Physica

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The Physica (also Liber simplicis medicinae ) is a medical work by Abbess Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), in which she describes the healing powers of nature. It was built between 1150 and 1160. Originally formed the Physica together with the second natural history works of Hildegard, the Causae et curae , the font Liber subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum (The book of the secrets of the various natures of creatures). A split took place as early as the 13th century. The oldest surviving manuscripts also come from this period .

construction

The work consists of nine books, which are structured along the lines of other natural encyclopedias of the time and describe animate and inanimate "creatures" found in nature. The Physica also contains numerous lemmas about plants, animals or minerals, to which Hildegard ascribes no medical use and in some cases even advises against their medicinal use. Hildegard uses sources such as Pliny the Elder and Dioscurides , but also takes many applications from folk medicine.

  1. De Plantis ("About the Plants") describes 230 cereals and herbs.
  2. De Elementis (“About the Elements”).
  3. De Arboribus ("About the Trees") describes around 70 trees and bushes.
  4. De Lapidibus ("About the stones").
  5. De Piscibus ("About the Fish").
  6. De Avibus ("About the Birds").
  7. De Animalibus ("About the Animals"), contains only mammals.
  8. De Reptilibus ("About the Reptiles").
  9. De Metallis ("About the Metals").

The plants

In the first book, Hildegard describes for the first time the medical use of marigold , milk thistle and arnica, among others . However, she almost exclusively uses popular German names for the plants, which has made clear identification even today very difficult and has also led to confusion.

In the Middle Ages, Solidago was not used to refer to the golden rod , but to comfrey . Nevertheless, numerous golden rod teas “after Hildegard” are available in stores today. However, not a single tea recipe has been handed down by Hildegard. Such products must be seen as inventions of the controversial Hildegard medicine .

The description of lemon balm in Chapter 59 of Book 1, which was partly attributed to Hildegard, is also based on an error: the plant named Binsuga (from bee and suckling) was identified as white dead nettle as early as the middle of the 19th century . The background is probably the similar meaning of the names Binsuga and the Immenblatt (Imme = bee), whose Latin name Melittis melissophyllum is similar to the lemon balm ( Melissa officinalis ). The lemon balm is first detectable in Europe in Circa instans , which was created almost at the same time as Hildegard's Physica in the school of Salerno . It also appears in the canon of medicine (translated into Latin around 1170). Vincent von Beauvais , who in the middle of the 13th century wrote a chapter in Speculum naturale with De Melissa et Melissophillo , is considered to be the originator of this mix-up or confusion .

Even the spelled , which is strongly linked to Hildegard, plays a far less important role in Physica than wheat . Hildegard doesn't mention a single recipe with spelled. The extent of the wheat chapter is about three to four times as large as the spelled chapter. Whenever she specifies a flour, it is always the wheat.

Aftermath

Physica and Causae et curae were not included in the complete edition of Hildegard's works, which was developed during her lifetime or shortly after her death and has been lost since the Second World War . However, the scriptures are mentioned in their vita . Several copies have survived, the first from the 13th century and the last from the 15th century. The work was only given the title Physica with the prints of the 16th century: 1533 by Johannes Schott and 1544 by Krautius.

Because of these facts, there were always doubts about the authenticity of the two works. The medical historian Klaus-Dietrich Fischer is of the opinion that “one should not deny the authenticity of the natural history-medical works ascribed to Hildegard, because Hildegard's way of thinking and her style of language are so peculiar that the connection with the visionary works and the There can be no reasonable doubt about the traditional statements on anthropology , nature and the cosmos. ”This is also represented by a French publication:“ […] la manière et la matière du traité sont hildegardiennes dans leur grande majorité ”. (German: […] the type and subject matter of the work are predominantly Hildegardian.)

Historians do not attribute either of these writings to the so-called vision writings , which are divinely inspired, but rather refer to them as everyday naturopathic and empirical knowledge of the Middle Ages . "The complexity of the textual history of these two works (...) found no reception in the works on 'Hildegard Medicine' , but rather shows how questionable the textual basis of the medical and natural history work that has been handed down under Hildegard's name is" (Irmgard Müller 1998 ).

As a state of research it can be stated that "the texts Physica and Causae et curae are among the non-visionary writings that have been subject to manifold changes in their text reception."

