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Hildegard of Bingen: a visionary life
SABiNA FANAGAN, 1998 (2nd edn)
London, Routledge
228 pp., 0 415 18551 3, pb 12.99
Hildegard of Bingen was, as the pr&is on the back cover of this book says, 'one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages'. Born into a noble family in Germany in 1098, she began her religious career at the age of eight, when her family put her into the care of an anchoress called Jutta. When Hildegard died in 1179, at the age of 81, she left behind her three major theological works, two medical and scientific accounts, a cycle of over 70 songs, a musical play, and numerous letters to both a spiritual and secular public. If this were not enough, she also established her own convents at Rupertsberg, on the Rhine near Bingen, and at Eibingen, on the opposite side of the river, and, during the latter years of her life, took to public preaching. That Hildegard was allowed to preach at a time when generally only priests were granted the special licences that were needed from the bishop and, more significantly, when canon law upheld St Paul's prohibition of women preaching or teaching, gives some indication of just how extraordinary this woman's life was.
Sabina Flanagan's preface to the first edition of this book (published in 1989) outlines her intention: 'to provide a comprehensive introduction to Hildegard, in the light of current scholarship, from which readers may be inspired to read, or even to produce, more specialized studies' (p. xi). When she wrote this, there were few modern critical editions of Hildegard's works, and many of Hildegard's major works were still relatively inaccessible. However, as the preface to the second edition indicates, during the intervening nine years 'there has been an amazing outpouring of scholarly activity on the life and work of Hildegard of Bingen' (p. xiii). This second edition, published on the 900th anniversary of Hildegard's birth, therefore includes a new bibliography and discography, updated references, and additions to the...