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    Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
    Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
    Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
    Audiobook9 hours

    Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen

    Written by Mary Sharratt

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

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    About this audiobook

    Skillfully interweaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Sharratt's redemptive novel, Illuminations, brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was entombed in a small room where she was expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. Instead, Hildegard rejected Jutta's masochistic piety and found comfort and grace in studying books, growing herbs, and rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died some thirty years later, Hildegard broke out of her prison with the heavenly calling to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters and herself from the soul-destroying anchorage. Riveting and utterly unforgettable, Illuminations is a deeply moving portrayal of a woman willing to risk everything for what she believed.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 26, 2012
    ISBN9781452680774
    Author

    Mary Sharratt

    MARY SHARRATT, the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, is on a mission to write strong women back into history. Her novels include Daughters of the Witching Hill, the Nautilus Award–winning Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen,The Dark Lady’s Mask: A Novel of Shakespeare’s Muse, and Ecstasy, about the life, loves, and music of Alma Mahler. She is an American who lives in Lancashire, England.  

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    Reviews for Illuminations

    4/5

    143 ratings25 reviews

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    • 3/5
      A historical novel of the middle ages centered on a women who lived an extraordinary life, Hildegard von Bingen. The author captures the essence of the age and the wonders of an abbess who was a composer of music and a healer. Her mystic visions are presented alongside her less that risk averse behavior in a fascinating age.
    • 5/5
      When Hildegard was eight, her mother gave her to a church to be bricked into a chamber in a monastery wall as involuntary handmaiden and student to an ascetic teenaged girl of noble birth, Jutta von Sponheim. Hildegard had visions, and was thus unmarriageable. Giving her daughter over to this purpose not only disposed of her honorably, but bought the favor of Jutta’s rich mother, enabling Hildegard’s sisters to meet wealthy mates. As Jutta slowly killed herself with anorexia and self punishment, Hildegard and the two other girls that joined them in their dark hell longed for sunlight and freedom for over thirty years before Jutta finally died and Hildegard demanded their freedom. Her time in that dark prison wasn’t wasted, though; a kindly monk brought her books from the monastery library and plants for her to grow in the tiny courtyard. By the time Jutta died, Hildegard was very educated, an able healer and a brilliant composer. She went on to found her own abbey and criticize the corruption of the church. She was an incredibly accomplished woman in a time when women were thought of as little more than breeding machines or servants. ‘Illuminations’ is the prefect title for this novel; illumination fills the story. The great illuminated texts that Hildegard learns from, the great visions of light that fill her, her illumination of the corruption in the church; light fills Hildegard’s life even at its darkest points. This is a triumphant story told in lyrical prose that brings the era and monastery life into brilliant, colorful focus. But it’s not a one sided glorification of Hildegard; she’s a living, breathing woman with the faults all humans share. It’s not a religious book at all; it’s a story of people and spirit. Whether you’re Catholic or not, or even Christian or not, Hildegard von Bingen was a fascinating woman. Sharratt’s writing held me suspended in Hildegard’s life throughout the novel, and it left me wishing the book was twice as long.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      At times, I thought this book was going to go a bit cheesy. The latter part of the book was only okay, but the earlier sections, about her life as an anchorite, was fascinating.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Hildegard of Bingen, O.S.B.(1098 – 17 September 1179), was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary...Sharratt "interweaves historical research with psychological insight and vivid imagination to write an engaging and triumphant portrait of a courageous and remarkably resilient woman and the life she might have lived"(quotation from Good Reads)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      In this truly fascinating tale of Hildegard, a Benedictine nun of the 12th century Ms. Sharratt takes her readers into a world that seems almost unbelievable today, the world of an anchorite. Hildegard was only 8 years old when she and another young woman Jutta were nothing short of entombed in a small area of the monastery. Jutta went willingly but not Hildegard. (One history suggests she might have been 14 but still...)The novel follows the history of Hildegard's life but of course is expanded with the author's imagination.I was drawn in from the very first page, the writing is so smooth and easy you find yourself immersed in the story and I swear I could feel the claustrophobic rooms of the anchorage. The book starts at the end of Hildegard's life and then moves forward in time as she remembers how she came to be. She must have been something for her time. It was a time when women really had no control or power; they were subject to the rule of their fathers, brothers or husbands. Hildegard, though found her power as a nun and she found ways to use it.I read the book in one sitting; it's not a lengthy tale but I didn't want to put it down. I was completely enthralled with Hildegard and the way that she was presented by Ms. Sharratt. I must admit to knowing very little about her prior - I had heard of her but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I am now very intrigued and want to know more. This was a fascinating read about a very memorable woman.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Once again, historical fiction has led me to a person and a subject I otherwise knew nothing about. I really had no idea that there was such a thing as anchorages and women (nuns) who became anchorites. These women willingly gave themselves to a monastery to be literally walled in, never seeing the outside world, for the rest of their days. In Illuminations, Hildegard von Bingen is forced to enter an anchorage with a girl (Jutta) who is perceived as the holiest of holy. However, her reasons for committing herself to this fate were brought on by a dark secret. Hildegard spends 30 years there with Jutta, watching her slowly waste away. Only after her death is she finally able to break free.

