Health and Medicine in Hildegard of Bingen’s Scivias
摘要
Studies on Hildegard of Bingen’s ideas on medicine and healing have mostly been focused on her two well-known “scientific” works, Causae et Curae and Physica, while her mystical treatises have been less referred to. This chapter seeks to contribute to a more complete understanding of Hildegard’s approach to healing by exploring how health and medicine are portrayed in Scivias, her first mystical work. To do so, I first examine her allegorical use of medical language to explain how the salvation of the soul works. Then, I explore the different ways in which soul and body are related, as each perspective adds a new nuance to her comprehension of health. In this way, I argue that, for Hildegard, physical health is included in salvation and that the body holds an important place in her visionary thought. Her interest in this realm of knowledge is not only already present in her first work but is also integrated there into a broader frame along with her views on suffering, salvation, and the relation between body and soul.