This study investigates how Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a medieval abbess used visions received during the prodromal stages of migraines to reconstruct herself symbolically. In her visions she believed that God, the "Living Light" instructed her "to write and say the Secrete Dei". By obeying, she obtained extensive influence and power, appropriating functions reserved for the medieval male elite only. / Hildegard is contextualized within the politico-socio-intellectual parameters of the twelfth century in general and within convent life in particular. Events are chronicled to examine how she reconstructed her weaknesses--gender and infirmity--using them to construct knowledge, and to demonstrate how she used that knowledge to educate by writing, teaching and preaching. The source of Hildegard's knowledge is analysed in an attempt to determine whether it is divinely inspired, neurologically based, or derived from secondary religious and secular writings. Whatever the source, Hildegard herself refused to grant the name of "Knowledge" to any insight unless it came to her in the heavenly voice via the "Living Light." The study culminates with a brief discussion on the questions asked in the introduction regarding research in the history of education.

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Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century German Catholic nun, became one of the most influential voices in a time when women, especially in the realm of religion, were suppressed. Yet, Hildegard overcame these suppressions through her writing and work subsequently legitimizing her status today as a saint and Doctor of the Church. Hildegard’s influential writings hold weight beyond the Catholic Church especially in feminist circles. This thesis applies rhetorical criticism as the scholarly lens from which to analyze a sample of Hildegard’s writings for the purposes of understanding her contemporary influence. Aided by Kenneth Burke’s interpretive method of logology, this project argues that Hildegard’s legacy is shaped by her consistent use of the “marriage to God” metaphor. The “marriage to God” metaphor functions persuasively, I argue, because its prophetic vision emphasizes a union with God, rather than as a disenfranchisement from God.

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The musical structure of Hildegard von Bingen's "O quam mirabilis est" is directly linked to its notational system. After placing Hildegards's antiphons within an historical context in chapter one, chapter two reviews three previous analyses of "O quam mirabilis est" by Bronarski (1922), Cogan (1990) and Pfau (1990). The first two analyses ignore the syntax and expression of the text by focusing on the motivic level. The third analysis, though it embraces the text, lacks a formalization in its theoretical model. None of the analyses respond to the original notation. In response, chapter three examines the notation found in the sources containing Hildegard's music (the Riesenkodex and the Dendermonde codex) and discusses the structural importance of pitches within the neumatic groupings. The resulting graphic analysis adapt Schenkerian analytic notation to represent a hierarchy of pitch relationships. Chapter four applies this methodology to four other antiphons by Hildegard: "Hodie aperuit," "Nunc gaudeant," "O virtus sapientie," and "O virgo ecclesia."

Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo Virtutum (c.1141), the earliest liturgical morality play, presents in small compass some of the Neoplatonic doctrines which formed the common property of theologians in the twelfth century, the most pervasive of which was that which posited a disparity between the sense-perceptible and intelligible realms, true reality being supposed to belong to the latter. For Hildegard, like her contemporaries, such a world-view is inseparable from symbolist modes of thought, and in this thesis explanations for the form and effect of Hildegard's use of rhetorical devices such as symbol and metaphor in the Ordo will be sought within the framework of a discussion of "medieval linguistic epistemology" (Neoplatonic). The Latin text and English translation of the play are also provided.

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