Synopses & Reviews
A fascinating account of one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages, the world in which she lived, and her enduring contributions to science, theology, mysticism, and music. Best known today as the composer of breathtakingly beautiful music, the abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) brought her lively intellect and deep-seated spirituality to an astonishing variety of pursuits. Transcending the many limits imposed on women of her time, she produced major works of theology; wrote seminal books on natural history, the medicinal use of plants, and other natural remedies; and explored the nature of sexuality with an openness and honesty rare for twelfth-century writers of either gender. Her book of apocalyptic visions, Scivias, with its compelling illustrations, remains a landmark of mystical writings. Hildegard of Bingen is a vivid portrait of Hildegard's life from her entry into a male monastery at the age of eight to her establishment of a thriving convent (where her acclaimed musical plays were first performed) and the explosion of her genius in her middle years, to her eventual admission to the canon of saints. Set against the rich background of the Crusades, the flowering of monasticism, numerous religious schisms, and the first stirrings of the Renaissance, it brings to life a woman who would have been remarkable in any age. The revival of interest in her music has given contemporary audiences a tantalizing hint of Hildegard's many talents: Meticulously researched, combining an appealing style and scholarly expertise, and featuring full-color maps and illustrations, Hildegard of Bingen presents the full scope of her life and achievements.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-321) and index.
Synopsis
The twelfth-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen would have been remarkable in any age. Today, her growing reputation as a composer of religious music has overshadowed the astonishing variety of her accomplishments and her part in the scientific, cultural, and theological revolution of the pre-Renaissance, from religion and mysticism to medicine and sex.
Scivias, her book of apocalyptic visions, with its extraordinary and compelling illustrations, would alone have been enough to endure her lasting fame.
The story of Hildegard's life, from her entry into a monastery at Disibodenberg on the Rhine as a child, through the exploration of her pent-up genius in middle years, to her eventual admission to the German canon of saints, is here told against a rich background of the years of the Crusades, the flowering of monasticism, papal schism and heresy. The forceful character that emerges challenges any image of demurely subjugated womanhood associated with the period. Hildegard's story is as fascinating as that of any figure in the Middle Ages, and she and her musical legacy continue to be the subject of debate a thousand years later.
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Fiona Maddocks is an award-winning writer and editor, and since 1997 has been chief music critic of
The Observer (London). She was a member of the editorial team that set up Channel 4 television in Great Britain and later became the first music editor at
The Independent (London). From 1992 to 1997 she was founding editor of
BBC Music Magazine. She was educated at the Royal College of Music and Newnham College, Cambridge. She is married with two children and lives in Oxford, England.
From the Hardcover edition.