Among Catholic saints, the 12th-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen perhaps best fits the description of wild womanhood offered by Cole Porter's "The Lady Is a Tramp." That is, Hildegard did it all, she did it her way, and everyone who hears about her is amazed. Such is a fair summary of the evidence offered in Hildegard of Bingen, a biography by Fiona Maddocks (the chief music critic for London's The Observer). Hildegard is today best known for her haunting musical compositions. She was also, in Maddocks's description, "a polymath: a visionary, a theologian, a preacher; an early scientist and physician; a prodigious letter writer who numbered emperors and popes among her correspondents ... Her boldness, courage, and tenacity made her at once enthralling and haughty, intrepid, and irksome." This is a straightforward, chronologically organized biography, beginning with Hildegard's girlhood (she entered a male monastery when she was 8 years old) and ending with the story of her canonization and a contemporary account of the procession that occurs annually on her feast day in Eibingen, the site of the second convent she founded. Throughout, Maddocks reminds readers of the rich historical background of Hildegard's life (the Crusades, the rise of monasticism, the beginnings of the Renaissance), offering not only an account of one extraordinary woman but of an era whose influence on our own is still being felt. --Michael Joseph Gross


From Publishers Weekly
Of all the Western mystics being recovered today by spiritual seekers, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) occupies first place. Over the last decade, almost all of her extant writings have been translated and published or reprinted. In addition, no fewer than six biographical studies of her life have been released. Maddocks, chief music critic of the Observer (London), adeptly shows why Hildegard continues to fascinate seekers, chronicling the saint's life from the time she entered the cloister at Disibodenberg, at the age of eight, to her eventual canonization. From her 40th year until her death, Hildegard experienced prophetic and apocalyptic visions, 26 of which comprise her most famous work, Scivias (to know the way of the Lord), written over a period of 10 years. Her uncompromising spiritual judgment (she challenged both religious and political leaders of her time), her unceasing desire to follow the spiritual paths God revealed to her and her deep devotion to the life of the cloister attracted numerous followers. Hildegard was a Renaissance woman in the Middle Ages; she composed hymns, poems, a morality play, two major theological works (in addition to Scivias), hundreds of letters and two scientific and medical treatises that are sometimes remarkably modern in their descriptions of the causes and prevention of illnesses. Maddocks weaves excerpts from all these writings into the biographical narrative so that, despite plodding and workmanlike prose, the saint of Bingen comes alive for the modern world. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Maddocks is the chief music critic of the Observer (London) and a founding editor of BBC Music magazine. Here she provides a carefully researched biography of Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century woman of many talents musician, theologian, monastic founder, preacher, visionary, abbess, healer, and even scientist. Although many studies of Hildegard or of aspects of her work exist (see, e.g., studies by Regine Pernoud, LJ 8/98, and Heinrich Schipperges, LJ 5/1/97), Maddocks's study is distinguished by its use of newly available manuscript material. She steers a judicious course between those uncritical venerators of Hildegard and those detractors who question the authorship of works attributed to her. She is therefore able to reveal Hildegard's true talents as "the creative will that controls the final image" in her art. Maddocks also shows Hildegard in all her contradictions (e.g., her conservative assertion of female subservience, which contrasts with much of her own behavior). Highly recommended for academic and public libraries as well as seminary collections and women's studies collections. Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, VA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Visionary, poet, theologian, composer, healer, and abbess, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was renowned in her own day. She fell into obscurity, only to be resurrected in the closing decades of the twentieth century. She produced major works of theology, wrote on science and natural history, and frankly discussed human sexuality but is best known today for the ravishingly beautiful chants and hymns she composed. Maddocks, chief music critic of The Observer , offers a more scholarly, well-documented, thoughtful assessment of Hildegard, from her entry into a convent as a child to the establishment of her own convent to the flowering of her creativity to her canonization. Often, the Hildegard myth overshadows the historical person. Maddocks lifts the veils of mystery to reveal the complex character behind them, turning an icon into a human being. She describes Hildegard's principal works, from visionary and scientific writings to a morality play, poems, and letters, each of which adds considerably to greater understanding of Hildegard the person and the artist. This is biography of a high order. It does justice to one of the remarkable women of the Middle Ages. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review

“Maddocks adeptly shows why Hildegard continues to fascinate seekers.” —Publishers Weekly


Review

?Maddocks adeptly shows why Hildegard continues to fascinate seekers.? ?Publishers Weekly

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The twelfth-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen would have been remarkable in any age. Today, her growing reputation as a composer of religious music has overshadowed the astonishing variety of her accomplishments and her part in the scientific, cultural, and theological revolution of the pre-Renaissance, from religion and mysticism to medicine and sex. Scivias, her book of apocalyptic visions, with its extraordinary and compelling illustrations, would alone have been enough to ensure her lasting fame. The story of Hildegard's life is chronicled from her entry into a monastery at Disibodenberg on the Rhine as a child, through the exploration of her pent-up genius in middle years, and on to her eventual admission to the German canon of saints. The forceful character that emerges challenges any image of demurely subjugated womanhood associated with the period. Hildegard's story is as fascinating as that of any figure in the Middle Ages, and she and her musical legacy continue to be the subject of debate a thousand years later.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal