Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) joined the church at the tender age of 8 with Jutta von Sponheim. Her history has been chronicled and tells the story of a woman who devoted her life to the church and to spreading the teachings which were sent to her in visions through her music, writings, and botanical research. She was eventually named a saint and has been used as an example of feminine wisdom and empowerment by numerous groups during history but Mary Sharratt doesn't want to reimagine just her scholarly side, she wants to invite you into the soul of the child and woman who experienced the realities.
Sharratt has taken the historical facts and used them to create a personal account of Hildegard and her continual growth in spiritual acumen and the trials of pride she faced as she boldly strode forward to create a path for herself and her teachings and faced hardships few other women of her time could have understood. In doing this we come closer to appreciating the way Hildegard must have seen the world, how she helped to create one where the nuns under her direciton were able to achieve so much more than they had been enabled to before. Through her daring and innovative teachings, her fearlessness and determination Hildegard forged a new way forward not only in Germany but across Europe and into the future.
When you read this story you are not just reading about a religious woman but a character who has been treated with the love and intelligence that she deserves. Sharratt gives you Hildegard von Bingen, full of grace and you cannot ask for anything more.
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