Hildegard of Bingen

Medieval polymath who revolutionized theology, science and music against gender constraints

Saint Hildegard (1098-1179), the 'Sybil of the Rhine', defied 12th-century gender norms through her revolutionary contributions across multiple disciplines:

• Scientific works: Physica detailed herbal medicine and geology
• Musical innovation: Composed Ordo Virtutum, the oldest surviving morality play
• Theological visions: Authored Scivias with divine revelations

As abbess of Rupertsberg monastery, she established one of Europe's first hospitals and corresponded with emperors and popes. Her concept of viriditas (divine greening power) predated ecological philosophy by eight centuries. Modern scholars recognize her as the first identified Western natural philosopher - a title previously reserved for male thinkers.

Hildegard's legacy persists through:

• UNESCO listing her works as Memory of the World (2013)
• NASA naming Venusian topography 'Hildegard'
• Modern feminist theology movements