      Having had visions since an early age that she thought meant she was wicked, or that there was something wrong with her, Hildegard came to realize in her long isolation that these were indeed visions of the divine. Once she was given her freedom, she was able to speak out about her visions and write about them. With her fellow sisters, who were also oblates of the anchorage, she works for those in monastic life to know love, the love of God, not to live in cruelty such as the life inside an anchorage most surely was.

      Hildegard von Bingen became a saint. Her life and work still inspires people today. She had very diverse and complex ideas and many have viewed her as a religious reformer. I am so glad that I was able to learn about this woman. Mary Sharratt has brought to life in great historical detail a story that should be read by all. I cannot express how much I recommend this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Wow! Lovely and (in the same time) painful story! One of the best books I've read this year.I love Hildegard as a child and also as an adult. She had a moving life story. Through this book I discovered some strange facts that I didn't know they were happening in the past. This is a great historical adventure with so many life lessons. Would love this captivating book put into a movie. It will be very interesting and emotional. Here are some quotes I like and would love to share:“Gluttony is the mother of all other sins.”“True saints, she insisted, could live on water and air alone. Fasting cured every disease.”“For every ailment under heaven, an herb grows to cure it.”“He who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.”“God is not just in heaven, but in every living thing.”“The fish that feed on clean foods and that dwell in the clear waters of the upper or middle depths are the healthiest to eat. But the bottom-feeders, or the carp that dwell in stagnant marshes, should never be eaten by the sick.”“Tall trees are the first to go down in the storm.”“A true love sees past the beginnings of things. It sees them through to the end. Anything less is mere vanity.”“How easy it was to tear things down, how difficult to build something up from the ground.”“A good tree is known by its good fruit.”

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Mary Sharratt attempts to frame the Christian mystic Hildegard von Bingen into an accessible teen read. Unfortunately, she takes liberties with Hildegard's life and also forces dialogue into a bad tween novel. If you've never read anything about Hildegard it is not all bad because it is an easy read just know that details are facts are altered.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Going into this I knew nothing about Hildegard von Bingen, so I am no judge of the historical accuracy of this work. From what little I do know about the time period however it would seem that Mary Sharratt has managed to represent the times as accurately as possible, both its highs and lows, with very little modern bias mixed in.

