HILDESHEIM
353
HILDESHEIM
Schott at Strasburg as "Physica S. Hildegardis", Dr.
Jessen (1858) found a manuscript of it in the librar_v of
Wolfenbiittel. It consists of nine books treating of
plants, elements, trees, stones, fishes, birds, quadru-
peds, reptiles, metals, printed in Migne as "Subtilita-
tum Diversarum Naturarum Libri Novem". In 1859
Jessen succeeded in obtaining from Copenhagen a
manuscript entitled "Hildegardis Curse et Causae",
and on examination felt satisfied that it was the second
medical work of the saint. It is in five books and
treats of the general divisions of created things, of the
human body and its ailments, of the causes, s)-mp-
toms, and treatment of diseases. "38 Solutiones
QuiEstionum" are answers to questions proposed by
the monks of Villars through Guibert of Gembloux on
several texts of Scripture (P. L., loc. cit.). "Explan-
atio RegulsB S. Benedicti ", also called a revelation,
exhibits the rule as understood and applied in those
days by an intelligent and mild superior. " Explana-
tio Symboli S. Athanasii", an exhortation addressed
to her sisters in religion. The " Revelatio Hildegardis
de Fratribus Quatuor Ordinum Mendicantium", and
the other prophecies against the Mendicants, etc., are
forgeries. The "Speculum futurorum temporum" is
a free adaptation of te.xts culled from her writings by
Gebeno, prior of Eberbach (Pentachronicon, 1220).
Some would impugn the genuineness of all her writ-
ings, among others Preger in his " Gesch. der deutschen
Mystik", 1874, but without sufficient reason. (See
Hauck in " Kirchengesch. Deutschl.", IV, 398 sqq.)
Her correspondence is to be read with caution ; three
letters from popes have been proved spurious by Von
Winterfeld in "Neue Archiv", XXVII, 297.
The first biography of St. Hildegard was written by the contemporary monks Gottfried and Tiieodoric. Guibert OF Gembloux commenced another.
Acta S.S.. Sept., V. 679; Anal. Boll, I, 597; II, 119; Allg. deutsche Biog. (Leipzig. 1880); Linde, Die Handschriften der Kgl. tandesbibliothek in Baden (Wiesbaden. 1S84); Schmelzeis, Leben u. Wirken der hi. Hildegard (Freiburg. 1879^; Roth, Lieder und unbekannle Sprache der hi. Hildegard (ISSO); Kaiser, Die naturwistienfichaftliche Schriflen der hi. Hildegard ^Baden, 1901). P^or a brief characterization of her importance in the history of medicine, and the natural sciences in medieval Germany, see Herwegen in Kirchl. Handlexikon (1908), I, 1970. _ He adds tliat a final judgment on the remarkable per- sonality of Hildegard is possible only after a profound study of all her works, a preliminary requisite for which is a new critical edition of them. FraNCIS MerSHMAN.
Hildesheim, Diocese of (Hildesheimensis), an exempt see, comprising the Prussian province of Han- over east of the Weser, besides the Duchy of Brims- wick. It owed its foundation to Emperor Louis the Pious. His father had originally selected for an epis- copal see the village of Elze (Aulica), but we are told by the legend that Louis was influenced by a miracle to choose the present cathedral site. He erected on this spoi; the first chapel in Germany dedicated to the Mother of God. The precise year in which this see was founded is not known; the date varies acconling to different accounts from 814 to 822. The first bishop was Gunthar (about 815-834). The surrounding dioceses were, on the north, Verdcn, on the east, Hal- berstadt, on the west, Minden and Paderborn, and, on the south, Mainz, of which it was suffragan. Rich donations were made to Hildesheim, some of them by the German kings themselves. Immunities and the prerogatives of independent j urisdict ion , together with feudal sovereignty, soon brought it a large measure of prosperity and power. The period covered by the administrations of Bishops St. Bernward (993-1022), St. Godehard (1022-1038), and Hezilo (1054-1079) was one of special lustre. To Bernward's artistic tastes are due the famous bronze doors of the cathedral, the Christus-column, the Bernward cross, also the beauti- ful church of St. Michael, still preserved, the western crypt of which contains the tomb of Bernward. The Abbey of Gandersheim, renowned as the home of Hros- witha, the famous Latin poetess, was the occasion of a dispute between Hildesheim and Mainz which lasted VII.— 23
many years, but was finally settled in favour of the
former. Hildesheim obtained its political independ-
ence by the severe feud with Henry the Lion.
