Scivias
Encyclopedia
Scivias is an illustrated work by Hildegard von Bingen, completed in 1151 or 1152
, describing 26 religious vision
s she experienced. It is the first of three works that she wrote describing her visions, the others being Liber vitae meritorum and De operatione Dei (also known as Liber divinorum operum). The title comes from the Latin
phrase "Scito vias Domini" ("Know the Ways of the Lord"). The book is rather long – over 150,000 words, or what would be about 600 pages of printed text. The book is illustrated by 35 miniature illustrations, more than that are included in her two later books of visions.
The work is divided into three parts, reflecting the Trinity
. The first and second parts are approximately equal in length, while the third is as long as the other two together. The first part includes a preface describing how she was commanded to write the work, and includes six visions dealing with themes of creation and the Fall. The second part consists of seven visions deals with salvation through Jesus
Christ
, the Church
, and the sacrament
s. The third part, with thirteen visions, is about the coming kingdom of God
, through sanctification
, and increased tension between good and evil. The final vision includes 14 songs, plus a portion of the music drama which was later published as the Ordo Virtutum
. In each vision, she first described what she saw, and then recorded explanations she heard, which she believed to be the "voice of heaven."
manuscript, prepared under her immediate supervision or that of her immediate tradition, being made around the time of her death. It resided in the Wiesbaden
Hessische Landesbibliothek until World War II
, when it was taken to Dresden
for safekeeping, and lost. Some hoped that the German reunification
in 1990 would cause it to reappear, but to date it has not. Only black-and-white photographs of this manuscript survive. The original manuscript was 12.8 by 9.25 inches, and in 235 parchment
pages with double columns. A faithful illuminated
copy was made at the Hildegard Abbey in Eibingen
in 1927-1933, which is the source of the color reproductions now available. Other copies are in the Biblioteca Vaticana (made in Rupertsberg), Heidelberg
(12th c.), Oxford
(12/13th c.), Trier (1487), and elsewhere.
The first modern edition of Scivias, translated into German
, was published in 1928
by Sister Maura Böckeler of the Hildegard Abbey. A critical edition was completed in 1978 by Adelgundis Führkötter and Angela Carlevaris of the Hildegard Abbey. Of her books, it is the one most widely available to modern audiences in translations, sometimes abridged.
of the women's community at Disibodenberg
for five years. She had been experiencing such visions from the age of five, but had only confided in the monk Volmar
and her deceased superior Jutta. She felt insecure about her writing, out of humility or fear, and when she became ill, which she believed was punishment from God for her hesitancy. Volmar insisted that she write her visions down, and he and one of her nuns, Richardis von Stade, assisted in the writing of the work. She received permission to write the work from the Abbot Kuno at Disibodenberg. She also wrote Bernard of Clairvaux
in 1146 for advice, and he suggested the visions were indeed from God, and demurred to interfere with His orders. Perhaps the length of time it took her to decide to write the visions, despite punishment from God and the encouragement of other religious figures, indicates how frightening she found them.
A delegation from Disinbodenberg took a copy of some writings she had made to the Synod of Trier (November 1147 – February 1148), and they were read aloud at the synod. Pope Eugene III
granted papal approval to the writings, and authorized Hildegard to publish everything she received in visions. It is unclear whether the illustrations that accompany the text were shown at Trier. In 1148, she received a vision that called her to move her convent to Rupertsberg
. She moved there in 1150, and soon afterward completed Scivias (in 1151 or 1152).
It is unclear what her role was in the illumination of the manuscript, and scholars have assigned her every role from being uninvolved, to directing others to create them, to being their direct creator. In an illustration included as a frontispiece
, Hildegard is shown sketching on a wax tablet while dictating a vision to Volmar. According to Madeline Caviness, she may have sketched the outlines of her visions at their time, perhaps dictating their content simultaneously, and they were subsequently detailed.
nature. In addition, at the end of each vision is a concluding sentence, which is different for each of the three sections. The conclusion of each vision is also marked by a sentence that becomes stereotypical. For the visions in section one, the sentence is "I heard again the voice from heaven speaking to me"; in section two "And again I heard a voice from the heavenly heights speaking to me"; and in section three "And I heard that light who sat on the throne speaking."
The fourteen songs included in the final vision are all antiphon
s and responsories
. The lyrics are written in a cryptic style, resembling the trobar clus of contemporary troubadours. The songs are arranged hierarchically by subject in pairs, with two for the Virgin Mary, two for the angel
s, and two each for five categories of saint
s: patriarchs
and prophets, apostles, martyr
s, confessor
s, and virgins.
The relationship between the visions and the musical and dramatic content at the end is unclear. According to Margot Fassler, the visionary content, the songs and the play were designed by Hildegard to support an educational program. If this interpretation is correct, then this is the only such program that survives from the Middle Ages
.