      As just a story though, I still found this book to be very well put together. The plot moves along at a pretty brisk pace, and the characters are well rounded and develop a great deal over the lifetime that this book covers. I finish this book very intrigued.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Hildegard Von Bingen was a German born composer, writer and recently a saint who was sent to accompany Jutta, a daughter of Count Stephan II of Sponheim, according to this novel at the age of eight, as an oblate to the church. The two were enclosed into a two room prison if you will. Life is hard for a young girl who enclosed within these two rooms with a woman who at times was not very nice, often cruel. Jutta was a visionary and a lot of pilgrims would come to the monastery to get an audience with Jutta which also benefited the monks monetarily as did the dowry's of Jutta and Hildegard. During her time imprisoned, Hildegard took her vows and became a nun.Jutta taught Hildegard to read and write and to pass the time they also did the monastery's needlework, making of vestments and even made clothes for the monks and themselves. Hildegard also used her time to grow plants for medicinal and other purposes. Hildegard experienced 'visions' that is thought to be from the auras of migraines. Hildegard is known for writing books about her auras. I think that it might be part true, but it seemed to me that Hildegard did indeed have visions so powerful as to be debilitating. Hildegard dreamed of freedom from her two rooms and after Jutta passed away, Hildegard and two other young nuns were allowed to be free to roam the monastary and its grounds. She was also elected by her fellow nuns as Magistra. After her freedom, Hildegard and other nuns went ahead and founded two monasteries.Hildegard, in the form of one of her visions, received a divine command to record her visions which evolved to be her first major work called Scivias. She is also known for her musical compositions and numerous other writings that survive to this day. The Catholic Church canonized her as a saint and in 2012 was named as Doctor of the Church, of which she was the fourth woman of 35 saints to have that title.I think that Hildegard was certainly way ahead of her time as a woman and as a nun in this medieval era. Definitely a woman to be revered. I am not Catholic and had not heard of Hildegard and was not sure if I would enjoy this book that is very religious in its context. The book was so easy to read and understand and I have to say that I enjoyed it very much. Some reviewers have commented that the author has not been historically accurate in writing this tale of Hildegard. I disagree, it is historical fiction and after I read more about Hildegard I feel that Ms.Sharratt did a wonderful job in telling the story of this miraculous woman. I highly recommend this book!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I wish this had been better written however it is a nice fictionalization of a fascinating woman in the church who stood up to men and dogma of the church.
    • 5/5
      In this truly fascinating tale of Hildegard, a Benedictine nun of the 12th century Ms. Sharratt takes her readers into a world that seems almost unbelievable today, the world of an anchorite. Hildegard was only 8 years old when she and another young woman Jutta were nothing short of entombed in a small area of the monastery. Jutta went willingly but not Hildegard. (One history suggests she might have been 14 but still...)The novel follows the history of Hildegard's life but of course is expanded with the author's imagination.I was drawn in from the very first page, the writing is so smooth and easy you find yourself immersed in the story and I swear I could feel the claustrophobic rooms of the anchorage. The book starts at the end of Hildegard's life and then moves forward in time as she remembers how she came to be. She must have been something for her time. It was a time when women really had no control or power; they were subject to the rule of their fathers, brothers or husbands. Hildegard, though found her power as a nun and she found ways to use it.I read the book in one sitting; it's not a lengthy tale but I didn't want to put it down. I was completely enthralled with Hildegard and the way that she was presented by Ms. Sharratt. I must admit to knowing very little about her prior - I had heard of her but that was about the extent of my knowledge. I am now very intrigued and want to know more. This was a fascinating read about a very memorable woman.
    • 4/5
      Before reading ILLUMINATIONS, I knew a little about Hildegard von Bingen, like she was a medieval abbess and scholar, a musical composer, and Christian mystic. I’d also read that she was a very early feminist and wrote about the feminine divine in her visions, which of course piqued my interest in learning more about her.Mary Sharratt’s novel about Hildegard’s life was fascinating! The book was based on facts of her religious life, beginning at 8 years old when she’s given as a tithe to the church. She becomes the captive companion (literally) of a young nun named Jutta, and how poor Hildegard survived her time with the disturbed Jutta, I’ll never know! Hildegard’s treatment and her living conditions were deplorable, yet she persevered. Perhaps it was the mystical visions that sustained her and for which she became famous.I flew through this book, probably because I was so engrossed in Hildegard’s life. I liked the author’s engaging and descriptive writing style. It felt like I was sharing Hildegard’s experiences with her, many of which made me shudder. I thought that the last third of the book was a bit rushed though – so much of the book was set during her younger years with Jutta. I wish her later years as abbess and her experience with the boy Maximus had been fleshed out more.ILLUMINATIONS was an enjoyable read that gave me an even greater admiration for Hildegard von Bingen. Yes, she deserved to be made a saint! She was an extraordinary woman who shone in a time women weren’t allowed to.Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher/Historical Fiction Book Tours
