Recommended resources: Hildegard

BOOKS

Receive an introduction to Hildegard with Barbara Newman, ed., Voice of the Living Light (1998); Charles Burnett and Peter Dronke, eds., Hildegard of Bingen: The Context of Her Life and Thought (1998); Fiona Maddocks, Hildegard of Bingen: A Woman of Her Age (2003); and Debra Stoudt, George Ferzoco, and Beverly Kienzle, eds., A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen (2013). 

Focus on Hildegard’s view of health and healing with Gottfried Hertzka and Wighard Strehlow, Hildegard of Bingen’s Medicine (1987); and Jany Fournier-Rosset, From Saint Hildegard’s Kitchen: Foods of Health, Foods of Joy (2010). 

For Hildegard’s music, see Maureen Epp and Brian Power, eds., The Sounds and Sights of Performance in Early Music (2009); Sara Salvadori, Hildegard von Bingen: A Journey into the Images (2019), Hildegard von Bingen: In the Heart of God (2021), and Hildegard von Bingen: The Fountain of Wisdom (2026).

And for a little more on her theology, see Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard’s Theology of the Feminine (1998); Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader (2007); and Beverly Kienzle, Hildegard of Bingen, Gospel Interpreter (2020).

Learn about the lives of some of Hildegard’s contemporaries, starting with Bernard of Clairvaux in Gillian Rosemary Evans, Bernard of Clairvaux (2000) and Brian Patrick McGuire, Bernard of Clairvaux: An Inner life (2020). For Jutta of Sponheim, see Anna Silvas, trans., Jutta and Hildegard: The Biographical Sources (1999). Read Elisabeth of Schönau in Anne Clark, trans., Elisabeth of Schönau: The Complete Works (2000). For Pope Eugenius III, see Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt, Pope Eugenius III (1145–1153): The First Cistercian Pope (2025). Finally, read about Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in John Freed, Frederick Barbarossa: The Prince and the Myth (2016). 

For Hildegard’s context in medieval Europe, including monastic, political, and geographical spheres of life, see Alfred Haverkamp, Helga Braun, and Richard Mortimer, Medieval Germany, 1056–1273 (1992); Beverly Kienzle, Cistercians, Heresy and Crusade (1145–1229): Preaching in the Lord’s Vineyard (2001); Glenn E. Myers, Seeking Spiritual Intimacy: Journeying Deeper with Medieval Women of Faith (2011); Judith Bennett and Ruth Mazo Karras, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (2013); S. J. Allen, An Introduction to the Crusades (2017); Alison Beach and Isabelle Cochelin, eds., The Cambridge History of Medieval Monasticism in the Latin West (2020); and Peter Wilson, Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire (2020). 

HILDEGARD IN HER OWN WORDS

Many of Hildegard’s writings have been translated into English. Those relevant to this issue include Jane Bishop and Columba Hart, trans., Scivias (1990); Hugh Feiss, ed. and trans., Explanation of the Rule of St. Benedict (1990); Bruce Hozeski, trans., Liber vitae meritorum (1997); Barbara Newman, ed. and trans., Symphonia (1998); Priscilla Throop, trans., Physica (1998); Margaret Berger, trans., On Natural Philosophy and Medicine: Selections from Cause et Cure (1999); Joseph Baird and Radd Ehrman, trans., The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen, Volumes 1–3 (2001); Beverly Kienzle, Hildegard of Bingen and Her Gospel Homilies: Speaking New Mysteries (2009); Christopher Evans, ed., and Hugh Feiss, trans., Two Hagiographies: Vita sancti Ruppert confessoris; Vita sancti Dysibodi episcopi (2010); Beverly Kienzle, trans., Homilies on the Gospels (2011); Beverly Kienzle, trans., and Jenny Bledsoe and Stephen Behnke, eds., Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions (2014); and Nathaniel Campbell, trans., The Book of Divine Works (2018). 

For many readers anthologies and selected writings of Hildegard may prove more accessible—see Fiona Bowie and Oliver Davies, eds., Hildegard of Bingen: An Anthology (1990); Sabina Flanagan, trans., Secrets of God: Writings of Hildegard of Bingen (1996); and Mark Atherton, trans., Selected Writings: Hildegard of Bingen (2001).

VIDEOS FROM VISION VIDEO

Vision Video has several films related to this issue, including The Christian Story, History of Christianity, Hildegard, Pioneers of the Spirit: Hildegard of Bingen, and Monasteries. Find these titles and more on Vision Video’s streaming service, RedeemTV. 

PAST CH ISSUES

Several past issues of Christian History relate to this one. Some physical copies are still available for purchase, but you can access the text of all past issues on our website.

#24: Bernard of Clairvaux

#30: Women in the Medieval Church

#40: The Crusades

#49: Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages

#93: St. Benedict and Western Monasticism

#101: Healthcare and Hospitals

#119: The Wonder of Creation

#127: Medieval Lay Mystics

#134: How the Church Fostered Science and Technology

#149: Revival: The First Thousand Years

WEBSITES 

See the usual collections at Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Gutenberg.org, and Internet Modern Sourcebook for access to primary sources since many of Hildegard’s writings are in the public domain.

Medieval studies websites related to this issue include The Rule of St. Benedict, The Orb, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. You can find specific online resources related to Hildegard at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Hildegard and International Society of Hildegard von Bingen Studies (this features work from some of the issue’s authors). Find translations of Hildegard’s writings at Fides Quaerens Intellectum by Nathaniel Campbell, as well as a comprehensive website about Hildegard at Saint Hildegard von Bingen. Also explore the Scivias Institute and the pilgrimage on the Hildegard Way, as mentioned in this issue.

Be sure to give the ensemble Sequentia a listen—since the 1980s, they have recorded an impressive collection of Hildegard’s musical works (their performances are available for purchase but can also be heard on YouTube).

Finally, obtain free downloads of Hildegard’s compositions, such as Sequences and Hymns or Werke, at Internet Archive. CH