Hildegard-Codex
Hildegard of Bingen, or at least her immediate descendants, must have regarded the works compiled here as the quintessence of her work. It is not entirely certain whether the codex was created during her lifetime (1098-1179) or shortly afterwards. What is undisputed, however, is that at least parts of it were undertaken with her knowledge and approval. In a process based on the division of labor, five to six different scribes from her monastery in Rupertsberg near Bingen drafted several partial works, which were later brought together to form an "anthology". The binding (two wooden covers covered with pigskin) as well as the famous chain probably do not date from Hildegard's time, but rather from the 15th or 16th century.
In detail, the codex contains
- the vision trilogy (Scivias, Liber vitae meritorum and Liber divinorum operum),
- the complete musical works (Symphonia, Ordo virtutum),
- the most comprehensive tradition of letters (Epistolarium),
- the linguistic-experimental writings (Lingua ignota, Litterae ignotae),
- the Expositiones evangeliorum (a fragmentary collection of homilies),
- the biography (Vita Hildegardis) of the monks Gottfried and Theoderich,
- the letter to the prelates of Mainz (Ad praelatos Moguntinenses)
There is also a "Letter from the Villarens monks after Hildegard's death" dealing with theological questions (referring to the Cistercian abbey of Villers-la Ville in Brabant).
A fragment of a contemporary gradual can be found in the binding waste(scans on "Fragmentarium").
For further orientation:
Detailed description of the Giant Codex (G. Zedler 1931)
Lit.: Michael Embach: "Der Riesencodex" in ders.: Die Schriften Hildegards von Bingen. Studies on their transmission and reception in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Berlin 2003, here pp. 36-65 (Erudiri sapientia, IV)
(Ebook in the HLB RheinMain network)