Hildegard never really ceased to have an influence, in that her works continued to be known, copied, and published long after her death. Physica received its current name when it was published in 1533. Even such a short work as the Explanatio Symboli S. Athanasii was published in Cologne in 1566 and in Lyon in 1697. When Jacques-Paul Migne began his monumental publishing effort, the Patrologia Latina, some of Hildegard’s works appeared (Volume 197) as a matter of course. They are being reedited today as part of the series Corpus Christianorum: Continuatio Medi-aevalis. Both of these publication efforts attempt to present the complete body of Catholic Church writings, to which Hildegard’s works are significant contributions.
In Hildegard’s day, it was possible to be a master of several fields. Hildegard was exceptional in that she was skilled in so many: abbess and administrator, prophetess and preacher, correspondent and diplomat, musician, and scientist. She made significant contributions, and had an importance, in each of these fields.
Abbess/Administrator
Ironically, though she founded two monasteries, she was never accorded the title abbess and was always under the jurisdiction of the abbot of Disiboden-berg, first Kuno, who died in 1155, then Helengerus, who was abbot for the rest of Hildegard’s life. Her first administrative position was that of mother superior to the nuns at Disibodenberg. This occurred in 1136 on the death of Jutta, when the growing number of nuns made a mother superior necessary. Over the next decade, the population continued to increase until, in the late 1140s, there were approximately 20 nuns at Disibodenberg. At this point Hildegard received her vision to found a convent at Rupertsberg. This was accomplished, not without difficulties, by 1152, when Henry archbishop of Mainz consecrated the church at Rupertsberg. There is speculation that the Ordo virtutum was performed at this ceremony, that the nuns themselves sang the roles of the 17 virtues and the character Anima, and that Volmar performed the role of the Devil. This gives some approximation of the number of inhabitants at Rupertsberg in its earliest years. By 1155 the considerable wealth that the nuns had brought to Disibodenberg was successfully transferred to Rupertsberg.
In 1165, the number of nuns at Rupertsberg had increased to about 50, and Hildegard established a second convent across the river at Eibingen that could house 30 nuns. Apparently this sister house was intended not for the wealthy daughters who formed the kernel of the community of Rupertsberg but for those of humble birth who had joined it after its founding. Hildegard administered both houses and, while continuing to live exclusively at Ruperts-berg, visited Eibingen at least twice a week until her death.
Prophetess/Preacher
A few words on the medieval view of the prophet/prophetess are in order. These people were seen not as elevated fortunetellers but as people who were in direct contact with God and who formed a communicative link between the celestial and the terrestrial world. Because of this status, their word was viewed as coming directly from God and so carried great weight. Like Old Testament prophets, one of their primary responsibilities was to advise secular rulers on the proper course of conduct and warn them if their actions displeased God. Hildegard treated this responsibility seriously, as her letters to Emperor Conrad III and especially Emperor Frederick Barbarossa show.
In March 1148, Pope Eugenius III (r. 1145-53) reviewed the record of Hil-degard’s visions complied by Volmar, determined that they had come from God, and, in effect, declared her to be a prophetess. He directed her to write down her visions more comprehensively than she had done before, and so she began her extensive creative undertakings, with Scivias. By validating her visions, Eugenius gave her the right—in fact, the responsibility—to preach. She pursued this responsibility in a number of ways. Her visionary writings and her letters to various ecclesiastical and secular rulers are the most prominent of her preaching activities.
She also undertook, in the course of her life, four preaching tours, symbolically enough to the four corners of the globe. The fortuitous location of Ru-pertsberg, situated as it was at the confluence of the Rhine and Nahe Rivers, made this possible. The Rhine allowed access to the north in one direction, and traveling in the opposite direction along the Rhine to the Neckar River opened up the south. A short trip on the Rhine to the Main River allowed her to travel east, and the Mosel River, which joins the Rhine north of Ruperts-berg, gave access to the west.
The first tour took place in 1158 and extended to the east along the Main River, visiting the cities of Mainz, Wertheim, Wurzburg, Kitzingen, Ebrach, and Bamberg. The second, in 1160, went north on the Rhine, then west and south along the Mosel, visiting Trier (where the momentous Synod had occurred), Metz, and Krauftal. From 1161 to 1163 she traveled north on the Rhine to Boppard, Andernach, and Siegburg, then to Cologne and Werden. Her final tour of 1170 took her south on the Rhine and Neckar Rivers, to Cluniac houses at Maulbronn, Hirsau, Kircheim, and Zweifalten.
What were her sermons like? We know the topic of at least one of them. Werner the abbot of Kircheim wrote to her after her visit asking for a copy of her sermon on priestly negligence. Indeed, the topic of church reform has always been appropriate. She probably also dealt with the heresies sweeping Europe at the time, especially that of the Cathars, who were finally annihilated by the astonishing brutality of the Albigensian Crusade.
Correspondent and Diplomat
The collection of Hildegard’s extant letters has been published in translation by Joseph Baird and Radd Ehrman.14 This three-volume work divides the many letters according to the position of the correspondent: Volume 1 contains letters to church officials, from the pope through various bishops and archbishops. Volume 2 contains letters to individual abbots, abbesses, monks, and nuns. Volume 3 continues with letters to individual members of the clergy, to Emperors Conrad III and Frederick Barbarossa, and to assorted laypersons. The numbers given for the letters in the following discussion refer to the numbers they carry in this edition.
The correspondences begin in 1146 or 1147, but definitely by 1148, with a letter from Hildegard to Bernard of Clairvaux, seeking his support for her visions. Then follows the series of letters to all members of society. I will concentrate here on two types of letters: those to popes and those to emperors. Many of them have a diplomatic purpose, because they deal with controversy concerning the schism between the church and the emperor.
World History
