A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

82 constant j. mews
into bloom, and their marrow and blood were strengthened in such a way
that they were more able to take discipline than before.84
Conclusion
When Hildegard moved with her nuns to Rupertsberg, she hoped to implement
a new style of religious renewal from that which she had experienced
at Disibodenberg. She had been brought up in an abbey that looked
back to William of Hirsau as a great reformer of monasticism in Germany.
Having being raised in a circle of women alongside a newly established
monastic community, Hildegard owed much to the achievement of the
Hirsau reform. At the same time, she was never fully at ease under the
authority of its preeminent recluse, Jutta of Sponheim. Only in 1141 did she
experience a moment of illumination and understanding of the Scriptures
that transformed the manner in which she saw her role at Disibodenberg.
When she engaged in correspondence with the abbot of Hirsau, as well as
with other monks influenced by its traditions, Hildegard was perceived as
injecting new life into a reform movement that was already beginning to
ossify.85 While she was not the fijirst woman to report having experienced
visions, she used the format of visionary experience to offfer authority to
her understanding, not just of the Bible, but of monastic experience as a
means to grow in the full humanity of both body and spirit. Rather than
emphasizing strict asceticism, as pursued by Jutta of Sponheim, she interpreted
the Rule of Benedict as demonstrating a spirit of moderation in
religious life.
Through her visions, Hildegard overcame the suspicions of many “who
were astonished that so many mysteries should be revealed to an uneducated
woman, when there existed so many strong and wise men.”86 She
recalled that there had been many who doubted the legitimacy of her
revelations. She benefijited from the support offfered to her by Bernard of
Clairvaux at the Council of Trier in 1147/1148. She also enjoyed great honor
84 Ibid., p. 96.
85 Hildegard’s exchange with the abbot of Hirsau is the subject of an interpretative
essay and edition by Lieven Van Acker and Hermann Josef Pretsch, “Der Briefwechsel des
Benediktinerklosters St Peter und Paul in Hirsau mit Hildegard von Bingen. Eine Interpretationsversuch
zu seiner kritischen Edition,” in Hirsau. St. Peter und Paul 1091–1991, pt. 2,
pp. 157–72.
86 V. Hild., 2.5: “Quid est hoc, quod huic stulte et indocte femine tot mysteria reuelantur,
cum multi fortes ac sapientes uiri sint?” p. 28.