St. Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary Life
St. Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary Life
by Sabina Flanagan
Routledge Publishing Co./ Taylor & Francis Group, New York, New York © 1998 227 pp.
Here is a biography of a medieval woman, Hildegard of Bingen. She was born in 1098 to a wealthy, educated German family, lived 81 years, and died in 1179. Known as a visionary, mystic, poet, musician, healer, and theologian, she was named and honored as Saint Hildegard of Bingen.
Sabina Flanagan, author of this biography, is a medieval scholar and feminist. She has written an easy-to-read story of an amazingly gifted woman who pursued her studies in a world dominated by men. I learned how bewildered and ashamed Hildegard felt in her early years about her gifts, how she kept her questions about the world closely held for fear she would show her differences. In her later years, she begins to share her work as she becomes known for her intellectual power.
This is a book I recommend. It is not just a book of historical facts. Sabina Flanagan searches for the personal details of St. Hildegard of Bingen's life that give texture to her life.
-- reviewed by Barbara Goldberg
Here is a biography of a medieval woman, Hildegard of Bingen. She was born in 1098 to a wealthy, educated German family, lived 81 years, and died in 1179. Known as a visionary, mystic, poet, musician, healer, and theologian, she was named and honored as Saint Hildegard of Bingen.Sabina Flanagan, author of this biography, is a medieval scholar and feminist. She has written an easy-to-read story of an amazingly gifted woman who pursued her studies in a world dominated by men. I learned how bewildered and ashamed Hildegard felt in her early years about her gifts, how she kept her questions about the world closely held for fear she would show her differences. In her later years, she begins to share her work as she becomes known for her intellectual power.
This is a book I recommend. It is not just a book of historical facts. Sabina Flanagan searches for the personal details of St. Hildegard of Bingen's life that give texture to her life.
-- reviewed by Barbara Goldberg