Hildegard of Bingen lived in an era of religious reform and revival. Pressure for reform came both from the top down and, perhaps more important, from the bottom up. The High Middle Ages witnessed an epic battle between religious and secular authorities for control of the church and clergy. At the same time that the papacy fought to consolidate and expand its power, men and women from all walks of life sought a richer, purer spiritual experience. We see this yearning reflected in the many new monastic orders established in this period and in the reforms enacted by older orders. It is also evident in the lay organizations that formed to give believers an opportunity to play a more active role in the religious life of their communities; the intensifying demands that the church move closer to the teachings of Christ; and the emergence of heretical movements whose members had come to believe that a true Christian life was not possible within the Roman Catholic Church.

This intense religious climate helps explain Hildegard of Bingen’s rise to international prominence. For many Europeans, her mystical visions offered insight into the deepest mysteries of Christianity, an opportunity to listen in a direct and unmediated way to the “voice of the Living Light.” Impressed by her extraordinary intelligence, faith, and courage, Hildegard’s admirers saw in her an example of the authentic spiritual life to which they aspired. Famous in her own lifetime, she corresponded with popes and emperors, and some of the most important people of her day sought her advice and counsel. As you read these samples of her correspondence, consider what they reveal about the qualities that made her attractive to so many of her contemporaries. What do they tell us about how a “poor little woman,” as Hildegard described herself, came to be seen as a worthy instrument for the transmission of God’s word?