Review by Booklist Review
In 1141, Hildegard of Bingen, a middle-aged nun at the monastery of Disibodenberg, had a vision in which the voice of God commanded her to "say and write what you see and hear." For the remaining 38 years of her life, Hildegard obeyed the edict with a vengeance, producing three major theological tracts; treatises on medicine, natural history, and science; and numerous works of poetry and song--all of this during a period when precious few women (and men, too, for that matter) were educated, much less given to expounding on weighty and diverse subjects. Excerpts of Hildegard's writing abound in this book, but it is Flanagan's descriptions of medieval society, and the place women occupied in it, that will especially hold reader interest. A worthy addition to any women's studies collection. Notes; to be indexed. --Steve Weingartner
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Hildegard was a unique and remarkable woman of the 12th century who began the austere life of a religious at the age of eight. In light of the fact that she surmounted the typical restraints and low esteem in which women were held in the Middle Ages, her accomplishments were prodigious. That she wrote at all was exceptional. Her interests were both mystical and intellectual, including natural history, medicine, and science. Her musical works are performed even today. She is best known, though, for three lengthy theological works--discussed in some detail here--that came about from her visionary experiences. Just as Hildegard ``sought to understand the world in all its aspects, natural, human and divine,'' this biography approaches her life from a scholarly viewpoint, seeking to interpret her visionary knowledge from a modern perspective. It is the first major work to do so.-- Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Flanagan, a research fellow at the Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia, offers an excellent biography of Hildegard of Bingen, an extraordinary medieval visionary. Born into a noble German family in 1098, Hildegard was dedicated to God at birth. Nobles commonly consecrated one child to the monastery as a kind of human tithe, but Hildegard proved uncommonly suited to spiritual life: at three, she would write that she ""saw such a great light that my soul quaked."" By the time she was seven, when she was sealed in a cell at the Benedictine monastery at Disibodenberg, Hildegard had learned never to speak of her visions or her ability to see the future. She was taught to read and write Latin, but, as a female, her education and her childhood lapsed into an inconceivable isolation. Nonetheless, in 1141, Hildegard underwent a profound prophetic experience in which a brilliant light and a voice she understood to be the voice of God said, ""O fragile one, ash of ash and corruption of corruption, say and write what you see and hear."" Liberated from the constraints of her sex by her certainty that she was a prophet transcribing a higher truth, Hildegard poured out awe-inspiring theological works. Her first, Scivias (a Latin contraction of ""Know the Ways of the Lord""), was read by the Pope, who commanded her to continue to write down the luminous truths she received from the Holy Spirit. In addition to running the convent, Hildegard continued to produce works on theology, medicine, poetry, music, and natural history--all illuminated with her drawings of her gorgeous visions. A fascinating book about a miraculous life. More scholarly and less ebullient than Matthew Fox's The Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen (1985--not reviewed), but bound to appeal to a general audience, since Hildegard is suddenly popular on the New Age circuit. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
