Letter 4: Pope Eugenius to Hildegard
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen 1148, though 1153, the year of Eugenius's death, is obviously the terminus ad quern.
Because of the foolishness of those who are too blind to see and too deaf to hear and too mute to speak, those whose treachery and thievery will lead to their own destruction—because of such, He Who is not silent speaks: And what does He say? The flashing sword strikes, cutting down the wicked.
O you who are, in your calling, the refulgent breastplate and the first root in the new marriage of Christ, O you who are divided into two parts (in the one, because your mind has been renewed in the mystic flower, the companion of virginity; in the other, because you are the main branch of the Church), hear Him who is mighty in name and who flows in the torrent: Do not destroy the sight of the eye, nor cut off light from light, but be absolutely equitable, lest you be held accountable for the state of those souls placed in your bosom.
And do not allow them to be sunk in the lake of perdition through the power of high-living prelates. A jewel lies on the road, but a bear comes along and seeing that it is very fine stretches out his paw to pick it up and carry it off.
But, suddenly, an eagle swoops down and snatches the jewel, wraps it in the covering of its wings, and carries it into the palace of the king. And this jewel shines so splendidly before the king that he sets great store by it, and because of his love of this jewel, he gives the eagle golden slippers, and praises it highly for its uprightness.1
Now, you who sit as Christ's representative on the throne of the Church, choose the better part [cf. Luke 10.42] so that you may be the eagle who overcomes the bear; in this way, you may adorn the halls of the Church with those souls entrusted to you. Thus you may snatch yourself from this world and enter the regions above in your golden slippers.
Notes 1. Viewed in light of the political climate of the day, the real figures are perhaps not difficult to recognize beneath the allegorical masks. Can it be other than that the bear represents the emperor; the eagle, the pope? The jewel lying on the road is, surely, independent ecclesiastic power, and the golden slippers represent divine approval of papal resistence to the erosion of ecclesiastic privilege.
Pope Eugenius to Hildegard
The letter that occasioned this response from Kugenius has, unfortunately, not survived. Hildegard had written Kugenius in a final, desperate attempt to keep
The Letters
her beloved Richardis in her community. Eugenius here denies her request in effect, by referring the matter to others on grounds that assure no change. The rather long exhortation in the middle of the letter warning against the sin of presumption may perhaps, as Peter Dronke suggests (Women Writers, p. 156), be read as Eugenius's sense that, in this matter, Hildegard has stepped beyond her bounds—unless, of course, it simply repeats the usual, formulaic warnings against feminine pride.
Bishop Eugenius, servant of the servants of God, to Hildegard, beloved daughter in Christ, mistress of Mount St. Rupert, greetings and apostolic blessing.
We rejoice, my daughter, and we exult in the Lord, because your honorable reputation has spread so far and wide that many people regard you as "the odour of life unto life" [II Cor 2.16], and the multitudes of the faithful cry out, "Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices?" [Cant 3.16].1 Therefore, since it is clear to us that, up to this present time, your soul has been so kindled by the fire of divine love that you have no need of any exhortation to perform good works, we consider it superfluous to exhort you further or with a prop of words attempt to support a spirit which already sufficiently rests on divine virtue.
All the same, because a fire is increased by the bellows and a swift horse is impelled to greater speed by the spurs, we feel it incumbent upon us to remind you that the palm of glory belongs not to the one who begins but to the one who finishes the race, as the Lord says, "To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is" in the middle of paradise [Apoc
2.7]. And so bear in mind, my daughter, that the ancient serpent who cast the first man out of Paradise longs to destroy the great (like Job) and, having consumed Judas, seeks power to sift the apostles [cf. Luke 22.31]. Moreover, as you know, many are called but few chosen [cf. Matt 22.14], so bring yourself into that small number and persist all the way to the end in your holy calling, and instruct the sisters entrusted to your care in the works of salvation so that, with them, you may be able with the help of the Lord to come to that joy "that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man"
[I Cor 2.9].
