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Primary sourceDocumentc. 1200 (manuscript copies)

Lingua Ignota

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1200 (manuscript copies)

An invented language of about 1,000 words with its own alphabet, created by Hildegard for mystical purposes.

This constructed language and alphabet were devised by Hildegard herself, reflecting her mystical and intellectual creativity.

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Grid of about 23 invented glyph-like characters arranged in three rows, drawn in black ink on a white background. The symbols are angular and curly, resembling an unknown alphabet, the Lingua Ignota script.
Litterae Ignotae alphabet, associated with Hildegard of Bingen's Lingua Ignota, c. 1200.

About this source

What it is

The Lingua Ignota ('unknown language') was described by Hildegard of Bingen in a work surviving in manuscripts dating to around 1200, including the Wiesbaden Codex. It consists of a glossary of 1,011 words glossed mostly in Latin, written using her own 23-letter alphabet called Litterae Ignotae ('unknown letters'). Only one short passage of continuous text in the language survives.

Why it matters

Hildegard apparently used this language for mystical purposes, and it has no known grammar of its own beyond substituting new words into Latin structure. Today it is considered one of the earliest known constructed languages. A letter from her friend Wolmarus, worried she might die, mentions an 'unheard language', suggesting others knew of it but perhaps no one else learned it well enough to preserve it after her death.

Look closer

  • Why might Hildegard have wanted to create a private or secret language?
  • What does the fact that no one preserved the language after her death suggest about who she shared it with?
  • What do invented alphabets like this tell us about creativity in the medieval period?

This document 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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Illuminated manuscript miniature: an oval mandala of gold flame-like rays and dark red and white bands surrounds a blue field with gold stars, a red-and-white sun or disc at top, and a central cosmic diagram of concentric rings with a bluish-white globe and green figures at top and bottom.Book

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Detail of a painted medieval miniature in orange, red and gold tones. A figure with flowing red hair sits at a desk, writing with a stylus on a tablet. A second face in profile appears at the right edge.Painting

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Scivias Frontispiece Miniature

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A large open medieval manuscript codex lies on a dark display stand in a glass case, with a metal chain attached to its binding and a white label reading 'Rupert' at the bottom. The pages show black text in columns and red decorated initials.Book

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Wiesbaden Codex

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1200

Medieval illuminated manuscript miniature of the Universal Man: a nude human figure with outstretched arms stands within a large white circle surrounded by concentric rings, red and gray bands, and a red border. A bearded head crowns the top and a red-footed figure appears below. A small seated scribe at lower left writes at a desk.Book

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Liber divinorum operum

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1163-1174

Front cover of an old manuscript volume bound in worn reddish-brown leather with a dark spine featuring raised bands and small gold floral tooling at the corners and gold edge rules. The cover is scratched and stained.Document

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Dendermonde Codex

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1175

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