To the student of the history of science, Hildegard’s beliefs as to the
nature and structure of the universe are among the most interesting
that she has to impart. Her earlier theories are in some respects
unique among mediaeval writers, and we possess in the Wiesbaden Codex
B a diagram enabling us to interpret her views with a definiteness and
certainty that would otherwise be impossible.
Hildegard’s universe is geocentric, and consists of a spherical
earth,[52] around which are arranged a number of concentric shells or
zones. The inner zones are spherical, the outer oval, and the outermost
of all egg-shaped, with one end prolonged and more pointed than the
other (Fig. 2). The concentric structure is a commonplace of mediaeval
science, and is encountered, for instance, in the works of Bede,
Isidore, Alexander of Neckam, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Dante.
To all these writers, however, the universe is spherical. The egg-shape
is peculiar to Hildegard. Many of the _Mappaemundi_ of the Beatus and
other types exhibit the _surface_ of the habitable earth itself as
oval, and it was from such charts that Hildegard probably gained her
conception of an oval universe. In her method of orientation also she
follows these maps, placing the east at the top of the page where we
are accustomed to place the north.[53]
It is unfortunate that she does not deal with geography in the
restricted sense, and so we are not in full possession of her views
on the antipodes, a subject of frequent derision to patristic and
of misconception to scholastic writers. She does, however, vaguely
refer to the inversion of seasons and climates in the opposite
hemisphere,[54] though she confuses the issue by the adoption of a
theory widespread in the Middle Ages and reproduced in the _Divina
Commedia_, that the antipodean surface of the earth is uninhabitable,
since it is either beneath the ocean or in the mouth of the Dragon[55]
(Plate XI, cp. Fig. 4). The nature of the antipodean inversion of
climates was clearly grasped by her contemporary, Herrade de Landsberg
(Fig. 5).
Hildegard’s views as to the internal structure of the terrestrial
sphere are also somewhat difficult to follow. Her obscure and confused
doctrine of Purgatory and Hell has puzzled other writers besides
ourselves,[56] nor need we consider it here, but she held that the
interior of the earth contained two vast spaces shaped like truncated
cones, where punishment was meted out and whence many evil things had
issue.[57] Her whole scheme presents analogies as well as contrasts
to that of her kindred spirit Dante.[58] Hildegard, however, who died
before the thirteenth century had dawned, presents us with a scheme far
less definite and elaborated than that of her great successor, who had
all the stores of the golden age of scholasticism on which to draw.
In Hildegard’s first diagram of the universe, which is of the nature
of an ‘optical section’, the world, the _sphaera elementorum_ of
Johannes Sacro Bosco and other mediaeval writers, is diagrammatically
represented as compounded of earth, air, fire, and water confusedly
mixed in what her younger contemporary, Alexander of Neckam
(1157-1217), calls ‘a certain concordant discord of the elements’. In
the illustrations to the Wiesbaden Codex B the four elements have each
a conventional method of representation, which appears again and again
in the different miniatures (Fig. 2 and Plates XII and XIII).
Around this world with its four elements is spread the atmosphere, the
_aer lucidus_ or _alba pellis_, diagrammatically represented, like
the earth which it enwraps, as circular. Through this _alba pellis_
no creature of earth can penetrate. Beyond are ranged in order four
further shells or zones. Each zone contains one of the cardinal
winds, and each cardinal wind is accompanied by two accessory winds,
represented in the traditional fashion by the breath of supernatural
beings.
Of the four outer zones the first is the _aer aquosus_, also round,
from which blows the east wind. In the outer part of the _aer aquosus_
float the clouds, and according as they contract or expand or are blown
aside, the heavenly bodies above are revealed or concealed.
Enwrapping the _aer aquosus_ is the _purus aether_, the widest of all
the zones. The long axis of this, as of the remaining outer shells,
is in the direction from east to west, thus determining the path of
movement of the heavenly bodies. Scattered through the _purus aether_
are the constellations of the fixed stars, and arranged along the long
axis are the moon and the two inner planets. From this zone blows the
west wind. The position and constitution of this _purus aether_ is
evidently the result of some misinterpretation of Aristotelian writings.
