Krankheitsbilder: im Liber de Plantis der Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) und im Speyerer Kraüterbuch (1456). Ein Beitrag zur medizinisch-pharmazeutischen Terminologie im Mittelalter. Vol. 1, Textband. Vol. 2, Indexband (review)

Abstract

When the history of medieval scholarship is written, the 1990s may well be labeled the Hildegardian Renaissance. Today, Hildegard of Bingen, one of the earliest women medical writers, is regarded as a holy person with an intriguing history. Globally, and most especially in the German-speaking world, her plain-speaking folk wisdom is attracting increasing attention as she is being rediscovered. Among her writings, she compiled a guide to plants that, in Annette Müller's interpretation, "offers a fullness of representations of the healing powers of plants, animals, minerals, etc. [sic], and a fullness of concepts in the areas of illness, therapy, and health" (p. 6). Because Hildegard was not a highly refined scholar by twelfth-century standards, her technical Latin was comparatively weak and her knowledge of previous medical literature comparatively limited. Much of her knowledge came directly to her via her culture. She had a distinct personality that comes through her writing and makes her all the more attractive.