Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

German abbess, writer, and composer. Her encyclopedia of natural history, Liber simplicis medicinae (1150-60), giving both Latin and German names for the species described as well as their medicinal uses, is the earliest surviving scientific book by a woman.

Hildegard was abbess of the Benedictine convent of St Disibode, near the Rhine, from 1136.

She wrote a mystical treatise, Liber Scivias 1141, and collected her lyric poetry in the 1150s into one volume, providing each individual text with music. The poetry is vivid, reflecting the visions she experienced throughout her life. The melodic structure of her music is based on a small number of patterns (similar to motifs), which are repeated in different modes.