It is easy to ignore the past and take it for granted. However, there is a long history of historical figures that led up to this point, many of which are forgotten mystics that were at one point well-known. Hildegard de Bingen was a powerful member of the Catholic Church during her life. Around the same time, Isaac the Blind practiced a mystic approach to Jewish culture called Kabbalah, which was one of the first versions of Jewish mysticism.
Hildegard was born in Germany in 1098 and was adopted by Blessed Jutta, who started her journey into Christianity. Her life was heavily impacted by this, due to Blessed Jutta being considered nobility. It allowed her to get a Christian-based education so she could be prominent in the Church later on. She had visions throughout her life, but out of fear of persecution, she did not mention this until she became an abbess after Blessed Jutta died. Despite being immensely well known as is, she probably would have been better documented if the society she lived in were less misogynistic.
Far less is known about Isaac the Blind. He was born in France in 1160, around the time of the Crusades. He is also known as Sagi Nehor, which means “of much light”. He was blind for most, if not all, of his life and grew to become a Jewish Rabbi, where he spread a type of Jewish mysticism called Kabbala. Jews were persecuted so even less information was documented about his childhood.
What can be noticed about these two mystics is that they both rose to power despite being in situations where they would usually be persecuted. Hildegard even left a powerful enough legacy that women who were immensely influential after her death can credit Hildegard with some of their socio-economic advancement. She did not by any means get close to a full end of persecution against women, but she did have a positive impact that lasted. There were also differences between Issac the Blind and Hildegard. Hildegard was a catholic woman and Isaac the Blind was a Jewish man, despite both living around the time of the Crusades in which non-Catholics were persecuted.
References
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Barbara Newman. (1998). Voice of the Living Light : Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. University of California Press.
“Hildegard of Bingen: De Spiritu Sancto (Holy Spirit, the Quickener of Life).” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Apr. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzPR0nwcmY.
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Bowie, Fiona, and Oliver Davies. "Hildegard of Bingen." Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay Jones, 2nd ed., vol. 6, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 3979-3980. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3424501345/GVRL?u=berea&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=dce1f181. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.
Melton, J. Gordon. "Hildegard of Bingen." Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, edited by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann, 2nd ed., vol. 3, ABC-CLIO, 2010, pp. 1321-1322. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX1766500725/GVRL?u=berea&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=9ed45af8. Accessed 4 Feb. 2024.
Lynch, J. E. (2000). Papal Reform and Canon Law in the 11th and 12th Centuries. Church History, 69(1), 169-170. https://berea.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/papal-reform-canon-law-11th-12th-centuries/docview/217491209/se-2
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