Finally, we have delegated that matter you wished to consult us about2 to our brother Heinrich, archbishop of Mainz. His task will be to make sure that the Rule is strictly observed in that monastery entrusted to that sister (the nun that you delivered up to him)—either that or to send her back to your supervision.3 The transcript of my letter to him will give you the details.
Notes 1. How swiftly Hildegard's reputation seems to have spread in a few short years.
2. This "matter" is the subject on which Hildegard had appealed to the pope, after having exhausted all other efforts. Hildegard's most beloved nun, Richardis, had been elected abbess of Bassum, a move that Hildegard opposed from the beginning, and which she continued to strive to undo. In the Vita (II.ii.23) Hildegard is quoted with respect to Richardis, "For when I was writing the Sdvias, I greatly loved a certain noble girl,
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen the daughter of the aforementioned margravine, just as Paul loved Timothy, and she joined herself to me in all things in diligent friendship and grieved with me in all my sufferings until I finished the book." See also Letter 12, Headnote.
3. As Peter Dronke notes (Women Writers, p. 156), "As Bassum was at that moment a more renowned Benedictine foundation than the Rupertsberg, this was a wholly hypothetical alternative."
Hildegard to Pope Eugenius
Although Hildegard never once names him in the letter and although the letter itself is somewhat less than pellucid, Heinrich, Archbishop of Mainz, is the subject of this letter. Because of political complications with Barbarossa and also, probably, because of his own somewhat less than honorable character, Heinrich was removed from office. From very early on, Heinrich had been ardently supportive of Hildegard. It was he, for example, who brought Hildegard and her early work the Scivias to the attention of Pope Eugenius. Both here and in an epistle (Letter
7) to the two papal legates Eugenius sent to investigate the matter, Hildegard demonstrates her appreciation and loyalty to Heinrich.
He who knows and discerns all creatures, Who rouses them and is watchful over them, the Living Eye sees and says": the valleys are complaining against the mountains,1 and the mountains are falling into the valleys. What does this mean? Subordinates are no longer disciplined by the fear of God, and madness sends them scaling the heights of the mountains to rail at their superiors. And they are too blind to see the error of their evil ways. But they say, I am useful and therefore I should be preferred2 for my usefulness. Thus they disparage everything that prelates do, because they scorn the notion that they are inferior to their prelates. Such subordinates are black clouds; they have not girded their loins; they scatter the seedlings of the field, saying that they are worthless. And they do this because they are full of the poison of envy. Foolish is the indigent man who envies another's fine clothes but does not wash the filth from his own ragged garments.
The mountains, on the other hand, leap over the key to the way of truth,1' and they do not prepare the way so that they might fly to the mountain of myrrh [cf. Cant 4.6]. Just so, the stars are overshadowed by a dense cloud. The moon holds firm, and yet the stars cry out that it is falling. But the sun dims them all, because, caught up in the whirlwind, they cannot shine forth.
Wherefore, o great shepherd, vicar of Christ, illuminate the mountains and chastise the valleys. Give precepts to the teachers and discipline to the subordinates; give justice anointed with oil to the mountains and the obligation of obedience mixed with a sweet fragrance to the valleys, and make their paths
The Letters
straight so that they might not appear worthless to the Sun of righteousness [cf. Mai 4.2]. Purify your eyes so that nothing escapes your notice. Let your mind be watered by the pure fountain so that you may shine with the Sun and imitate the Lamb.
This poor little woman trembles because she speaks with the sound of words to so great a magistrate. But, gentle father, the Ancient Man and Magnificent Warrior says these things. Therefore, listen: The High Judge commands you to eradicate oppressive and impious tyrants, to cast them from your presence, so they may not stand in your company to your shame. Furthermore, have compassion on both public and private afflictions, because God does not reject the wounded, nor does he spurn the grief of those who tremble before Him.
Wherefore, o shepherd of the sheep [cf. John 10.2], hear these things concerning the priest who brings weariness to many. The Light says: The mysteries of God know the judgment over every person according to his merits.