    • 2/5
      I should know by now that after reading historical fiction purporting to reflex the life of someone, I will always end up wishing I had read a biography. I agree with other reviews that use words like "cheesy" and refer to the first section of the book as the most interesting.
    • 4/5
      A revealing view of the medieval Catholic Church, ruled by ambition. superstition, greed, and, often, ignorance and cruelty. Inspiring and uplifting.
    • 2/5
      I'm going to suggest that there are too many books out there to spend time on this one. I got to about 65% through the book (I was reading on my kindle) before deciding that it was a waste of time, so I plugged away and finished it, but I thought it was pretty mediocre.As is evident from the title, this is historical fiction based on the life of Hildegard von Bingen. She was a nun/abbess in the 12th century who is well known for her musical compositions, writings on the church and the role of women in the church, and her possible sainthood and visions. She has been adopted both by highly traditional religious orders and modern feminists for different reasons - quite a feat! I've been interested in her since learning of her in my music history classes and thought this would be a fun way to learn a little more about her life.The beginning of this book was pretty interesting. Hildegard was sent as a child to be a companion to a wealthy woman who chose the life of an anchorite. Anchorites "anchor" a monastery by being literally walled up in a small corner of the church 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hildegard grows up in this cell until she is released at the age of 39 when her companion dies. After that, the book takes a nose dive. The writing gets worse and worse and the author makes up several relationships that just don't ring true. The visions and mysticism get old for someone like me who doesn't really believe in that kind of thing.I wish I'd just read a biography instead.
    • 4/5
      Enough is known about the amazing 12th century nun, Hildegard von Bingen to provide the basis for a fascinating novel about her life and the condition of females who chose or were forced to devote their lives to the church in this era. She emerges from this novel a resourceful, creative individual who wrote music that is still performed today. She also wrote several books telling of her visions as well as studies of herbal lore and medicine. The novel gives her a vulnerability to emotional attachments which by the nature of her vocation, are unfullfilling in the long term. This book was just the right length; I think I would have grown impatient with her religious life given a longer relationship with it. This was a great read on my Kindle Fire as I listened to music composed by Hildegard on Pandora while I read.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I believe the author did a wonderful job and integrating historical documents with fictional dialogue and emotion. The facts of Hildegard's life speak the wonder of grace. The book helped make the story accessible to us all.
    • 3/5
      At times, I thought this book was going to go a bit cheesy. The latter part of the book was only okay, but the earlier sections, about her life as an anchorite, was fascinating.
    • 5/5
      I just finished this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have to say that I am not catholic and had never heard of the story of Hildegard. I found it fascinating what she and the other young girls had to go through. This book was recommended to me on Amazon and I have to say I will be reading more of Mary Sharratts novels. I had a hard time putting this one down.
    • 4/5
      ILLUMINATIONS by Mary Sharratt tells the story of Hildegard von Bingen, recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches and as a prophet by the Lutheran Church.Hildegard's divine visions were likely the reason her mother gave her to a Catholic monastery when she was a child, where she was forced into a tomb-like existence for 30 years. Her visions continued her entire life. When she was sure they came from God, she saw the importance of writing a book about them. Further synopsis is in the reviews above.ILLUMINATIONS is based on documented fact, but it is not a biography. Here, Hildegard's story is told as a novel. In so doing, Sharratt interjects Hildegard's thoughts, psychological insights, and dialog and keeps the reader's interest more than a biography would. For readers like me, that makes this book more readable, and that is why I rate the book so highly.Like all good novels that are based on fact, ILLUMINATIONS will have you needing to know exactly what really happened and what is Sharratt's fiction. She talks about this in the "Afterward," which I thought should have begun the book rather than ended it.I wondered most about Hildegard's special relationship with Sister Richardis. So I did some digging, searching the Internet. And that made me want to learn even more, and that made me want to search Netflix. Sure enough, they have a couple DVDs about Hildegard, and now one of them is on its way to me.
    • 4/5
