A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

262 debra l. stoudt
begins with Adam’s fall and discusses Adam’s elemental nature: formed of
earth and water, that which holds the earth together, he was quickened by
the breath of God, fijire, and air.61 It also examines the origins of disease,
asserting that many ailments result from the excess of phlegm (flecmata),
a condition brought about by Adam’s actions: by choosing to sin, he separated
himself from that which is good and introduced that which is bad
into his body.62 The capacity for illness entered the human body with the
fijirst sin and resulted from the alienation of humankind from God. Since
each person determines his own path in life, sin and hence disease remain
a possibility for every individual and are determined by the person’s own
will. The same explanation for the origin of illness is found in book 5 of
the Liber vite meritorum, where Hildegard writes: “While man is alive and
able to do good and evil, he may bring affflictions to his body because of
his sins.”63 Although Adam is the source, sin is present in every generation
of humankind.
A connection between the humors and sin is provided in the Cause
et cure as well. When Adam fijirst inhabited paradise, the humor of black
bile contained in him was like a crystal or bright light, representing consciousness
and the completion of good works; it allowed for a more direct
connection to the Divine. After Adam disobeyed God’s command, this
brilliance was lost, Adam’s eyes were unable to see heavenly things, his
soul became sad (melancholy), and anger manifested itself.64
A comparable afffliction troubles Tristitia Seculi (Worldly Sorrow) in the
Vite Meritorum: entangled in a dried-up and leafless tree, she is cut offf
61 Cause, 2.56, p. 59, and 2.74, p. 71: “Nam cum deus hominem crearet, limus per aquam
conglutinatus est, ex quo homo formatus est, misitque deus in formam illam ‘spiraculum
uite’ igneum et aereum.”
62 Ibid., 2.64, pp. 63–64: “Quod autem quidam homines diuersas infijirmitates patiuntur,
hoc de flecmate est, quod in ipsis habundat. Si enim homo in paradyso permansisset, flecmata
in corpore suo non haberet, unde multa mala procedunt, sed caro eius integra esset
et absque liuore. Cum autem malo consensit et bonum reliquit, similis factus est terre,
que et bonas et utiles ac malas et inutiles herbas gignit, et que bonam et malam humiditatem
et succum in se habet.” Glaze, “Medical Writer: ‘Behold the Human Creature,’” p. 136,
discusses this passage from other perspectives.
63 Book of the Rewards of Life, p. 255; Vite mer., 5.68, p. 255, ll. 1244–45: “Quapropter
homo dum in seculo uiuit et dum bonum et malum operari potest, corpori suo affflictionem
pro peccatis suis imponat.” Book 5 presents the visions of the man looking over the
entire earth—a comprehensive perspective that takes in the present and the past, and one
that echoes other themes of the second book of the Cause as well, e.g. references to the elements
(5.20), especially water (5.13, 5.15, 5.18, and 5.19).
64 Cause, 2.298, p. 183: “Cum enim Adam diuinum preceptum preuaricatus est, in ipso
momento melancholia in sanguine eius coagulata est, ut splendor recedit, cum lumen
extinguitur, et ut stuppa ardens et fumigans fetendo remanet.”