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Primary sourceBook1175-1190

Opening of the Vita Sanctae Hildegardis

Godfrey and Theodoric · 1175-1190

The opening page of the Life of Saint Hildegard, written by monks who knew her, preserved in the Riesencodex.

An early biography of Hildegard written by monks who personally knew her.

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Manuscript page in Latin with two columns of brown ink text, red initials and rubrics, and a running header at top reading 'Initium libri vite Sancte Hildegardis'. The left column begins 'herba in bona ... ' and the right column includes the red-lettered rubric 'Incipit Capitula I libri primi'. Aged parchment with visible margins.
Opening of the Vita Sanctae Hildegardis, Riesencodex, 1175-1190. By Godfrey and Theodoric.

About this source

What it is

This manuscript page is the opening of the Vita Sanctae Hildegardis (Life of Saint Hildegard), written by the monks Godfrey and Theodoric, who knew her. It was copied into the Riesencodex sometime between 1175 and 1190, with two columns of Latin text, red initials, and a rubric marking the start of the first chapter.

Why it matters

This text is one of the earliest biographies of Hildegard, written by people close to her during or shortly after her life. It shaped how later generations understood her as a holy and remarkable woman, and reveals how her contemporaries chose to present her story.

Look closer

  • Why might monks who knew Hildegard want to write her life story?
  • What does the careful decoration of the page suggest about how important this text was considered?
  • How might a biography written by someone who knew the subject differ from one written centuries later?

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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