1098: Hildegard von Bingen was born in Germany the tenth and last child, and was sickly from the time of her birth.
1106: At the age of eight, Hildegard is sent to live in a retreat adjacent to a friary in Disibodenberg with the anchorite Jutta von Sponheim .
1113: Hildegard takes monastic vows and becomes a Benedictine nun.
1136: Jutta dies; Hildegard is elected Head of the convent by her community
1141: Hildegard, who claimed to have visions from a very young age, receives a prophetic call from God demanding her to record her visions. She starts writing them down with the help of Brother Volmar
1148: Pope Eugene III hea creates a commission to determine whether Hildeagrd’s visions are divinely or demonically inspired. The commission visits her and reports the visions to be true. Influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux, the Pope acknowledges Hildegard as a visionary and prophet.
1150: Hildegard founds the all-female Convent Rupertsberg, near Bingen.
1151–58: Hildegard finishes her volume “Liber scivias domini” (Know the Paths of the Lord). She also writes books on natural sciences, including “Physica” (The Healing Power of Nature) and “Causae et curae” (Holistic Healing).
1158–63: Hildegard makes several preaching tours through the Rhineland and into France.
1163: Hildegard writes “Liber vitae meritorum” (Book of Life’s Merits) and begins work on “Liber divinorum operum” (Book of Divine Works)
1165–1170: Hildegard founds the all-female Convent Eibingen, near Rudesheim, and embarks on further teaching and missionary tours throughout Europe.
1178: Hildegard runs into conflicts with the Church for refusing to have the body of an excommunicated man who had been buried in consecrated ground dug up. The Church prohibits the community from taking Eucharist or singing the offices as punishment.
1179: After Hildegard’s lengthy letter writing campaign, the Church reverses the interdict; on September 17, Hildegard dies at the age of 81.
Recommended Recordings Symphonie, Sequentia Canticles of Ecstasy, Sequentia 11,000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula, Anonymous 4
Recommended Readings Voice of the Living Light, Barbara Newman Hildegard of Bingen: A Visionary Life, Sabina Flanagan Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader, Carmen Acevedo Butcher God’s Hotel, Victoria Sweet
To Learn Hildegard’s Music: From the Ear to the Heart: Singing Circles with Devi Mathieu. To learn about the schedule, contact Devi at dmathieu@onic.net.