A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen

282 michael embach
texts compiled during the reign of Emperor Sigismund (1433–1437) and
is also directly linked to a few passages from the Liber diuinorum operum
(3.5.16, 25, [26]).22 This additional edition of Hildegard’s letter to
Werner of Kirchheim appears in the Kaiser Sigismunds Buch produced by
Eberhard of Windecke (c.1380–1440), in which he also ascribes the Auffahrtabend
(Ascension Evening) text to Hildegard. This latter vision likely
originated from among the loose network of Franciscan spirituals; it was
recorded around 1293 in Latin and was later ascribed to John of Parma
(d. 1289). The subject matter concerns the fate of the Church as corrupted
by simony and the threat of extensive oppression by the Roman curia. The
Aufffahrtabend text circulated in abridged form (now known as the Visio
fratris Johannis), and authorship was attributed to Henry of Langenstein
and Emperor Sigismund in addition to Hildegard. The prophecies from
Windecke’s Sigismund book, including the essay “Von der gerechtikeit,”
written by Michael Beheim (c.1416–1475), were later translated into verse
form. The ensuing poem, which extended to 530 stanzas, was written in
the so-called Osterweise, or Easter-song format. It paraphrases Hildegard’s
Church politics and expectations regarding the end times.
The “Visions of St Thomas” represent another vision cycle that is linked
to the exemplum of a vision received while asleep. This dream vision was
produced around 1215 at the Cistercian nunnery of St Thomas on the Kyll
(Trier, Stadtbibliothek, Ms. 771/1350 8º, fols 111v–125r) and presumably
modeled after one of Hildegard’s visions. The visionary recipient was most
likely the second abbess at St Thomas, and the influence of Hildegardian
reception appears solely in the form—that is, the literary structure of the
prophecy—not in its contents. The “Visions of St Thomas” focus on the
fruits of monastic virtues and vices and present a concise compendium of
the Cistercian Cura monialium. It has been theorized that Hildegard was
involved in an exchange of letters with Elisabeth of St Thomas, the founding
abbess of the convent.
An important thread to follow in tracing the dissemination of the
Liber vite meritorum appears in the Dendermonde 9 manuscript, which
Angela Carlevaris employed as the lead manuscript in the critical edition
of the text. Hildegard herself sent the Dendermonde codex to the abbey
of Villers in Brabant, where it was apparently used as reading material for
22 Manuscript transmission: München, Universitätsbibliothek [University Library], 2°
Ms. 684, fols 87r–92r (dated 1465); Weimar, Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Ms. Q 127,
fols 121r–127v (c.1460/1470); and München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek [Bavarian State
Library], cgm 523, fols 267ra–273rb (dated 1471).