, using formulaic expressions in the text. Like those prophets, Hildegard was politically and socially engaged and offered frequent moral exhortations and directives. Scivias can be seen as essentially a work of instruction and direction, to achieve salvation
. Theological
questions arise and are dealt with, but are usually considered using reasoning by analogy (especially pictorial analogy), rather than logic or dialectic.
Hildegard focuses on a concept she called "viriditas
", which she considered an attribute of the divine nature. The word is often translated in different ways, such as freshness, vitality, fecundity, fruitfulness, verdure, or growth. It is used as a metaphor of physical and spiritual health.
Some authors, such as Charles Singer
, have suggested that the characteristics of the descriptions of the visions and the illustrations, such as bright lights and auras, imply they may have been caused by scintillating scotoma
, a migraine condition. Oliver Sacks
, in his book Migraine
, called her visions "indisputably migrainous," but stated that this does not invalidate her visions, because it is what one does with a psychological condition that is important. The resemblance of the illuminations to typical symptoms of migraine attacks, especially in cases where it is not precisely described in the text, is one of the stronger arguments that Hildegard herself was directly involved in their creation.
It has also been suggested that the visions may have been due to hallucinogenic components present in ergot
, common in that area of the Rhineland
, at certain times of the year.
for her work Liber viarum Dei. Elizabeth, like Hildegard, experienced visions, and was encouraged by Hildegard to publish them.
Ordo Virtutum is the earliest known morality play
, a genre previously believed to have started in the 14th century.
12th century in literature
See also: 12th century in poetry, 11th century in literature, 13th century in literature, list of years in literature.----The 12th century saw an increase in the production of Latin texts and a proliferation of literate clerics from the multiplying cathedral schools...
, describing 26 religious vision
Vision (religion)
In spirituality, a vision is something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy, especially a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation.Visions generally have more clarity than dreams, but traditionally fewer psychological connotations...
s she experienced. It is the first of three works that she wrote describing her visions, the others being Liber vitae meritorum and De operatione Dei (also known as Liber divinorum operum). The title comes from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
phrase "Scito vias Domini" ("Know the Ways of the Lord"). The book is rather long – over 150,000 words, or what would be about 600 pages of printed text. The book is illustrated by 35 miniature illustrations, more than that are included in her two later books of visions.
The work is divided into three parts, reflecting the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
. The first and second parts are approximately equal in length, while the third is as long as the other two together. The first part includes a preface describing how she was commanded to write the work, and includes six visions dealing with themes of creation and the Fall. The second part consists of seven visions deals with salvation through Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, the Church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
, and the sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s. The third part, with thirteen visions, is about the coming kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
, through sanctification
Sanctification
Sanctity is an ancient concept widespread among religions, a property of a thing or person sacred or set apart within the religion, from totem poles through temple vessels to days of the week, to a human believer who achieves this state. Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity,...
, and increased tension between good and evil. The final vision includes 14 songs, plus a portion of the music drama which was later published as the Ordo Virtutum
Ordo Virtutum
Ordo Virtutum is an allegorical morality play, or liturgical drama, by Hildegard of Bingen, composed c. 1151...
. In each vision, she first described what she saw, and then recorded explanations she heard, which she believed to be the "voice of heaven."
Manuscripts and editions
Scivias survives in ten medieval manuscripts, two of them lost in modern times. The most esteemed of these was the well-preserved RupertsbergRupertsberg
Rupertsberg is a crag at the confluence of the Nahe River and the Rhine, in Bingen am Rhein. It is named for Saint Rupert of Bingen, son of Bertha of Bingen. It is notable as the site of the first convent founded by Saint Hildegard of Bingen, in 1150, after leaving the monastery at Disibodenberg...
manuscript, prepared under her immediate supervision or that of her immediate tradition, being made around the time of her death. It resided in the Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
Hessische Landesbibliothek until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when it was taken to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
for safekeeping, and lost. Some hoped that the German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 would cause it to reappear, but to date it has not. Only black-and-white photographs of this manuscript survive. The original manuscript was 12.8 by 9.25 inches, and in 235 parchment
Parchment
Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very...
pages with double columns. A faithful illuminated
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
copy was made at the Hildegard Abbey in Eibingen
Eibingen
Eibingen, now a part of Rüdesheim am Rhein, Hessen, Germany is the location of Eibingen Abbey, the Benedictine monastery founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165 ....
in 1927-1933, which is the source of the color reproductions now available. Other copies are in the Biblioteca Vaticana (made in Rupertsberg), Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
(12th c.), Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
(12/13th c.), Trier (1487), and elsewhere.