Yet many people, in their perverse overconfidence, are willing to be subjected to examination, but they have no idea how I make my judgments. In their high estimation of their own worth, they deceive themselves, and are like wolves seizing their prey [cf. Ezech 22.27]. Thus although certain people may deserve to be judged for their sins, it does not please me for them to take judgment into their own hands at their own discretion. By no means! Rather, it is your duty to judge with the maternal charity of the mercy of God [cf. Luke 1.78],
Who does not cut off the poor and the needy from Himself, since he wishes mercy rather than sacrifice [cf. Hosea 6.6; Matt 9.13, 12.7]. As it is now, however, the vile seek to wash away their vileness with their own depravity, while they themselves are deaf and polluted lying in the ditch [cf. Matt 15.14, Luke
6.39]. Lift them up; give aid to the weak.
Notes 1. Hildegard frequently uses "mountains" as an image of the higher ecclesiastical offices, and "valleys," of subordinates. Here, atypically, she explains her usage quite openly.
2. The word we translate here as "preferred" is prelatus. The other forms of the word which cluster around this one—prelates, prelatorum, etc.—we have translated simply as "prelate." Hildegard seems clearly to intend the pun.
Hildegard to Pope Eugenius
Hildegard asks the pope to "thoughtfully weigh" the words of this letter. One wonders if he did, and if he did, what he thought of them, for the message of this
The Letters ofHitdegard ofBingen enigmatic, allegorical letter is certainly not clear—beyond perhaps a general exhortation to call the straying Christian people back to the fold. Compare the vision here with the visions of the Scivias.
O shepherd of the people, hear this, that you may live forever.
The Living Light has said to me: Speak to the audacious people who find only terrors in the vanity of their erroneous ways, and say unto them: A certain lord had a marble city, and hunters came and sought to destroy its upright laws, the principles of that flower which the virginal mind created. And, behold, a towering mountain of beautiful polished stones appeared, facing the east.
And upon that mountain there was a large building made of ordinary wood and stones.1 Then, there came many rivers, as if from the middle of the east, flowing into that building. And therein also was the powerful odor of good wine, mixed with water. Then there rushed into that building a large number of people, all bent over and crooked. But others stood in the valley before the mountain and made their way to those who were walking all bent over in that building. And, behold, on that same mountain there stood another edifice, a building of white marble and unhewn stone, like a great tower, facing the north.
And in this building there was hanging a radiantly bright bottle filled with the finest balsam, like a blazing fire; and there was oil flowing everywhere on the floor of that building. But, from time to time, there came a wind from the north troubling that balsam and oil. Then many of the people who were sprinkled with the oil and were sealed with that balsam on their foreheads [cf. Apoc
7.3]2 went into the building. And there came a voice from heaven saying: These are the sealed. And those who were sealed in this way were not able to wash away the sign, but remained sealed, just as those who have been reborn in Christ must preserve their baptism. And those who were sealed did not cross over to those who were not sealed, nor did they associate with them, for if they had done so they would have been called foolish and worthless. Those who were not sealed, however, crossed over to those who were and associated with them. In this way, they chose the best part [cf. Luke 10.42], just as a star increases its brightness in a cloud, and a woman is crowned in her virginity.
There was also a huge man girt with a golden sash [cf. Apoc 1.13] standing over those buildings, with his right arm on the marble one and his left on the other.
Understood properly, this man stands for the two instruments of ecclesiastical authority. For the omnipotent Father has established a noble part, independent and distinct from secular cases, burning brightly in its secrets before God. Yet there are certain treacherous people who despise it and seek to destroy its justice—which was made manifest in the Son of God. Yet this mountain of justice, burnished with many merciful judgments, ascends from the place of truth, from which arises a useful institution, tending toward God
(and therefore assisting mankind), providing a light for man's benefit. Therefore, many teachings and the fragrance of orthodox writing flow from the vigor of truth to it, but some people frequently reject them without justification. It is for this reason that there are many walking about all bent over with corruption, so much so that other people who gape after earthly things imitate their