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This course explores the various facets of Hildegard von Bingen's work, with a guiding focus on how each can be seen as part of a larger project of restoring order to humanity and creation. We will see how she used a variety of different media and genres of communication to convey a prophetic call to right relationship with God and the created order—and thus address the challenges of her era.
Week 1 – Hildegard's Time
This week we'll be looking at the context in which Hildegard lived. We will look at a brief overview of what is known about Hildegard's life, followed by the issues that motivated her in her work. We will then consider the question of how this time is similar and different from our own.
Week 2 – Hildegard as Mystic
This week, we'll be discussing Hildegard's mysticism. We will explore how her mysticism differs from the model normally associated with women mystics of her time, having a clear linguistic, rational dimension rather than revolving around wordless 'ecstatic' experience. We will then consider how this form of mysticism enabled her to comment on the current events of her age with authority.
Week 3 – Hildegard as Composer
This week, we'll be looking at Hildegard's music. We will relate it to her theology and to the function it played in her community. We will then consider its significance as a teaching tool, and reflect on the way it has been received by modern audiences – which stands in stark contrast to this original function.
Week 4 – Hildegard as Letter Writer
This week, we'll be looking at Hildegard's use of letters. We will consider the way she uses them as a vehicle for constructing and deploying her authority, teaching, advising and upbraiding her addressees. But we will also look at some of her more unusual uses of letters—including in one notable instance, to exorcise.
Week 5 – Hildegard as Healer
This week, we'll be looking at Hildegard's approach to healing. Beginning with a brief overview of the medieval medical theory and practice, we will look at how Hildegard embeds the pursuit of health in her wider cosmology. In doing so, we will see that, while her approach to healing is archaic and ineffectual compared to modern medicine, it nevertheless can be read as another part of her broader project connected to the activities covered in previous weeks.
Dr Nicolete Burbach is the Social and Environmental Justice Lead at the London Jesuit Centre. Her PhD thesis looked at Pope Francis’ hermeneutics of uncertainty, and her research focuses on resourcing Pope Francis to think through issues of alienation and disagreement, with a particular focus on navigating the difficulties around trans inclusion in the Church. Previously, she has taught modules on postmodern theology and Catholic Social Teaching, both at Durham University.
