Born around 1098 in Germany to Mechtild of Merxheim-Nahet and Hildebert of Bermersheim, a family of the free lower nobility, Hildegard of Bingen, also known as Hildegarde von Bingen, was a Christian mystic, visionary, and a woman of many talents and great influence. Also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, she was a Benedictine abbess, and polymath, proficient in philosophy, cosmology, medicine, and musical composition, as well as one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony.

She he was also a talented poet, as well as a composer, and one of the few known composers to have written both the music and the words. She collected 77 of her lyric poems with a musical setting, composed all by herself, and is revered as a patron saint of musicians and writers. Apart from that, she is considered by many as the founder of natural history in Germany.

Hildegard, the youngest of ten children, was sickly from birth, suffered from sporadic attacks of headache from around the age of three, when she experienced ecstatic visions of light and sound, which she described as the Shade of the Living Light, and interpreted as messages from God, as those visions were not perceived through her eyes and ears, but through her inner senses. However, her visions were authenticated by ecclesiastical authorities much later, when she was encouraged to write her experiences down, which consequently would make her famous during her lifetime, along with her wisdom, writings, and musical compositions.

Her visions were documented and depicted in her three major works, titled Scivias, Liber Vitae Meritorum, and Liber Divinorum Operum, along with their interpretations, providing unique insights into the medieval Catholic thought.

It is not known whether her parents consulted any physician about her health issues, but probably they were perplexed about her visions, and sent her to be enrolled as a novice in the convent of Disibodenberg, when she was probably only seven. At the abbey, Hildegard was placed under the care of Abbess Jutta von Sponheim, her distant cousin, only six years older than her in 1105 when the latter entered the convent. Jutta played an important role in Hildegard’s life, served as her teacher and confidante, taught her to read and write, to recite the prayers, and also introduced her to music, by teaching her to play a stringed instrument, known as the psaltery.

Ultimately, their relationship turned into close friendship to form the core of a growing community of women attached to the monastery of monks, named a Frauenklause, a type of female hermitage. Hildegard first shared her visions with Jutta, who in her turn, shared Hildegard’s visions with Volmar, the prior of the abbey and the nuns' confessor, who encouraged Hildegard to write about them. Subsequently, a selected committee of theologians confirmed the authenticity of those visions.

After the death of Abbess Jutta von Sponheim in 1136, the 38 years old Hildegard was unanimously elected by her fellow nuns as the magistra or the head of the community, when Abbot Kuno of Disibodenberg offered her to become the Prioress of Disibodenberg and work under his authority. However, Hildegard turned down the offer, as she wanted more independence for herself and her loyal nuns and work freely, without any restrictions. Finally, in 1147, she requested Abbot Kuno to allow her to move to Rupertsberg, a poverty-stricken area, which he declined. Although the reasons for his refusal are not known, it is likely that he did not want to lose the service of Hildegard, who managed to keep the convent running efficiently, brought in significant revenue, and also conduct correspondence with important figures. However, when Kuno denied her a second time, Hildegard took the matter to the Archbishop of Mainz who approved her prayer, but even after then, Kuno did not release her and the other nuns. During that time, Hildegard was suddenly stricken by a strange illness that rendered her paralysed, and no one could move any of her limbs. Hildegard attributed her sickness to God's punishment to her, as she failed to follow His will to move the nuns to Rupertsberg. Nevertheless, Kuno became scared and was forced to release them all, when he himself failed to move Hildegard. Ultimately, Hildegard established the convent at Rupertsberg in 1150 with 18 nuns and the monk Volmar as the provost, and their confessor. Hildegard died on 17 September 1179, but before that she founded a second monastery in 1165, for her nuns at Eibingen. It is claimed by the other nuns, that at the time of her death, they saw two streams of light appear in the skies and cross over the room where she was dying.

Although she remained within the bounds of orthodoxy, Hildegard of Bingen’s vision was far transcending the common vision of the Medieval Church. She believed that the Divine was as female in spirit as male, and that both the elements of male and female were essential for the wholeness. She also believed that God exists in the nature, and even the grass and trees, birds and animals, bore witness to the Divine simply by their existence. She made significant contributions to Catholic service by composing music, writing hymns, antiphons or short chants in Christian ritual, which are still performed today, celebrated for its complexity and expressiveness. As a woman in the male dominated world, Hildegard of Bingen defied societal norms to become a respected leader and scholar, as well as a key figure in the history of Catholicism, and an inspiring figure for the modern believers. However, despite her significant contributions to theology or doctrine, it took centuries for the Catholic Church to recognise her contribution officially, and it was only in 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI declared her a Doctor of the Church, one of only four women to be awarded the prestigious title.