Hildegard of Bingen

Blessed Hildegard of Bingen (or von Bingen) (September 16 1098 – September 17, 1179) was a German abbess, monastic leader, mystic, author, and composer of music.

Biography

Hildegard was born into a family of nobles in the service of the counts of Sponheim, close relatives of the Hohenstaufen emperors. Because she was a tenth child, and a sickly one from birth, at the age of eight Hildegard's parents sent her as a tithe to the church (as was customary in medieval times). Hildegard was put in the care of Jutta (sister of Count Meinhard of Sponheim) just outside the Disibodenberg monastery in Germany. Jutta was enormously popular and acquired so many followers a small nunnery sprang up around her. Upon Jutta's death in 1136 Hildegard was chosen superior of the community, and eventually moved the group to a new monastery on the Rupertsberg at Bingen on the Rhine.

Related Topics:
Hohenstaufen - Tithe - Medieval - 1136 - Monastery - Rhine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From the time she was very young, Hildegard claimed to have visions. She received a prophetic call from God five years after her election as Mother Superior in 1141 demanding of her, "Write what you see". At first she was hesitant about writing her visions, holding them inside. She was finally convinced to write by members of her order after falling physically ill from carrying the unspoken burden.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~