Hildegard Von Bingen Headstrong

Hildegard von Bingen was a headstrong woman. The convent in Disbodenberg. was both restrictive and liberating for those living in it. There were many rules in which the nuns had to follow and they did not have the power to do anything they wanted. This can be seen in the film when Richardis, a young nun in training, is seen running through the garden and proclaims that the rules of St. Benedict are “guidelines not commandments. (film)” This thought process is not taken fondly by Hildegard as she inexplicitly tells Richardis that she cannot act according to her own will and needs to follow the rules. The convent is mentally restrictive as there are people who punish themselves as they feel that that is a way to be forgiven by God or seen as
stronger by God. By living in the convent their faith is so strong that they believe self-punishment is a sacrifice to God and a way feel what Christ felt when he died. This however was only the case for some members, others, including Hildegard, felt that you need a healthy body in order to have a healthy soul. Although no one was forced to stay in the convent, once becoming a nun the individuals vowed to. This was restrictive as they were not allowed to leave the convent, if they did they would likely be looked down upon by family and others. Although restricting in some senses, the convent was also liberating. There was an intense spiritual connection between those who lived in the convent as a higher power which made the women feel fulfilled. There was also education, women in the convent received a formal education compared to women outside who received none (book pg 27). This allowed women to learn about music and the healing power of plants as well as study manuscripts. They had the ability to think for themselves in a way that women outside of the convent did not.
I do not think Hildegard saw herself as a feminist but in many aspects, she was one.
She wanted her sisters and daughters to learn and think for themselves. She took pride in seeing one of the women get a question right when asked about the healing property of plants. She was clearly tired of male control and was visibly upset when Abbot Kuno blamed the young nun Sister Clara’s seduction on her getting pregnant. He would not admit that one of the brothers were equally to blame. She stood up for what she believed in and recorded her visions even though many were skeptic of them. She even convinced the Archbishop to let her move all the women to a new location, Rupertsberg, she saw in one of her visions. I feel like she struggled with having to clear everything through men as those were the people who were the highest in her religion. Although she asked permission before recording her visions or moving the convent, she clearly did not care about any of their opinions as she was planning on doing everything, even if they said no. She also had the women perform outside of their normal attire, wearing white dresses and their hair down. This did resonate well with the nun visiting, however Hildegard defended her choice of attire for the show by retorting that many of these policies applied to married women and those outside of the convent, not virgin nuns. Hildegard wanted to spread education to the masses and travelled in order to reach out and teach, something not many women of the time
did.
I feel when Hildegard references the breath of god, she is referring to the wind. When a feather floats in the wind, it gets carried away without any real reasoning of where it is going. This suits her personality as she seemed to use music and song to channel the energy she was unable to release going about her daily life in the convent. When listening to her music I feel a sense of strength yet relaxtion mixed into one; which I feel mimics her personality well. She was a strong women but also extremely calm within the convent. When she sings she is the feather as this is the time when she feels the lightest and does not have to think about the stress of being the head of the sisters.
Before this class I had not heard of Hildegard von Bingen, yet after learing about her I feel her story should be taught to others more. After watching the film and listening to her compositions, I feel connected to Hildegard. She was a strong women who knew what she wanted, to share her visions with the world and be a leader to her sisters and those who followed her. I truly believe she was one of the first feminist as she stood for female rights and the power to do the same things men were allowed to do back in medieval times.