A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

hildegard of bingen: a history of reception 277
the Elder, 1325–1397) and Dietrich of Nieheim (Niem or Nyem, c.1340–
1418), among others.
The Pentachronon and the other pseudepigraphical works indicate that
Hildegard’s original textual focus had been moderated over time and had
given way to a rather loose association with the authority of her name.
And yet the dissemination of her original works was never disrupted over
the course of more than 800 years. The strong efffect that Hildegard was
able to exert, despite the relatively thin manuscript transmission history,
demands an explanation. In summary, it can be stated that this results
directly and indirectly from the development of a specifijic Hildegardian
myth, which over time also operated in a form only loosely connected
with Hildegard’s writings. This myth is commonly evoked as a topos,
through which means an aura of generalized importance is created. Hildegard
was elevated as the papally approved, prophetic voice of Germany.
Pope Eugene III and Bernard of Clairvaux are considered among her informants,
and the emperor and several kings number among the recipients
of her letters. This image gained another level through the formation of
the clichéd views of Hildegard as the most important medieval musical
composer or as the fijirst female doctor in Germany.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, Hildegard’s works were translated
into the vernacular over a broad expanse of Europe, stretching from the
British Isles through southern France and Spain, into northern France,
the Netherlands and Flanders, and extending east into Bohemia. Hildegard’s
vernacular reception was not uncommonly based on Gebeno of
Eberbach’s Pentachronon.
From a diachronic point of view encompassing her entire corpus, it
would appear that most copies of Hildegard’s works were made either during
her lifetime or shortly after her death. This copious manuscript transmission
could be considered as a phenomenon that is essentially close to
authorial, if not indeed controlled by the author herself. Hildegard’s own
monastery at the Rupertsberg, above all others, formed the beating heart
for the dissemination of her texts. Hildegard used the monastery’s scriptorium
the same way a lord employed his chancery, and production of
copies of her texts took on a serial character reminiscent of manufacturing
production lines. Several Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries—
the abbeys of Zwiefalten, Gembloux, and Sts Eucharius and Matthias in
Trier, whose leaders were close to Hildegard—were also drawn into the
task of disseminating her works. The last-mentioned abbey in particular
performed yeoman’s service in the production of Hildegard’s manuscripts