Hildegard of Bingen: Healing and the Nature of the Cosmos / Edition 1

by Heinrich Schipperges

Overview

Hildegard of Bingen’s contemporaries called her “prophetissa teutonica,” honoring her philosophical writings and interpretation of the cosmos. Medievalists still consider her one of the leading mystics, and point to her active spiritual and artistic life in the twelfth century as the finest example of what a woman can achieve. She was praised for her natural gifts, her prophetic charisma, and her dynamic reforming disposition. The abbess Hildegard of Bingen was the first composer to sign her musical works. As a playwright and author, she witnessed and shaped the time of the Crusades, the literary minnesang, and political and theological debate. The author draws a complex picture of her life and work, as he “translates” Hildegard’s ideas and her mysterious world of symbols from medieval Latin into contemporary concepts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901558761383
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Pages:	130
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Heinrich Schipperges, University of Heidelberg, an internationally acclaimed expert on the history of medicine, has written several books on Hildegard of Bingen.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Life and Work

1. The Formative Years and Adolescence

2. The Written Work

3. Musical and Artistic Works

4. The Prophetic Mission

5. The Final Years

III. The World and Humanity

1. The Spiritual Setting

2. Humanity in the Cosmos

3. The Nature of the Body

4. The Human Being as Male and Female

5. Working upon Nature

IV. Natural History and the Healing Arts

1. The Workings of Nature

2. The Basis and Nature of Disease

3. The Means of Healing as the Means to Salvation

4. The Healing Arts as a guide to the Art of Living

5. The Way of Nature and the Conduct of Life

V. Healing and Salvation

1. The Ways of Creation

2. Humankind as Responsible Creature

3. Orienting Humanity in the World

4. The Completion of the World

5. The End of Time

VI. Looking Ahead

Editorial Reviews

Hildegard of Bingen was born in 1098 of noble parents and educated at a Benedictine monastery, where she eventually became prioress. Throughout her life, she experienced mystical visions that were authenticated by the church. Schipperges (Univ. of Heidelberg) delineates this remarkable thinker's view of the human being as a microcosm of the universe, intricately bound by the senses to the life of the soul, nature, and God. Although Schipperges does not delve into her writings in any detail, he does a fine job of concisely portraying the depth and breadth of Hildegard's work, singling out modern medicine and theology as disciplines that much to learn from her vision and faith. Suitable for academic and public libraries.

Library Journal

“Schipperges delineates this remarkable thinker’s view of the human being as a microcosm of the universe, intricately bound by the senses to the life of the soul, nature, and God. He does a fine job of concisely portraying the depth and breadth of Hildegard’s work, singling out modern medicine and theology as disciplines that have much to learn from her vision and faith.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher