Culture And Context of Hildegard and Isaac the Blind

     When one hears the title Saint Hildegard of Bingen, one could easily make the assumption that her culture would be entirely different from the Jewish Rabbi Isaac the Blind. However, as easy as this assumption is to make, it would be inaccurate. Despite the differences between medieval Christianity and Judaism, there are a few similarities that can be found, but in order to explore cultural similarities, a background must be provided to describe them.

    Saint Hildegard grew up in 1098 A.D and was adopted by a German noble. This would have given her greater access to material wealth than other people of the time. She quickly grew in renown and became famous for her visions’ portrayal in art and her musical talent.

            Meanwhile, Isaac the Blind grew up during the Crusades as a Jewish Rabbi. Crusades could be dangerous for any minority, including Jews. Considering he was a member of a new Jewish subculture; this would have made things more dangerous as well.

            Hildegard and Isaac the Blind are similar but different. While both made a major impact, Hildegard is documented as being extremely fearful about being public with her vision, and Isaac the Blind has less documentation of this

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•        "Bingen, Hildegard of 1098–1179 ." Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender: Culture Society History. . Retrieved March 18, 2024 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bingen-hildegard-1098-1179

•        Beattie, T. (2005). Gender and Religion: Gender and Christianity. In L. Jones (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion (2nd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 3356-3364). Macmillan Reference USA. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3424501139/GVRL?u=berea&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=67a46666

•        KNOWLES, M. D. (2003). Church, History of, II (Medieval). In New Catholic Encyclopedia (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 597-606). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3407702424/GVRL?u=berea&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=a063b3a9