Chapter VI: The Structure of the Material Universe

To the student of the history of science, Hildegard’s beliefs as to the nature and structure of the universe are among the most interesting that she has to impart. Her earlier theories are in some respects unique among mediaeval writers, and we possess in the Wiesbaden Codex B a diagram enabling us to interpret her views with a definiteness and certainty that would otherwise be impossible.

Hildegard’s universe is geocentric, and consists of a spherical earth,[52] around which are arranged a number of concentric shells or zones. The inner zones are spherical, the outer oval, and the outermost of all egg-shaped, with one end prolonged and more pointed than the other (Fig. 2). The concentric structure is a commonplace of mediaeval science, and is encountered, for instance, in the works of Bede, Isidore, Alexander of Neckam, Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Dante. To all these writers, however, the universe is spherical. The egg-shape is peculiar to Hildegard. Many of the _Mappaemundi_ of the Beatus and other types exhibit the _surface_ of the habitable earth itself as oval, and it was from such charts that Hildegard probably gained her conception of an oval universe. In her method of orientation also she follows these maps, placing the east at the top of the page where we are accustomed to place the north.[53]

It is unfortunate that she does not deal with geography in the restricted sense, and so we are not in full possession of her views on the antipodes, a subject of frequent derision to patristic and of misconception to scholastic writers. She does, however, vaguely refer to the inversion of seasons and climates in the opposite hemisphere,[54] though she confuses the issue by the adoption of a theory widespread in the Middle Ages and reproduced in the _Divina Commedia_, that the antipodean surface of the earth is uninhabitable, since it is either beneath the ocean or in the mouth of the Dragon[55] (Plate XI, cp. Fig. 4). The nature of the antipodean inversion of climates was clearly grasped by her contemporary, Herrade de Landsberg (Fig. 5).

Hildegard’s views as to the internal structure of the terrestrial sphere are also somewhat difficult to follow. Her obscure and confused doctrine of Purgatory and Hell has puzzled other writers besides ourselves,[56] nor need we consider it here, but she held that the interior of the earth contained two vast spaces shaped like truncated cones, where punishment was meted out and whence many evil things had issue.[57] Her whole scheme presents analogies as well as contrasts to that of her kindred spirit Dante.[58] Hildegard, however, who died before the thirteenth century had dawned, presents us with a scheme far less definite and elaborated than that of her great successor, who had all the stores of the golden age of scholasticism on which to draw.

In Hildegard’s first diagram of the universe, which is of the nature of an ‘optical section’, the world, the _sphaera elementorum_ of Johannes Sacro Bosco and other mediaeval writers, is diagrammatically represented as compounded of earth, air, fire, and water confusedly mixed in what her younger contemporary, Alexander of Neckam (1157-1217), calls ‘a certain concordant discord of the elements’. In the illustrations to the Wiesbaden Codex B the four elements have each a conventional method of representation, which appears again and again in the different miniatures (Fig. 2 and Plates XII and XIII).

Around this world with its four elements is spread the atmosphere, the _aer lucidus_ or _alba pellis_, diagrammatically represented, like the earth which it enwraps, as circular. Through this _alba pellis_ no creature of earth can penetrate. Beyond are ranged in order four further shells or zones. Each zone contains one of the cardinal winds, and each cardinal wind is accompanied by two accessory winds, represented in the traditional fashion by the breath of supernatural beings.

Of the four outer zones the first is the _aer aquosus_, also round, from which blows the east wind. In the outer part of the _aer aquosus_ float the clouds, and according as they contract or expand or are blown aside, the heavenly bodies above are revealed or concealed.

Enwrapping the _aer aquosus_ is the _purus aether_, the widest of all the zones. The long axis of this, as of the remaining outer shells, is in the direction from east to west, thus determining the path of movement of the heavenly bodies. Scattered through the _purus aether_ are the constellations of the fixed stars, and arranged along the long axis are the moon and the two inner planets. From this zone blows the west wind. The position and constitution of this _purus aether_ is evidently the result of some misinterpretation of Aristotelian writings.

The next zone, the _umbrosa pellis_ or _ignis niger_, is a narrow dark shell, whence proceed the more dramatic meteorological events. Here, following on the hints of the Wisdom of Solomon (chap. v) and the Book of Job (chap. xxxviii), are situated the diagrammatically portrayed treasuries of lightning and of hail. From here the tempestuous north wind bursts forth. This _ignis niger_ is clearly comparable to the _dry earthy exhalation_ that works of the Peripatetic school regard as given off by the outer fiery zone. The presence of the _ignis niger_ thus suggests some contact on the part of the authoress with the teaching of the _Meteorologica_ of Aristotle.[59]

The outermost layer of all is a mass of flames, the _lucidus ignis_. Here are the sun and the three outer planets, and from here the south wind pours its scorching breath (Fig. 2).

