The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 56

The Aristotelian Philosophi
The Effect on Isotta Nog
literature, and histories and biographies
about ancient and mythological heroines,
female saints, female chastity, and
the “woman question,” defying the Aristotelian
tradition that women should
remain silent. One such woman who
became a scholar and defied Aristotelian
tradition was Hildegard of Bingen.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
was much more than a twelfth-century
nun; she was a counselor, physician,
theologian, and scholar. She entered the
convent when she was eight years old
and became an abbess in 1136, a time
when no woman was to have any power
over a man. However, Hildegard defied
that command and wrote about the unjust
inferiority of women to men.
Hildegard was attracted to Bible
passages about women and morality.
She was specifically drawn to the passages
about Wisdom, “God’s feminine
consort and collaborator in the works
of creation,” who earned the praise of a
goddess. 58 Using the Scriptures, Hildegard
analyzed the relationship between
men and women and found through the
feminine parts of the Bible that women
were not frail and meek creatures and
that men and women could have an
equal partnership. 59 She was a Renaissance
woman before the Renaissance.
Although her views of women were
considered unfeminine at the time, as a
nun, Hildegard was never condemned
for them. By combining her feminist
views with theology, she successfully
wrote about the hostility that women
faced in a male-dominated world. Another
woman who successfully wrote
about men’s misogynist views on women
was Christine de Pizan.
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