Letter 11: Hildegard to Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen
The Letters
On behalf of our beloved daughter in Christ, Hildegard, prioress of Mount St. Rupert in Bingen" and of the sisters of that place, you should know that it has come to our attention that when, according to their custom, they had elected for themselves a master and provost from the monastery of St. Disibod, the abbot of that place was unwilling to acknowledge the election of the person from his monastery, and even up to the present time still refuses to assign that person to diem. Wherefore since it is proper that there be provision for the aforementioned sisters in those things which pertain to the salvation of their souls, we mandate to your discretion through apostolic writings that you call together both sides to your presence once you have made inquiry into this and have more clearly understood this matter of the election of the provost. Then decide the case with proper justice. And if these sisters cannot have a provost from that monastery, see to it, at least, that they have a competent one from another.
Hildegard to Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen After 1148 This letter has little more to say than greetings and compliment. Is this one of those instances where the "meat" of the letter was delivered by the messenger himself? Hartwig belonged to the noble and highly connected von Stade family.
His mother Richardis was an early and strong supporter of Hildegard, and his sister, also Richardis, was Hildegp.rd's most beloved nun.
May the One Who saw you on the first day look upon you and direct you to His will, He Who gave you eyes to see and wings to fly, and Who made mankind a mirror of the fulness of all his miracles, so that the knowledge of God shines in him, as it is written, "You are gods and all of you are sons of the most High" [Ps 81.6].
When a person's reason imitates God, he touches God, Who has neither beginning nor end, for the knowledge of good and evil reveals God. Such is the wheel of eternity.
May God see to it that you flee that evil which arose on the first day and which, lacking good will, stands always opposed to God. May He also make windows in you which shine in the heavenly Jerusalem fcf. TIeb 12.22], windows beautifully glazed with the virtues/1 And may He cause you to fly in the embraces of God's love, just as the one anointed by God's spirit said: "Who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows?" [Is 60.8).
The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen For I, a poor little form of a woman, have seen the light of salvation in you. Now, fulfill the precepts of God which his grace gives, and the Holy Spirit teaches you.
Hildegard to Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen 1151-52 This letter is one in a series of efforts by Hildegard to retrieve the nun Richardis,
Hartwig's sister. Soon after moving to Mount St. Rupert, Hildegard suffered her greatest loss: Richardis, her beloved disciple, who had assisted her with the Scivias.
Richardis, apparently out of her own wishes, was elected abbess of Bassum, but Hildegard, at first, refused to grant permission for her move. This letter to Hartwig, asking him to intervene in the matter is actually a late entry in the controversy. Hildegard had already written in complaint to Richardis's mother, as well as a missile of a letter to the archbishop of Mainz (Letter 18r), who had written to Hildegard demanding that she release Richardis to her new post. In a final effort, Hildegard wrote an appeal to Pope Eugenius, the text of which has not come down to us, though the pope's response has (Letter 4).
You are a man worthy of great praise, as one must be who holds the episcopal office in direct succession from almighty God Himself." Therefore, may your eye see God, your intellect grasp His justice, and your heart burn brightly in the love of God, so that your spirit may not grow weak. Be zealous to build the tower of celestial Jerusalem [cf. Heb 12.22], and may God give you that sweetest mother Mercy as your assistant. Be a bright star shining in the darkness of the night of wicked men, and be a swift hart running to the fountain of living water [cf. John 4.10]. Be alert, for many shepherds are blind and halt nowadays, and they are seizing the lucre of death, choking out God's justice.
O dear man, your soul is dearer to me than your family.1 Now hear me, cast down as I am, miserably weeping at your feet. My spirit is exceedingly sad, because a certain horrible man has trampled underfoot my desire and will (and not mine alone, but also my sisters' and friends'), and has rashly dragged our beloved daughter Richardis out of our cloister.2 Since God knows all things,
He knows where pastoral care is useful, and so let no person of faith canvass for such an office.1' Thus if anyone, in his madness, willfully seeks to gain ecclesiastic office, he is a rapacious wolf seeking the delights of power more than the will of God. The soul of such a person, therefore, never seeks spiritual office with proper faith.1 Therein lies simony.
It was, therefore, inappropriate for our abbot, in his blindness and ignorance, to involve this holy soul in this affair and, in the blindness of his spirit,
The Letters
to encourage such great temerity. If our daughter had remained content, God would have fulfilled his glorious purpose for her.
I do not oppose any selection God has made, nor would I ever do so.
Therefore, in the name of Him who gave His life for you and in the name of his holy Mother, I beseech you, you who hold the episcopal office in the order of Melchisedech [cf. Ps 109.4; Heb 5.6, 6.20], to send my dearest daughter back to me.4 If you do so, God will give you the blessing which Isaac gave to his son Jacob [cf. Gen 27.27-29] and which He gave through his angel to Abraham for his obedience [cf. Gen 22.15-18].
Hear me now, and do not cast off my words, as your mother, your sister, and Count Hermann have all done. I am doing you no harm not consonant with the will of God and the salvation of your sister's soul, but I seek to be consoled through her and her through me. What God has ordained, I do not oppose.1
May God grant you the blessing of the dew of heaven [cf. Gen 27.28], and may all the choirs of angels bless you if you listen to me, God's servant, and if you fulfill God's will in this matter.