The movements of the four outer zones around each other, carrying the heavenly bodies with them, are attributed to the winds in each zone. The seasonal variations in the movements of the heavenly bodies, along with the recurring seasons themselves, are also determined by the prevalent winds, which, acting as the motive power upon the various zones, form a celestial parallelogram of forces. In this way is ingeniously explained also why in spring the days lengthen and in autumn they shorten until in either case an equinox is reached (Fig. 2).

‘I looked and behold the east and the south wind with their
collaterals, moving the firmament by the power of their breath,
caused it to revolve over the earth from east to west; and in the
same way the west and north winds and their collaterals, receiving
the impulse and projecting their blast, thrust it back again from
west to east....

‘I saw also that as the days began to lengthen, the south wind and
his collaterals gradually raised the firmament in the southern
zone upwards towards the north, until the days ceased to grow
longer. Then when the days began to shorten, the north wind with
his collaterals, shrinking from the brightness of the sun, drove
the firmament back gradually southward until by reason of the
lengthening days the south wind began yet again to raise it up’[60]
(Plates VII and VIII).

Intimately bound up not only with her theory of the nature and structure of the universe but also with her eschatological beliefs is Hildegard’s doctrine of the elements. Before the fall of man these were arranged in a harmony,[61] which was disturbed by that catastrophe (Plate XII _a_),[62] so that they have since remained in the state of mingled confusion in which we always encounter them on the terrestrial globe. This _mistio_, to use the mediaeval Aristotelian term, is symbolized by the irregular manner in which the elements are represented in the central sphere of the diagram of the universe (Fig. 2). Thus mingled they will remain until subjected to the melting-pot of the Last Judgement (Plate XIII),[63] when they will emerge in a new and eternal harmony, no longer mixed as matter, but separate and pure, parts of the new heaven and the new earth (Plate XII _b_).[64]

‘But the heavens and the earth, which are now,... are kept in
store and reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord will come ...
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up.... Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness’ (2 Peter iii. 7, 10, and 13).

So Hildegard, acting on a scriptural hint, is enabled to dematerialize her doctrine of the after-things.

But although since man’s fall the elements have lost their order and their harmony on this terrestrial orb, yet is that harmony still in part preserved in the celestial spheres that encircle and surround our globe; and water, air, earth, and fire have each their respective representatives in the four concentric zones, the _aer aquosus_, the _purus aether_, the _umbrosa pellis_, and the _lucidus ignis_ (Fig. 2). These are the ‘superior elements’ which still retain some at least of their individuality and primal purity. From each of their spheres blows, as we have seen, one of the cardinal winds, and each wind partakes of the elemental character of the zone whence it issues, and has a corresponding influence on man’s body, since each of the four humours is specifically affected by the element to which it corresponds.

‘Then I saw that by the diverse quality of the winds, and of the
atmosphere as they in turn sweep through it, the humours in man
are agitated and altered. For in each of the superior elements
there is a breath of corresponding quality by which, through the
power of the winds, the corresponding element [below] is forced to
revolve in the atmosphere, and in no other way is it moved. And by
one of those winds, with the agency of sun, moon, and stars, the
atmosphere which tempers the world is breathed forth’[65] (Plate
VII).

This doctrine of the relation of the various winds to the four elements and through them to the four humours is found in the _De Rerum Natura_ of Isidore of Seville, and is occasionally illustrated in European MSS. from the ninth century onward,[66] but we meet it set forth with special definiteness in the twelfth century in the translations from Messahalah. It is encountered also in the work of Herrade de Landsberg. In and after the thirteenth century it had become a commonplace.

