Hildegard of Bingen
German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath
Years: 1098 - 1179
Saint Hildegard of Bingen, O.S.B.
(German: Hildegard von Bingen; Latin: Hildegardis Bingensis) (1098 – 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, is a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.
Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founds the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165.
One of her works as a composer, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play.
She writes theological, botanical and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, and poems, while supervising brilliant miniature illuminations.
Although the history of her formal recognition as a saint is complicated, she has been recognized as a saint by parts of the Roman Catholic Church for centuries.
On October 7, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI names her a Doctor of the Church.
