Evidence Brief — Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179): Text vs. Myth

Evidence Brief Series, No. 1: Hildegard of Bingen is widely regarded as an icon of monastic medicine; yet many diet, fasting, and remedy concepts attributed to her are modern constructions or distortions of the medieval sources. The medical–natural history works Physica and Causae et curae were composed in the 12th century but survive only in substantially later manuscripts; versions vary. They contain no modern-style cooking or fasting instructions—there is no “Hildegard diet” and no canon of spelt-based recipes. The well-known formulations are medicines, often wine macerates, honey licks, or powders baked “on bread,” some with ingredients that are toxicologically questionable today. The modern “Hildegard medicine” popularized from the 1970s onward relies on selective readings and attributions. Historically robust are Hildegard’s humoral-pathological reasoning, her pronounced focus on recipe-based therapeutics, and her embedding in late monastic knowledge culture. For current practice, careful editions/translation and pharmacological re-evaluation are advised.