The description we have given of the universe was in the main set forth by Hildegard in her first work, the _Scivias_ (1141-50).[67] Subsequently she became dissatisfied with the account she had given, and while not withdrawing it, she sought in the _Liber Divinorum Operum_ (1163-70) so to modify the original presentment as to bring it more into line with accepted views. Thus she writes: ‘There appeared to me in vision a _disk_ very like that object which I saw twenty-eight years ago of the form of an _egg_, in the third vision of my book _Scivias_. In the outer part of the disk there was as it were the _lucidus ignis_, and beneath it the circle of the _ignis niger_ was portrayed ... and these two circles were so joined as to be one circle.’ There was thus one outer zone representing the fire. ‘Under the circle of the _ignis niger_ there was another circle in the likeness of the _purus aether_ which was of the same width as the two conjoined [outer] fiery circles. And below this circle again was the circle of the _aer aquosus_ as wide as the _lucidus ignis_. And below this circle was yet another circle, the _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_ ... the width whereof was as the width of the _ignis niger_, and these circles were joined to make one circle which was thus again of width equal to the outer two. Again, under this last circle yet another circle, the _aer tenuis_, was distinguishable, which could be seen to raise itself as a cloud, sometimes high and light, sometimes depressed and dark, and to diffuse itself as it were throughout the whole disk.... The outermost fiery circle perfuses the other circles with its fire, while the watery circle saturates them with its moisture, [cp. Wisdom of Solomon, xix. 18-20]. And from the extreme eastern part of the disk to the extreme west a line is stretched out [i.e. the equator] which separates the northern zones from the others’[68] (see Fig. 3 and Plates VII and VIII).

Reconstructed from her measurements. AB, CD, and EF are all equal to each other, as are also GH, HK, and KL. The clouds are situated in the outer part of the _aer tenuis_, and form a prolongation downwards from the _aer aquosus_ towards the earth.]

The earth lies concentrically with the _aer tenuis_, and its measurements are given thus: ‘In the midst of the _aer tenuis_ a globe was indicated, the circumference of which was everywhere equidistant from the _fortis et albus lucidusque aer_, and it was as far across as the depth of the space from the top of the highest circle to the extremity of the clouds, or from the extremity of the clouds to the circumference of the inner globe’[68] (Fig. 3).

In her earlier work, the _Scivias_, Hildegard had not apparently realized the need of accounting for the independent movements of the planets other than the sun and moon. She had thus placed the moon and two of the moving stars in the _purus aether_, and the sun and the three remaining moving stars in the _lucidus ignis_. Since these spheres were moved by the winds, their contained planets would be subject to the same influences. In the _Liber Divinorum Operum_, however, she has come to realize how independent the movements of the planets really are, and she invokes a special cause for their vagaries. ‘I looked and behold in the outer fire (_lucidus ignis_) there appeared a circle which girt about the whole firmament from the east westward. From it a blast produced a movement from west to east in the opposite direction to the movement of the firmament. But this blast did not give forth his breath earthward as did the other winds, but instead thereof it governed the course of the planets.’[69] The source of the blast is represented in the Lucca MS. as the head of a supernatural being with a human face (Plate VIII).

Plate VIII. THE MACROCOSM THE MICROCOSM AND THE WINDS]

CELESTIAL INFLUENCES ON MEN ANIMALS AND PLANTS]

These curious passages were written at some date after 1163, when Hildegard was at least 65 years old. They reveal our prophetess attempting to revise much of her earlier theory of the universe, and while seeking to justify her earlier views, endeavouring also to bring them into line with the new science that was now just beginning to reach her world. Note that (_a_) the universe has become round; (_b_) there is an attempt to arrange the zones according to their density, i.e. from without inwards, fire, air (ether), water, earth; (_c_) exact measurements are given; (_d_) the watery zone is continued earthward so as to mingle with the central circle. In all these and other respects she is joining the general current of mediaeval science then beginning to be moulded by works translated from the Arabic. Her knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies is entirely innocent of the doctrine of epicycles, but in other respects her views have come to resemble those, for instance, of Messahalah, one of the simplest and easiest writers on the sphere available in her day. Furthermore, her conceptions have developed so as to fit in with the macrocosm-microcosm scheme which she grasped about the year 1158. Even in her latest work, however, her theory of the universe exhibits differences from that adopted by the schoolmen, as may be seen by comparing her diagram with, for example, the scheme of Dante (Fig. 4).

Slightly modified from Michelangelo Caetani, duca di Sermoneta, _La materia della Divina Commedia di Dante Allighieri dichiarata in VI tavole_, Monte Cassino, 1855.]

Like many mediaeval writers, Hildegard would have liked to imagine an ideal state of the elemental spheres in which the rarest, fire, was uppermost, and the densest, earth, undermost. Such a scheme was, in fact, purveyed by Bernard Sylvestris and by Messahalah. Her conceptions were however disturbed by the awkward facts that water penetrated below the earth, and indeed sought the lowest level, while air and not water lay immediately above the earth’s surface. Mediaeval writers adopted various devices and expended a great amount of ingenuity in dealing with this discrepancy, which was a constant source of obscurity and confusion. Hildegard devotes much space and some highly involved allegory both in the _Scivias_ and in the _Liber Divinorum Operum_ to the explanation of the difficulty, while Dante himself wrote a treatise in high scholastic style on this very subject.[70]

About the middle of the XIIIth Century.]