Skip to content

Philosopher

Last reviewed:

Hildegard of Bingen

1098–1179 · Christian mysticism · Medieval

Hildegard of Bingen, born in 1098, died in 1179, was a Benedictine abbess, composer, correspondent, and writer of visionary works. Scivias, the first of the visionary trilogy, records visions and then interprets them in a theological cosmos. She also wrote on natural history and medicine, composed liturgical song, and advised and rebuked powerful men in a large surviving correspondence.

Read more

Later readers rightly treat her as a major intellectual of the twelfth century, not as a source of postcards. The image of a feather on the breath of God does have roots in her writing. The neat English proverb does not have a settled address in Scivias, and this library marks it Questionable for that reason.

Her own key term is often viriditas, the greening vitality she treats as divine life at work in the world. English translations of the visions exist and are long. Short sentences that are both beautiful and safely verbatim are scarce. That scarcity is the fact about quotation, not a judgement that the work is thin.

The feather sentence stays Questionable. The Scivias declaration and the opening voice of the Book of Divine Works are included as translations. The visions are long interpreted pictures, not a fifth settled English sentence.

Start here

A translated section of Scivias with the interpretation that follows the vision, not a book of extracted sayings

The method is vision plus reading. A postcard skips the reading, which is where the thought is.

Quotations

“…when I was forty-two years and seven months old, Heaven was opened and a fiery light of exceeding brilliance came and permeated my whole brain…”

Hildegard of Bingen · Christian mysticism

knowledgemeaning
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application

Key ideas

  • Vision interpreted

    She claims visions and then builds a theological reading of them, so the pictures are not left as raw experience.

  • Viriditas

    Greening vitality names a divine life at work in the world, and it is more securely hers than the feather proverb.

  • Authority to speak

    The claim to be carried, rather than self-propelled, is part of how she justifies a woman's public teaching.

Major works

  • Scivias (completed c. 1151)

    The first visionary work, know the ways, visions plus interpretation.

  • Letters (12th century)

    A large correspondence with popes, emperors, and abbots. Feather imagery is often hunted here.

  • Symphonia (12th century)

    Liturgical songs. Her musical work is part of the same intellectual life, not a hobby beside it.

Influences

Influenced

  • Later interest in medieval women visionaries
  • Modern composers and theologians

Common misreadings

  • The feather proverb is a line one can point to in Scivias.
  • She is a gentle nature mystic and not a theologian with a system.

Famous lines Hildegard of Bingen never said

Misattributed means the library does not treat the sentence as theirs. Questionable means there is a real doubt, which is not the same as a proof they never wrote it. Both are listed here.

  • Questionable

    “I am a feather on the breath of God.”

    Hildegard uses feather imagery, borne on the breath or wind of God, in letters and visionary writing. The neat English proverb is a later compression. Do not cite it as a line that can be pointed to in Scivias without the Latin. The badge stays Questionable.

    Open the card

FAQ

What is the best book to start with?

A translated section of Scivias with the interpretation that follows the vision, not a book of extracted sayings The method is vision plus reading. A postcard skips the reading, which is where the thought is.

What is the most famous quote?

This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Hildegard of Bingen that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “…when I was forty-two years and seven months old, Heaven was opened and a fiery light of exceeding brilliance came and permeated my whole brain…” (Scivias, Declaration, trans. Hart and Bishop, 1990, p. 59, Paraphrase or translation).

What is the most misquoted line?

No line filed for Hildegard of Bingen is marked Misattributed. The nearest doubt is Questionable, which is not the same thing: “I am a feather on the breath of God.” Hildegard uses feather imagery, borne on the breath or wind of God, in letters and visionary writing. The neat English proverb is a later compression. Do not cite it as a line that can be pointed to in Scivias without the Latin. The badge stays Questionable.

What is one key idea, in a sentence?

Vision interpreted: She claims visions and then builds a theological reading of them, so the pictures are not left as raw experience.