The first modern edition of Scivias, translated into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, was published in 1928
1928 in literature
The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
by Sister Maura Böckeler of the Hildegard Abbey. A critical edition was completed in 1978 by Adelgundis Führkötter and Angela Carlevaris of the Hildegard Abbey. Of her books, it is the one most widely available to modern audiences in translations, sometimes abridged.
Writing process
According to Hildegard herself in the preface to the Scivias, in 1141 (when she was 42) God in a vision ordered her to share her religious visions. At this time she had been the superiorAbbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of the women's community at Disibodenberg
Disibodenberg
thumb|right|Disibodenberg todaythumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg ruinsthumb|Disibodenberg pictureDisibodenberg is a monastery ruin in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was founded by Saint Disibod. Hildegard of Bingen, who wrote Disibod's biography "Vita Sancti Disibodi", also lived in...
for five years. She had been experiencing such visions from the age of five, but had only confided in the monk Volmar
Volmar
Volmar was a Saint Disibod monk who acted as prior and father confessor for the nuns at Disibodenberg. He was one of two teachers of Hildegard of Bingen during her early years, the other being Jutta....
and her deceased superior Jutta. She felt insecure about her writing, out of humility or fear, and when she became ill, which she believed was punishment from God for her hesitancy. Volmar insisted that she write her visions down, and he and one of her nuns, Richardis von Stade, assisted in the writing of the work. She received permission to write the work from the Abbot Kuno at Disibodenberg. She also wrote Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
in 1146 for advice, and he suggested the visions were indeed from God, and demurred to interfere with His orders. Perhaps the length of time it took her to decide to write the visions, despite punishment from God and the encouragement of other religious figures, indicates how frightening she found them.
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
granted papal approval to the writings, and authorized Hildegard to publish everything she received in visions. It is unclear whether the illustrations that accompany the text were shown at Trier. In 1148, she received a vision that called her to move her convent to Rupertsberg
Rupertsberg
Rupertsberg is a crag at the confluence of the Nahe River and the Rhine, in Bingen am Rhein. It is named for Saint Rupert of Bingen, son of Bertha of Bingen. It is notable as the site of the first convent founded by Saint Hildegard of Bingen, in 1150, after leaving the monastery at Disibodenberg...
. She moved there in 1150, and soon afterward completed Scivias (in 1151 or 1152).
It is unclear what her role was in the illumination of the manuscript, and scholars have assigned her every role from being uninvolved, to directing others to create them, to being their direct creator. In an illustration included as a frontispiece
Book frontispiece
A frontispiece is a decorative illustration facing a book's title page. The frontispiece is the verso opposite the recto title page. Elaborate engraved frontispieces were in frequent use, especially in Bibles and in scholarly books, and many are masterpieces of engraving...
, Hildegard is shown sketching on a wax tablet while dictating a vision to Volmar. According to Madeline Caviness, she may have sketched the outlines of her visions at their time, perhaps dictating their content simultaneously, and they were subsequently detailed.
Structure
At the beginning and end of each of the three sections of the work, there is a structural marker which indicates its propheticProphecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
nature. In addition, at the end of each vision is a concluding sentence, which is different for each of the three sections. The conclusion of each vision is also marked by a sentence that becomes stereotypical. For the visions in section one, the sentence is "I heard again the voice from heaven speaking to me"; in section two "And again I heard a voice from the heavenly heights speaking to me"; and in section three "And I heard that light who sat on the throne speaking."
The fourteen songs included in the final vision are all antiphon
Antiphon
An antiphon in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work....
s and responsories
Responsory
-Definition:The most general of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group singing verses while the whole choir or congregation respond with a refrain. However, this article focuses on those chants of the western...
. The lyrics are written in a cryptic style, resembling the trobar clus of contemporary troubadours. The songs are arranged hierarchically by subject in pairs, with two for the Virgin Mary, two for the angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s, and two each for five categories of saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s: patriarchs
Patriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
and prophets, apostles, martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
s, and virgins.