The next zone, the _umbrosa pellis_ or _ignis niger_, is a narrow dark
shell, whence proceed the more dramatic meteorological events. Here,
following on the hints of the Wisdom of Solomon (chap. v) and the Book
of Job (chap. xxxviii), are situated the diagrammatically portrayed
treasuries of lightning and of hail. From here the tempestuous north
wind bursts forth. This _ignis niger_ is clearly comparable to the _dry
earthy exhalation_ that works of the Peripatetic school regard as given
off by the outer fiery zone. The presence of the _ignis niger_ thus
suggests some contact on the part of the authoress with the teaching of
the _Meteorologica_ of Aristotle.[59]
The outermost layer of all is a mass of flames, the _lucidus ignis_.
Here are the sun and the three outer planets, and from here the south
wind pours its scorching breath (Fig. 2).
The movements of the four outer zones around each other, carrying
the heavenly bodies with them, are attributed to the winds in each
zone. The seasonal variations in the movements of the heavenly bodies,
along with the recurring seasons themselves, are also determined
by the prevalent winds, which, acting as the motive power upon the
various zones, form a celestial parallelogram of forces. In this way
is ingeniously explained also why in spring the days lengthen and in
autumn they shorten until in either case an equinox is reached (Fig. 2).
‘I looked and behold the east and the south wind with their
collaterals, moving the firmament by the power of their breath,
caused it to revolve over the earth from east to west; and in the
same way the west and north winds and their collaterals, receiving
the impulse and projecting their blast, thrust it back again from
west to east....
‘I saw also that as the days began to lengthen, the south wind and
his collaterals gradually raised the firmament in the southern
zone upwards towards the north, until the days ceased to grow
longer. Then when the days began to shorten, the north wind with
his collaterals, shrinking from the brightness of the sun, drove
the firmament back gradually southward until by reason of the
lengthening days the south wind began yet again to raise it up’[60]
(Plates VII and VIII).
Intimately bound up not only with her theory of the nature and
structure of the universe but also with her eschatological beliefs
is Hildegard’s doctrine of the elements. Before the fall of man
these were arranged in a harmony,[61] which was disturbed by that
catastrophe (Plate XII _a_),[62] so that they have since remained in
the state of mingled confusion in which we always encounter them on the
terrestrial globe. This _mistio_, to use the mediaeval Aristotelian
term, is symbolized by the irregular manner in which the elements are
represented in the central sphere of the diagram of the universe (Fig.
2). Thus mingled they will remain until subjected to the melting-pot of
the Last Judgement (Plate XIII),[63] when they will emerge in a new
and eternal harmony, no longer mixed as matter, but separate and pure,
parts of the new heaven and the new earth (Plate XII _b_).[64]
‘But the heavens and the earth, which are now,... are kept in
store and reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord will come ...
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.... Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness’ (2 Peter iii. 7, 10, and 13).
So Hildegard, acting on a scriptural hint, is enabled to dematerialize
her doctrine of the after-things.
But although since man’s fall the elements have lost their order and
their harmony on this terrestrial orb, yet is that harmony still in
part preserved in the celestial spheres that encircle and surround
our globe; and water, air, earth, and fire have each their respective
representatives in the four concentric zones, the _aer aquosus_, the
_purus aether_, the _umbrosa pellis_, and the _lucidus ignis_ (Fig.
2). These are the ‘superior elements’ which still retain some at least
of their individuality and primal purity. From each of their spheres
blows, as we have seen, one of the cardinal winds, and each wind
partakes of the elemental character of the zone whence it issues, and
has a corresponding influence on man’s body, since each of the four
humours is specifically affected by the element to which it corresponds.
‘Then I saw that by the diverse quality of the winds, and of the
atmosphere as they in turn sweep through it, the humours in man
are agitated and altered. For in each of the superior elements
there is a breath of corresponding quality by which, through the
power of the winds, the corresponding element [below] is forced to
revolve in the atmosphere, and in no other way is it moved. And by
one of those winds, with the agency of sun, moon, and stars, the
atmosphere which tempers the world is breathed forth’[65] (Plate
VII).
