A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

the theology of repentance 243
Evidence for this appears in the penances exacted for killing another person,
in which the text distinguishes between murder caused by greed, killing
in self-defense, and killing a person through negligence. In the latter
case it states:
If a person, who has caused another to die through ignorance, desires to
evade the named torments and wishes to escape them, he should fast
according to the law; however the fast should be shorter or more lenient
because his will was not active in this sin.76
The killer must perform penance; however, the extent of the penance
should be milder because the sinner had no intention of sinning.
The search for the correct degree of chastisement stands at the center
of the instructions for penitential acts. The goal for the penitent is primarily
a change in the way this person acts and thinks, in addition to the quite
necessary purifijication. In this manner, the Vite mer. appears to distance
itself from Hildegard’s guardian and teacher, Jutta of Sponheim. We know
that Jutta imposed penances upon herself that sometimes assumed selfdestructive
forms.77
In general, the Vite mer. does not provide any indication as to the scope
of the penitential acts. That said, the penitent should not perform selfimposed
penances, but should instead trust in the judgement of a priest
whose task it is to evaluate the measure of penance.
The priest or confessor is referred to by various terms in the Vite mer.,
primarily as judge ( judex) or teacher (rector), often as the presiding
76 Vite mer., 1.112, p. 61, ll. 1776–79: “Quod si et ille qui hominem ignoranter in mortem
misit prefatos cruciatus abhorruerit, et eis abesse optauerit: ieiunia, sed tamen breuiata et
alleuiata, secundum iustitiam sibi componat, quoniam uoluntas eius eidem peccato non
astitit.”
77 Franz Staab, ed., “Vita domnae Juttae inclusae,” in Reformidee und Reformpolitik im
spätsalisch-frühstaufijischen Reich. Vorträge zur Tagung der Gesellschaft für mittelrheinische
Kirchengeschichte vom 11. bis 13. September 1991 in Trier, eds. Stefan Weinfurter and
Hubertus Seibert, Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte 68
(Mainz, 1992), pp. 172–87, at pp. 177–78: “Inter alia siquidem genera, quibus diros cruciatus
uel uulnera corpori suo inflixit, cilicium et catenam ferream per quae pridem membra
domare iuuenilia consueuit, ab ipso inclusionis suae tempore ad carnem inducta usque ad
fijinem uitae in usu habuit, nisi praecipua festiuitate aut graui infijirmitate ingruente. praecepto
maiorum cogeretur ab hiis abstinere.” Prayer practices could also damage her health,
since in winter she often spent extended periods of time in prayer standing barefoot or
kneeling, as a result of which she apparently became seriously ill, “Vita domnae Juttae,” 5,
p. 179: “multotiens stans erecta, uel supra genua inclinata crebra compleuit psalteria. Nonnumquam
uero huic operi nudis pedibus solebat uacare durissima instante hieme, ita ut
ex hoc labore graui afffijiceretur languore.”