Hildegard of Bingen Biography

Hildegard von Bingen was an astonishing woman in medieval Germany. Hildegard was born the tenth child of a wealthy family in Bemersheim, West Franconia (which is now modern day Bockelheim, Germany) in 1098. From a young age, Hildegard had illness connected visions, such as migraines, and when she was eight, her parents sent her to a Benedictine monastery which had just added a separate section for women. At the monastery, Hildegard was under the care of a noble woman and resident there named Jutta who taught her to read and write. Eventually, Jutta became the abbess to the convent and this attracted other young women of noble background to come to learn. At this time, convents were places of learning for gifted women. In the convent, Hildegard and the other women learned Latin, read scriptures, and had access to many religious and philosophical books, which Hildegard spent much time reading.

When Jutta died in 1136, Hildegard was elected the new abbess, and in 1148, rather than continuing as part of a double house with men and women, Hildegard decided to move the convent to Rupertsburg where it was not under the watch of a male house, but on its own. This gave her plenty of freedom as the administrator, and she took this chance to travel frequently around France and Germany. After she was elected abbess she received a vision which she said clarified her knowledge of "the psaltery..., the evangelists and the volumes of the Old and New Testament". She spent her early years at Rupertsburg in nursing and "illuminating" manuscripts.The Rupertsburg convent had much success, and grew to as many as 50 women which was quite impressive at that time. Hildegard later founded a daughter convent in Eibingen in 1165, which still exists today. Hildegard von Bingen died in 1179, an her feast day was established as September 17. She was celebrated a saint in Rhineland in the 15th century.

Bibliography
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Hildegard of Bingen." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/hildegard-of-bingen-3529308 (accessed February 24, 2019).