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Primary sourceBook12th century

Liber Divinorum Operum, Ghent Manuscript

Hildegard of Bingen · 12th century

A page from the Ghent manuscript, an early fair copy of Hildegard's Liber Divinorum Operum made during her lifetime.

This is an early fair copy of Hildegard's own final major work, made during her lifetime at her monastery.

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Two facing pages of a medieval Latin manuscript in dark brown ink with a large decorated initial letter E on each side, and a cropped page edge visible; the text is in dense columns with red-brown rubrics and marginal marks.
Liber divinorum operum, manuscript page, 12th century. Ghent University Library.

About this source

What it is

This is an excerpt from a 12th-century manuscript of Hildegard of Bingen's Liber divinorum operum (Book of Divine Works), produced at Rupertsberg while she was alive. It is now kept at Ghent University Library. The visible pages show dense Latin text with decorated initial letters and red rubrics.

Why it matters

This manuscript is one of the earliest surviving copies of Hildegard's final major visionary work, made under her own supervision. The opening lines describe her receiving a vision later in life and spending years writing it down, giving a direct sense of how she understood her own authorship.

Look closer

  • What does the careful decoration of the initial letters suggest about how this book was valued?
  • Why might it matter that this copy was made during Hildegard's own lifetime rather than centuries later?
  • What is the difference between reading this manuscript directly and reading a modern printed translation?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hildegard of Bingen on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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