The <span class='italic'>Pentachronon</span> and Hildegard of Bingen’s Reputation As a Prophet

doi:10.1017/9781108573832.009

Chapter 8 - The Pentachronon and Hildegard of Bingen’s Reputation As a Prophet

from Part II - Writings and Reputation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2021

Magda Hayton

Edited by

Jennifer Bain

Show author details

Jennifer Bain: Affiliation:
Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

Book contents

Get access

Summary

This chapter introduces readers to the most popular work through which Hildegard of Bingen was known throughout Europe in the centuries after her death, the Pentachronon (also known as the Speculum futurorum temporum siue Pentachronon sancte Hildegardis). The Pentachronon is an anthology of excerpts from Hildegard’s authentic writings that was created by Gebeno of Eberbach in the early thirteenth century and it enjoyed a pan-European circulation through the seventeenth century. This sophisticated anthology includes Hildegard’s apocalyptic prophecies of present and future history from the Scivias, the Book of Divine Works, and her letters, as well as excerpts from her correspondence in which she offered spiritual direction and counsel through her prophetic gift. An overview of the main apocalyptic narrative of the anthology is provided and particular attention is paid to the way in which Hildegard as a prophet and her apocalyptic teachings were presented for premodern readers in the three main versions of the anthology.

Keywords

Hildegard of Bingen Gebeno of Eberbach Pentachronon prophecy apocalypticism reform

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen , pp. 170 - 188

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108573832.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Primary Sources

Adso of Montier-en-Der. Letter on the Origin and Time of the Antichrist. In Apocalyptic Spirituality: Treatises and Letters of Lactantius, Adso of Montier-en-Der, Joachim of Fiore, the Franciscan Spirituals, Savonarola, ed. and trans. McGinn, Bernard. New York: Paulist Press, 1979.Google Scholar

Gebeno of Eberbach. La Obra de Gebenón de Eberbach, ed. Santos Paz, José Carlos. Florence: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2004.Google Scholar

Hayton, Magda. “Hildegardian Prophecy and French Prophecy Collections 1378–1455: A Study and Critical Edition of the ‘Schism Extracts.’” Traditio 72 (2017): 453–491.Google Scholar

Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn, Hayton, Magda, and Olsen, Kenna. “Pseudo-Hildegardian Prophecy and Antimendicant Propaganda in Late-Medieval England: An Edition of the Most Popular Insular Text of ‘Insurgent Gentes.’” In Morgan, Nigel, ed., Prophecy, Apocalypse and the Day of Doom: Proceedings of the 2000 Harlaxton Symposium. Harlaxton Medieval Studies vol. 12. Donington: Shaun Tyas Publishing, 2004, 160–194.Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

Caciola, Nancy. Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003.Google Scholar

Embach, Michael and Wallner, Martina. Conspectus der Handschriften Hildegards von Bingen. Münster: Aschendorff, 2013.Google Scholar

Embach, Michael. “Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179): A History of Reception.” In Kienzle, Beverly Mayne, Stoudt, Debra L., and Ferzoco, George, eds., A Companion to Hildegard of Bingen. Leiden: Brill, 2014, 273–304.CrossRef Google Scholar

Hayton, Magda. “Prophets, Prophecy, and Cistercians: A Study of the Most Popular Version of the Hildegardian Pentachronon.” The Journal of Medieval Latin 29 (2019): 123–162.Google Scholar

Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn. “Prophecy and Suspicion: Closet Radicalism, Reformist Politics, and the Vogue for Hildegardiana in Ricardian England.” Speculam 75 (2000): 318–341.Google Scholar

Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn. “Prophet and Reformer: ‘Smoke in the Vineyard.’” In Newman, Barbara, ed., Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998, 70–90.CrossRef Google Scholar

Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn. “When Women Preached: An Introduction to Female Homiletic, Sacramental, and Liturgical Roles in the Later Middle Ages.” In Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn and Olson, Linda, eds., Voices in Dialogue: Reading Women in the Middle Ages. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005, 31–55.Google Scholar

Santos Paz, José Carlos. “Hildegarde Profetisa: la interpretación de Gebenón de Eberbach.” In Boesch Gajano, Sofia and Bartolomei Romagnoli, Alessandra, eds., “Speculum futurorum temporum”: Ildegarda di Bingen tra agiografia e memoria. Atti del Convegno di Studio (Roma, 5-6- aprile 2017). Rome: Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medioevo, 2019, 117–148.Google Scholar