The relationship between the visions and the musical and dramatic content at the end is unclear. According to Margot Fassler, the visionary content, the songs and the play were designed by Hildegard to support an educational program. If this interpretation is correct, then this is the only such program that survives from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
Contents
The divisions of the book follows, based largely on the illuminations, using the titles assigned each vision by Adelgundis Führkötter, the editor of the critical edition (the original text does not give titles). Where multiple titles are given, multiple illuminations are provided. Each vision is followed by commentary divided into sections (given functional titles in the original manuscripts), the number of which is designated in parentheses.- Foreword
- Part I
- God, the Light-Giver and Humanity (6)
- The Fall (33)
- God, Cosmos, and Humanity (31)
- Humanity and Life (32)
- Synagogue (8)
- The Choirs of Angels (12)
- Part II
- The Savior (17)
- The Triune God (9)
- The Church as Mother of Believers – The Baptism (37)
- Anointed with Virtue – The Confirmation (14)
- The Hierarchy of the Church (60)
- The Sacrifice of Christ and the Church; Continuation of the Mystery in the Partaking of the Sacrifice (102)
- Humanity's Fight Against Evil; The Tempter (25)
- Part III
- The Omnipotent; The Extinguished Stars (18)
- The Building (28)
- The Tower of Preparation; The Divine Virtues in the Tower of Preparation (13)
- The Pillar of the Word of God; The Knowledge of God (22)
- The Zeal of God (33)
- The Triple Wall (35)
- The Pillar of the Trinity (11)
- The Pillar of the Humanity of the Savior (25)
- The Tower of the Church (29)
- The Son of Man (32)
- The End of Time (42)
- The Day of the Great Revelation; The New Heaven and the New Earth (16)
- Praise of the Holy (16)
Analysis
Hildegard located herself within the prophetic tradition of the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, using formulaic expressions in the text. Like those prophets, Hildegard was politically and socially engaged and offered frequent moral exhortations and directives. Scivias can be seen as essentially a work of instruction and direction, to achieve salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
. Theological
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
questions arise and are dealt with, but are usually considered using reasoning by analogy (especially pictorial analogy), rather than logic or dialectic.
Hildegard focuses on a concept she called "viriditas
Viriditas
Viriditas is a word particularly associated with abbess Hildegard von Bingen, although it was used by earlier writers, particularly Gregory the Great...
", which she considered an attribute of the divine nature. The word is often translated in different ways, such as freshness, vitality, fecundity, fruitfulness, verdure, or growth. It is used as a metaphor of physical and spiritual health.
Some authors, such as Charles Singer
Charles Singer
Charles Joseph Singer was a British historian of science, technology, and medicine.-Early years:Singer was born in Camberwell in London, where his father Simeon Singer was a minister and Hebraist. He was educated at City of London School, University College London, and Magdalen College, Oxford...
, have suggested that the characteristics of the descriptions of the visions and the illustrations, such as bright lights and auras, imply they may have been caused by scintillating scotoma
Scintillating scotoma
Scintillating scotoma is the most common visual aura preceding migraine and was first described by 19th century physician Hubert Airy . It is often confused with ocular migraine which originates in the eyeball or socket.-Presentation:...
, a migraine condition. Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
, in his book Migraine
Migraine (book)
Migraine is the first book written by Oliver Sacks, a well-known neurologist and author with a practice in New York City. The book was written in 1967, mostly over a nine-day period, and first published in 1970...
, called her visions "indisputably migrainous," but stated that this does not invalidate her visions, because it is what one does with a psychological condition that is important. The resemblance of the illuminations to typical symptoms of migraine attacks, especially in cases where it is not precisely described in the text, is one of the stronger arguments that Hildegard herself was directly involved in their creation.
It has also been suggested that the visions may have been due to hallucinogenic components present in ergot
Ergot
Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus Claviceps. The most prominent member of this group is Claviceps purpurea. This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that can cause ergotism in humans and other mammals who consume grains contaminated with its...
, common in that area of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, at certain times of the year.
Influence
In Hildegard's day, Scivias was her best-known work. Scivias was used as a model by Elizabeth of SchönauElizabeth of Schönau
Elizabeth of Schönau was a German Benedictine visionary. When her writings were published, the title of "Saint" was added to her name. She was never canonized, but in 1584 her name was entered in the Roman Martyrology and has remained there...
for her work Liber viarum Dei. Elizabeth, like Hildegard, experienced visions, and was encouraged by Hildegard to publish them.
Ordo Virtutum is the earliest known morality play
Morality play
The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
, a genre previously believed to have started in the 14th century.
Editions
- (critical edition) Adelgundis Führkötter and Angela Carlevaris, eds. Hildegardis Scivias. Turnhout: Brepols, 1978. LX, 917 pp., with 35 plates in six colors and three black-and-white plates. Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis, vols. 43 and 43A.
- (German translation) Maura Böckeler. Wisse die Wege. Scivias. Salzburg: Otto Müller, 1954.
- (English translation) Bruce Hozeski. Scivias. Santa Fe: Bear and Company, 1986.
- (English translation) Columba Hart and Jane Bishop. Scivias. New York: Paulist Classics of Western Spirituality, 1990.
- (abridged English translation) Bruce Hozeski. Hildegard von Bingen's Mystical Visions. Santa Fe: Bear and Company, 1995.
External links
- Digitised images of MS 160, Merton College, Oxford, Early Manuscripts at Oxford University.