Best known today as a fine composer, the twelfth-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen was also a religious leader and visionary, a poet, naturalist and writer of medical treatises. Despite her cloistered life she had strong, often controversial views on sex, love and marriage too - a woman astonishing in her own age, whose book of apocalyptic visions, Scivias, would alone have been enough to ensure her lasting fame.
In this classic and highly praised biography - first published by Headline in 2001 - distinguished writer and journalist, Fiona Maddocks, draws on Hildegard's prolific writings to paint a portrait of her extraordinary life against the turbulent medieval background of crusade and schism, scientific discovery and cultural revolution. The great intellectual gifts and forceful character that emerge make her as fascinating as any figure in the Middle Ages.
More than 800 years after her death, Pope Benedict XVI has made Hildegard a Saint and a Doctor of the Church (one of only four women). Fiona Maddocks has provided a short new preface to cover these tributes to an extraordinary and exceptional woman.
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eBook - ePub
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Subtopic
Historical BiographiesIndex
HistoryTable of contents
- Cover
- LandingPage
- Title Page
- Dedication
- CONTENTS
- PREFATORY NOTE
- PREFACE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) Biographical Sources
- Picture Credits
- People and Places
- Chronology
- Maps
- Prologue: HABEAS CORPUS
- Chapter One: BIRTH OF HILDEGARD
- Chapter Two: CHILDHOOD AND CLOISTER
- Chapter Three: DISIBODENBERG
- Chapter Four: VISIONS
- Chapter Five: PAPAL APPROVAL
- Chapter Six: THE MOVE TO RUPERTSBERG
- Chapter Seven: THE RICHARDIS AFFAIR
- Chapter Eight: IMPERIAL AND PAPAL UPHEAVAL
- Chapter Nine: CORRESPONDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP
- Chapter Ten: PHYSICIAN AND HEALER
- Chapter Eleven: ON SEXUALITY
- Chapter Twelve: HARP OF GOD
- Chapter Thirteen: RHINE TRAVELS
- Chapter Fourteen: LAST JOURNEY
- Chapter Fifteen: FINAL CRISIS
- Chapter Sixteen: RELIGHTING THE FLAME
- Chapter Seventeen: SHRINES AND ICONS
- Appendix I: HILDEGARD: PRINCIPAL WORKS
- Appendix II: SISTER ANCILLA
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX
- Plates
- About the Author
- Copyright
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