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

by Janina Ramírez

The change in nature of Hildegard’s visions in her forties unlocked a whole new phase of her life. She recorded that she was ‘compelled by a great pressure of pains to make known what I had seen and heard … But then my veins and marrow became filled with powers I had lacked in my childhood and youth.’41 Her whole body was affected by the migraines, and she felt their intensity increase. Could it be that Hildegard was experiencing the menopause?42 She would have been 43 at this point, which is relatively young to go through menopause today, but was mature for medieval women who rarely lived into their fifties. Current research on the effects of the menopause suggests that the onset of waves of heat, blurred eyesight and increase in the intensity of migraines are all widely shared symptoms.43 Higher levels of oestradiol (the most abundant oestrogen hormone in post-menopause) could also cause disorientation and even delirium.44 The timings make sense, and Hildegard could no longer keep these more intense visions to herself.