This doctrine of the relation of the various winds to the four elements
and through them to the four humours is found in the _De Rerum Natura_
of Isidore of Seville, and is occasionally illustrated in European
MSS. from the ninth century onward,[66] but we meet it set forth with
special definiteness in the twelfth century in the translations from
Messahalah. It is encountered also in the work of Herrade de Landsberg.
In and after the thirteenth century it had become a commonplace.
The description we have given of the universe was in the main set
forth by Hildegard in her first work, the _Scivias_ (1141-50).[67]
Subsequently she became dissatisfied with the account she had given,
and while not withdrawing it, she sought in the _Liber Divinorum
Operum_ (1163-70) so to modify the original presentment as to bring
it more into line with accepted views. Thus she writes: ‘There
appeared to me in vision a _disk_ very like that object which I saw
twenty-eight years ago of the form of an _egg_, in the third vision
of my book _Scivias_. In the outer part of the disk there was as it
were the _lucidus ignis_, and beneath it the circle of the _ignis
niger_ was portrayed ... and these two circles were so joined as to
be one circle.’ There was thus one outer zone representing the fire.
‘Under the circle of the _ignis niger_ there was another circle in the
likeness of the _purus aether_ which was of the same width as the two
conjoined [outer] fiery circles. And below this circle again was the
circle of the _aer aquosus_ as wide as the _lucidus ignis_. And below
this circle was yet another circle, the _fortis et albus lucidusque
aer_ ... the width whereof was as the width of the _ignis niger_, and
these circles were joined to make one circle which was thus again of
width equal to the outer two. Again, under this last circle yet another
circle, the _aer tenuis_, was distinguishable, which could be seen to
raise itself as a cloud, sometimes high and light, sometimes depressed
and dark, and to diffuse itself as it were throughout the whole
disk.... The outermost fiery circle perfuses the other circles with its
fire, while the watery circle saturates them with its moisture, [cp.
Wisdom of Solomon, xix. 18-20]. And from the extreme eastern part of
the disk to the extreme west a line is stretched out [i.e. the equator]
which separates the northern zones from the others’[68] (see Fig. 3 and
Plates VII and VIII).
[Illustration: Fig. 3. HILDEGARD’S SECOND SCHEME OF THE UNIVERSE
Reconstructed from her measurements. AB, CD, and EF are all equal to
each other, as are also GH, HK, and KL. The clouds are situated in the
outer part of the _aer tenuis_, and form a prolongation downwards from
the _aer aquosus_ towards the earth.]
The earth lies concentrically with the _aer tenuis_, and its
measurements are given thus: ‘In the midst of the _aer tenuis_ a globe
was indicated, the circumference of which was everywhere equidistant
from the _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_, and it was as far across
as the depth of the space from the top of the highest circle to the
extremity of the clouds, or from the extremity of the clouds to the
circumference of the inner globe’[68] (Fig. 3).
In her earlier work, the _Scivias_, Hildegard had not apparently
realized the need of accounting for the independent movements of the
planets other than the sun and moon. She had thus placed the moon
and two of the moving stars in the _purus aether_, and the sun and
the three remaining moving stars in the _lucidus ignis_. Since these
spheres were moved by the winds, their contained planets would be
subject to the same influences. In the _Liber Divinorum Operum_,
however, she has come to realize how independent the movements of the
planets really are, and she invokes a special cause for their vagaries.
‘I looked and behold in the outer fire (_lucidus ignis_) there appeared
a circle which girt about the whole firmament from the east westward.
From it a blast produced a movement from west to east in the opposite
direction to the movement of the firmament. But this blast did not give
forth his breath earthward as did the other winds, but instead thereof
it governed the course of the planets.’[69] The source of the blast is
represented in the Lucca MS. as the head of a supernatural being with a
human face (Plate VIII).
[Illustration: From the LUCCA MS. fo. 27 v