Notes 1. amabilis anima tua pre genere tuo. The remark is not, it seems clear, an invidious one, that is, that he is dearer to her than his family since they have already turned down her request. It is rather an attempt to put the case on the proper footing: that spiritual matters take precedence over familial influence and power, which is her whole argument here. Our thanks to Barbara Newman for her assistance in helping us understand the point being made.
2. Hildegard is speaking of Abbot Kuno of St. Disibod, for whom she has little affection in any case, since, among other things, he had attempted to prevent her move to Mount St. Rupert.
3. Here, as elsewhere, Hildegard, in her grief, comes perilously close to accusing
Richardis of simony, though much of the blame is shunted off onto Kuno. Interestingly,
Richardis was still with Hildegard when she wrote similar warnings about seeking office against God's will. See Scivias IH.vi.474ff and III.ix.561ff.
4. Bassum lay in Hartwig's diocese, and thus he would indeed have had the authority to return Richardis.
Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen, to Hildegard
This touching letter informing Hildegard of the sudden, unexpected death of Richardis represents the last, sad duty of the brother, in this case, the brother
The Letters of Hildegard ofBingen who had stood firm against all of Flildegard's attempts to retrieve Richardis. It is almost as if Hildegard had been right all along (a thought which must surely have been in the minds of all those who had held firm against her), that Richardis should never have left her side. To her everlasting praise, Hildegard's answer to this letter is magnanimous and forgiving.
Hartwig, archbishop of Bremen, brother of the abbess Richardis, sends that which is in the place of a sister and more than a sister, obedience, to Hildegard, mistress of the sisters of St. Rupert.1
I write to inform you that our sister—my sister in body, but yours in spirit—has gone the way of all flesh, little esteeming that honor I bestowed upon her. And (while I was on my way to see the earthly king) she was obedient to her lord, the heavenly King. I am happy to report that she made her last confession in a saintly and pious way and that after her confession she was anointed with consecrated oil. Moreover, filled with her usual Christian spirit, she tearfully expressed her longing for your cloister with her whole heart. She then committed herself to the Lord through His mother and St. John. And sealed three times with the sign of the cross, she confessed the Trinity and Unity of God, and died on October 29 in perfect faith, hope, and charity [cf.
I Cor 13.13], as we know for certain. Thus I ask as earnestly as I can, if I have any right to ask, that you love her as much as she loved you, and if she appeared to have any fault—which indeed was mine, not hers—at least have regard for the tears that she shed for your cloister, which many witnessed. And if death had not prevented, she would have come to you as soon as she was able to get permission. But since death did intervene, be assured that, God willing, I will come in her place. May God, who repays all good deeds, recompense you fully in this world and in the future for all the good things you did for her, you alone, more even than relatives or friends; may He repay that benevolence of yours which she rejoiced in before God and me. Please convey my thanks to your sisters for all their kindness.
Note 1. It would be difficult to cite a more poignant and at the same time more obdurate insistence on recognition of the proper hierarchy. Even in this grieving report of Richardis's death, Hartwig stresses the difference in social station: his sister's office was the higher, "Richardis abbatisse," "Hildegardi magistre sororum."
The Letters
13r Hildegard to Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen
This is Hildegard's magnanimous, sad response to Hartwig's letter informing her of Richardis's death. All acrimony gone, all hints of simony laid aside, Hildegard's letter is a eulogy on the beauty and holiness of her beloved nun.
O how great a miracle there is in the salvation of those souls so looked upon by God that His glory has no hint of shadow in them. But He works in them like a mighty warrior who takes care not to be defeated by anyone, so that his victory may be sure.
Just so, dear man, was it with my daughter Richardis, whom I call both daughter and mother, because I cherished her with divine love, as indeed the Living Light had instructed me to do in a very vivid vision.
God favored her so greatly that worldly desire had no power to embrace her. For she always fought against it, even though she was like a flower in her beauty and loveliness in the symphony of this world." While she was still living in the body, in fact, I heard the following words concerning her in a true vision:
"O virginity, you are standing in the royal bridal chamber."1 Now, in the tender shoot of virginity, she has been made a part of that most holy order, and the daughters of Zion rejoice [Zeph 3.14, Zach 2.10, 9.9]. But the ancient serpent had attempted to deprive her of that blessed honor by assaulting her through her human nobility.2 Yet the mighty Judge drew this my daughter to Himself, cutting her off from all human glory. Therefore, although the world loved her physical beauty and her worldly wisdom while she was still alive, my soul has the greatest confidence in her salvation. For God loved her more.
Therefore, He was unwilling to give His beloved to a heartless lover, that is, to the world.3
Now you, dear Hartwig, you who sit as Christ's representative, fulfill the desire of your sister's soul, as obedience demands. And just as she always had your interests at heart, so you now take thought for her soul, and do good works as she wished. Now, as for me, I cast out of my heart that grief you caused me in the matter of this my daughter. May God grant you, through the prayers of the saints, the dew of His grace and reward in the world to come.
Notes 1. Hildegard is quoting herself. See Ordo Virtutum, v. 104.
2. This, apparently, is an oblique reference to Hildegard's muted simony charge,
Richardis's gaining the office through the influence of her family.