RLM4060

Hildegard of Bingen and her world

Constant Mews

12 points -2 hours per week -First semester -Clayton

Objectives Students will be expected to acquire and demonstrate understanding of the thought of Hildegard of Bingen, and to evaluate critically her contribution to cosmology and religion.

Synopsis This subject examines the life and writings of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) in the context of changing attitudes to political and religious authority in Europe between 1070 and 1170, as well as of some of her contemporaries. Hildegard's visionary, scientific and mystical writings provide a unique window for studying central concerns of twelfth-century thought, above all its concern to integrate the natural world into its cosmological perspective.

Assessment Essay (7000 words): 60% Examination (2 hours): 40%

Prescribed texts

Bowie J and Davies O Hildegard of Bingen: An anthology SPCK 1990
Hildegard of Bingen Scivias Paulist Press, 1989
Hildegard of Bingen Book of Divine Works Bear, 1987

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