Hildegard’s world

Around the time of Hildegard’s birth (1098), crusaders conquered Jerusalem. Thirteen years after her death in 1179, Richard the Lionheart fell short of reconquering it from Saladin. 

This was the era of Robin Hood’s fabled adventures and the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket; of scandalous intellectual Peter Abelard and controversial preacher Peter Waldo. A proto-Renaissance flourished, and several monastic renewal movements arose. Europe’s growing population enabled greater division of labor, especially in the loose German political patchwork later dubbed the “Holy Roman Empire.”

Hildegard lived on the German kingdom’s western edge in the Rhineland. New homes, farms, and monasteries abounded here, and the Rhine River was a watery highway for exports of wine, metal ores, and ceramics. Meanwhile the German emperors were locked in conflict with increasingly emperor-like popes. Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII’s contest over which had authority to appoint bishops led to attempts to depose each other and irreconcilable claims of divine right.

WOMEN’S WORK

Hildegard’s brilliance would have been impressive in any age, but special circumstances put her on a different path from most women of her day. A noblewoman such as Hildegard would normally have been expected to enter an arranged marriage for financial or political reasons, sometimes at a young age. In addition to motherly responsibilities, some wives were de facto co-rulers with their highly placed husbands; even more often, they acted as estate managers or diplomats for their families. 

Townswomen similarly worked alongside husbands and sons as merchants or artisans; the poor or unmarried tended to be servants, laundresses, or market vendors. Most people lived in the countryside, however; as in any age, farm women did many kinds of work. 

Though the fight against clerical marriage continued, leading theologians strongly encouraged lay marriage. Church authorities grew far stricter about marriage being consensual and indissoluble; these trends sometimes provided women more protection.

A SPECIAL CALLING

Hildegard was removed from secular life, however. Following a Benedictine tradition of “child oblation,” based on the example of the biblical Hannah dedicating Samuel to God’s service, Hildegard’s parents pledged her as a child to study for a monastic life. 

A nun’s life entailed many sacrifices but also many opportunities. Although convents always fell under male authority in some way, women experienced much of monastic life similarly to men in terms of training in both reading and writing. For Benedictines reading was especially emphasized.

The High Middle Ages also ushered in increasingly diverse forms of monastic devotion for women that could be temporary, allow married couples, or involve significant direct cooperation with male monastics. This trend did not fit neatly into existing church structures and created friction with episcopal authorities, who sought to maintain male leadership. 

For the most part, the church welcomed Hildegard’s bold voice, not only because of her consistent humility and skillful diplomacy, but also because of her officially endorsed status as a prophetess after the model of biblical seers such as Deborah, Huldah, and Anna. Most women, even devout and talented nuns, were not asked to go on exhortative tours! Careful investigation into her teachings led popes, bishops, and fellow monastics to believe that God himself was making an exception.