In 1221 Bishop Conrad II, one of the strongest personalities in thirteenth -century Germany, was invested with princely authority, and in 1235 his authority as territorial lord was recognized at Mainz. But he found the exercise of his ecclesiastical and ter- ritorial sovereignty restricted by the corporate inde- pendence of the town of Hildesheim, which endured until the middle of the thirteenth century (earliest municipal constitution, 1249), and of the cathedral chapter; the latter, thanks to the "Great Privilege" of Bishop Adelog, maintained since 1179 a far-reach- ing right of participation in the government; the year 1216 saw the first " Wahlkapitulation "; while in 1221 all participation in the selection of a bishop was finally taken away from the great officers, or Ministeriales, of the see. The close combination of spiritual and temporal authority meant for the bishop countless sources of disorder and of violent conflict with domestic and foreign adversaries, chief among whom were the Guelphs. The victory of Gerhard over Duke Magnus of Brunswick and his ally at Dink- lar in 1367 is well known. These incessant wars and agitations paralysed religious growth. Bishop Magnus (1424-52) having determined to restore domestic con- cord, entered into various treaties with neighbouring principalities and towns for the safeguarding of peace, and took up energetically the reform of internal relig- ious life, which popes and councils had so long advo- cated. Johannes Busch, Provost of the Augustinians, laboured efficiently for monastic reforms; and about tliis time the Benedictines of Bursfeld began their reformatory work in the diocese. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa arrived at Hildesheim in 1451. But the re- forms were not lasting. The old troubles of the see, war and internal feuds, broke out anew and with greater violence than before, until at length the once flourishing see fell a victim to what is known as the "great diocesan war" (grosse StifUfehde). Of its eleven districts, with twenty-seven counties and twenty-one castles, only the three districts of Peine, Steuerwald, and Marienburg, the so-called "small diocese ", were left to the See of Hildesheim by the compact of Quedlinburg, in 1523; the "large diocese" fell into the hands of the victorious Guelphs and the once great power of the Bishops of Hildesheim passed away. Internal conflicts prepared the way for the Reformation.
Bishop Valentine strove to strengthen the ancient Faith among his people by calling a diocesan synod in 1539, at which he promulgated a number of de- crees; but in vain. In 1.542 the city of Hildesheim adopted the new doctrines, and the Protestant Dukes of Brunswick introduced the Reformation into the "large diocese ". Catholicism was vigorously defended by the auxiliary bishop, Balthasar, from the pulpit of the cathedral, but the city government had recourse to measures of violence. Amid these disturbances an old man of ninety was erecting in the cathedral one of the handsomest monuments of the early German Renaissance. This was Canon Arnold Fridag, who put up the magnificent lectern (Lettner) with its rich pictorial ornament. Meanwhile the see entered on the most critical period of its history, when a Lutheran prince, Duke Friedrich of Holstein, ascended the episcopal throne in 1551. His premature death saved the see from total disaster. Thanks to his truly Catholic successor, Burchard, the ancient Faith and the few remaining properties of the Church were pre- served. The cathedral chapter, after his death, re- sorted to the only expedient available for ensuring the stability of the see and of the Catholic religion therein, by entrusting the small diocese to a powerful ecclesiastical prince. From 1573 to 1761, with but a short interruption, the bishops were chosen from the
