Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It

by Janina Ramírez

Hildegard proved that women could learn, write, create and carve out a position of power for themselves, inspiring a devotional following. A nun from Stahleck, Gertrud, was so overwhelmed by her love for Hildegard that she wrote: I am at a loss as to what I should say or write to such a unique and beloved mother in Christ, for the power of love has taken from me all knowledge of speech. Indeed, your divine absence has made me drunk on the wine of sorrow.92 Her passion ran so deep that she felt ‘an aversion not only to dictating a letter, but even to life itself’ as she contemplated an existence without Hildegard. The visionary had other devoted fans, like the abbess of Altena, who wrote that she was ‘most loved of all women’ and lamented Hildegard’s lack of reply since, ‘I have decided to love you like my own soul.’93 These letters read like the outpourings of superfans.