      Several years ago, my husband and I went to Chicago to see a play called "Late Nite Catechism." It is helpful if one is Catholic and even more helpful if one has gone to Catholic School (which I did, for too long in my opinion), to understand what is going on in this play. Anyway this was about the time when the Vatican decided to pare down it's list of saints and as we were told during this play, they had decided that having an eating disorder or being mentally ill did not qualify one for sainthood. Funny thing is the grade school I had gone to was named after one of the saints stripped of her sainthood. The point being that I approached this book with quite a bit of skepticism. This book brought out many emotions in me, from anger, to incredulity and finally admiration. Jutta, the anchorage, was in all likelihood mentally ill, but for me Hildegard was a source of amazement. At a time when the church was all powerful, when men in general had all the power, women, even well bred women, had very little control over their lives. That young girls, as young as five, were given a tithes to the churches and monasteries filled me with a deep disgust. When one realizes, however, that this was considered a sanctuary, a way to protect their daughters from marriages to old men, I am not sure what decision I would have made. Hildegard, who had visions, had a strength that was inspirational and she was considered a reformer and a forward thinker for her time period. This book was well researched, well written, and I came to care about Hildegard, with all her hopes and fears, greatly. Is she really a saint, were her visions real? I'm not sure, but for now I think that it just might be possible.
    • 5/5
      This is the third work of Sharratt's I have read, and I knew from the time I found out this would come out that I would love it. Hildegard is a woman who has fascinated me since I first heard of her, and the author does a tremendous job working history and her imagination together to present this possible life.At a very young age, Hildegard, the youngest of ten, is tithed to the Catholic Church. This was not uncommon a millennium ago, in part because it was a regular part of the culture as well as because families could not always afford to keep all their children fed and clothed. In this case, though, our heroine does not just enter a convent. Chosen as an attendant for Jutta, the daughter of a noble family in the area, she will be bricked in as an anchorite. And she will live this way for the next twenty years. Devoid of most human contact and even being able to go outside under full sunlight, as well as having to live with a woman who is inclined to mutilate herself in the name of piety, Hildegard is having to learn more of the world than anyone should have to. But at the same time, the young woman experiences visions which were with her from a young age. She also learns languages and herbalism through books she is permitted to read in her devotion.For twenty years this life continues, and with Jutta's death Hildegard leaves her anchorage and adjusts to more direct contact with others. The nun blossoms into a polymath, writing about herbalism, a morality play, hymns, and even communicating with the Pope regarding matters dear to her life. She starts to find other women who wish to serve under her and they fight for their religious independence. Through trails aplenty Hildegard never loses her voice or strength.This is a story of a very inspiring woman who should be better known. Her teachings transcend religion and can serve as inspiration for all. In fact, there are still doctors in Germany who work with Hildegard's medicinal principles. During the same week as the book's release, Hildegard of Bingen was named a Doctor of the Church, a title reserved for the select few who have had an incredible impact on the Church's teachings.This is a must read, a must share, a must gift, you name it.
    • 5/5
      When Hildegard was eight, her mother gave her to a church to be bricked into a chamber in a monastery wall as involuntary handmaiden and student to an ascetic teenaged girl of noble birth, Jutta von Sponheim. Hildegard had visions, and was thus unmarriageable. Giving her daughter over to this purpose not only disposed of her honorably, but bought the favor of Jutta’s rich mother, enabling Hildegard’s sisters to meet wealthy mates. As Jutta slowly killed herself with anorexia and self punishment, Hildegard and the two other girls that joined them in their dark hell longed for sunlight and freedom for over thirty years before Jutta finally died and Hildegard demanded their freedom. Her time in that dark prison wasn’t wasted, though; a kindly monk brought her books from the monastery library and plants for her to grow in the tiny courtyard. By the time Jutta died, Hildegard was very educated, an able healer and a brilliant composer. She went on to found her own abbey and criticize the corruption of the church. She was an incredibly accomplished woman in a time when women were thought of as little more than breeding machines or servants. ‘Illuminations’ is the prefect title for this novel; illumination fills the story. The great illuminated texts that Hildegard learns from, the great visions of light that fill her, her illumination of the corruption in the church; light fills Hildegard’s life even at its darkest points. This is a triumphant story told in lyrical prose that brings the era and monastery life into brilliant, colorful focus. But it’s not a one sided glorification of Hildegard; she’s a living, breathing woman with the faults all humans share. It’s not a religious book at all; it’s a story of people and spirit. Whether you’re Catholic or not, or even Christian or not, Hildegard von Bingen was a fascinating woman. Sharratt’s writing held me suspended in Hildegard’s life throughout the novel, and it left me wishing the book was twice as long.
    • 4/5
      Author Mary Sharratt digs into Hildegard von Bingen’s psyche to give us an idea of a saint’s inner world. This German visionary and mystic was a resilient, forward-thinking woman who felt called by God to liberate herself and her sisters from the prison of an oppressive monastery during the Middle Ages. The author combines her vivid imagination with vast historical research and psychological insight to create a credible and incredible story of an amazing visionary, mystic and composer. Pope Benedict XVI canonized Hildegard of Bingen in May 2012.Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont