLean, followed Hildegard's story. In his book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, neurologist Oliver Sacks devotes a chapter to Hildegard and concludes that, in his opinion, her visions were migrainous. In film, Hildegard has been portrayed by Patricia Routledge in a BBC documentary called Hildegard of Bingen (1994), by Ángela Molina in Barbarossa (2009) and by Barbara Sukowa in the film Vision, directed by Margarethe von Trotta. A feature documentary film, The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard, was released by American director Michael M. Conti in 2014. Hildegard makes an appearance in The Baby-Sitters Club #101: Claudia Kishi, Middle School Drop-Out by Ann M. Martin, when Anna Stevenson dresses as Hildegard for Halloween. Kristin Hayter, known professionally as "Lingua Ignota", was inspired by Hildegard of Bingen. In the historical novel, A Flight of Saints, five unruly novices escape across the Alps to join the convent of their heroine Hildegard of Bingen. The plant genus Hildegardia is named after her because of her contributions to herbal medicine. In space, the 898 Hildegard, a minor planet, is named for her. The 2025 opera "HILDEGARD" by composer Sarah Kirkland Snider follows the story of Hildegard as she receives and transcribes her visions. ==Bibliography==