Hildegard of Bingen

Perhaps the least studied of Hildegard of Bingen’s writings, Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions is translated in this volume into English for the first time from the original Latin.

In this work of exegesis, Hildegard (1098–1179) resolves thorny passages of Scripture, theological questions, and two issues in hagiographic texts. Solutions to Thirty-Eight Questions joins Hildegard’s Homilies on the Gospels, which were directed to her nuns, as evidence of the seer’s exegetical writing as well as her authority as an exegete. The twelfth-century saint wrote in standard genres of exegesis—homilies and solutiones—and her interpretations of Scripture were widely sought, including by male audiences.

Beverly M. Kienzle is the John H. Morison Professor of the Practice in Latin and Romance Languages and lecturer on medieval Christianity at Harvard Divinity School. Her research and writing focus on the place of preaching and sermons in the history of medieval religion and on evidence for women's preaching in monastic, lay, and dissident communities. Her publications include Hildegard of Bingen: Homilies on the Gospels from Cistercian Publications and Hildegard of Bingen and Her Gospel Homilies: Speaking New Mysteries. Kienzle has also co-edited Hildegard of Bingen's Expositiones euangeliorum and A Handbook on Hildegard of Bingen.