28/11/24
Medieval Women: In Their Own Words
British Library, London
25 October 2024 – 2 March 2025
One of my all-time historic heroes would have to be Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), the German Benedictine abbess and polymath who was active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary and medical practitioner. As the art historian Janina Ramirez writes: “Her enormous output over the eight decades of her long life means that her reputation is rivalled by just a handful of individuals. Perhaps only the polymath Leonardo da Vinci, working three centuries after Hildegard, can compare to her. But as is well known, he rarely finished his projects, while Hildegard did.”1 So why is the name “Hildegard” less well-known than “Leonardo”? I think it probably goes without saying, and it was doubtless a significant part of the premise for the British Library’s current groundbreaking exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words.
Read my full review here