Sources and Editions

Manuscripts

Complete manuscripts

  • Florence. Liber subtilitatum diversarum rerum naturarum. Florence. Bibliotheca Medicea Laurenziana. MS laur. ASHD 1323. Parchment, 14th century.
Edition: Irmgard Müller, Christian Schulze: Physica. Edition of the Florentine manuscript (Cod. Laur. Ashb. 1323, approx. 1300) in comparison with the textual constitution of the Patrologia Latina (Migne) . Georg Olms, 2008. ISBN 978-3487138466
  • Wolfenbüttel. Hildegardis Physica seu liber subtulitatum de diversis creaturis. Wolfenbüttel. Herzog-August-Bibliothek. Cod. Guelf. 52.2 Aug. 4 °. Parchment, 14th century
  • Vatican. S. Hildegardes Phisica seu subtilitatum diversarum creaturarum. Vatican. Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana. Ferrajoli 921. 14. – 15. Century
  • Paris. Liber beate Hildegardis subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum et sic de aliis quam multis bonis. Paris. Bibliothèque Nationale. Codex 6952 f. 156-232. 15th century (1425-1450).
Edition: Charles Victor Daremberg and Friedrich Anton Reuss (1810–1868). S. Hildegardis Abbatissae Subtilitatum Diversarum Naturarum Creaturarum Libri Novem. Migne, Paris 1855. Sp. 1117-1352
  • Brussels. Hildegardis de fructibus terrae, de saxis, metallis… Brussels. Bibliothèque Royale. Cod. 2551, 15th century

Manuscripts with extracts

  • Bern. Hildegardis de simplicibus medicinis. Bern. Burger library. Cod. 525 f 18r-23r. Contains only a few chapters of Physica . 15th century
  • Freiburg i. Br. Freiburg. University library. D. HS 178a. Contains only the stone book. 15th century
  • Heidelberg. Manuscript Cpg 226. Alsace (Lower Alemannic) 1459–1469. The sheets 95v – 96v contain extracts from the Physica in German translation on the plants Salbey - Ruten - Fenckel - Tille - Peterlin - Eppe - Pünge - Brunn kreß - Fünffinger - Sefenbaums .

Prints and editions

  • Physica S. Hildegardis. Elementorum, Fluminum aliquot Germaniae, Metallorum, Leguminum, Fructuum, & Herbarum: Arborum, & Arbustorum: Piscium denique, Volatilium, & Animantium terrae naturas & operationes. IIII. Libris mirabili experientia posteritati tradens. Johann Schott, Strasbourg 1533. Bavarian State Library
  • Friedrich Anton Reuss. De libris Physicis S. Hildegardis Commentatio Historico-Medica. Würzburg 1835. Bavarian State Library
  • Reiner Hildebrandt, Thomas Gloning: Physica. Liber subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum. De Gruyter, 2010. ISBN 978-3-11-021590-8
Volume 3: Annotated register of German words. De Gruyter, 2014. ISBN 978-3-11-035326-6

Translations

  • Julius Berendes . The Physica of St. Hildegard. Special reprint from “Pharm. Post “1896 and 1897. Vienna. Technical University of Braunschweig
  • Peter Riethe : Natural history. The book of the inner beings of the various natures in creation. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salburg 1959
  • Herbert Reier. Hildegard von Bingen Physica. Translated into German after the text edition by JP Migne, Paris 1882. Kiel 1980.
  • Maria-Louise Portmann: Remedies. I – VI, Basel 1982–1984.
  • Marie-Louise Portmann: Healing Power of Nature (›Physica‹). The book of the inner being of the different natures of creatures [...]: First complete, verbatim and critical translation in which all manuscripts are taken into account. Translated by Marie-Louise Portmann, ed. from the Basel Hildegard Society. Pattloch, Augsburg 1991. ISBN 3-629-00567-5 . (Abridged version by Maria-Louise Portmann: Heilmittel. I – VI, Basel 1982–1984.)
  • Ortrun Riha : Healing Creation - The natural power of nature: Physica. Beuroner Kunstverlag, 2012. ISBN 978-3870712716 .
  • 1996. Le Livre des subtilités des créatures divines. Physique . Tome I: Les plantes, les éléments, les pierres, les métaux . Traduit par Pierre month. 3e éd. Grenoble, Jerome Millon. 257 p.
  • 1989. Le Livre des subtilités des créatures divines. Physique . Tome II: Arbres, poissons, animaux, oiseaux . Traduit par Pierre month. Grenoble, Jerome Millon. 271 p.

Partial translations

  • Peter Riethe: The book about the fish. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salzburg 1991. ISBN 978-3-7013-0812-5
  • Peter Riethe: The book of the birds. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salzburg 1994.
  • Peter Riethe: The Book of Animals. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salzburg and Vienna 1996. ISBN 978-3-7013-0929-0
  • Peter Riethe: The book of the stones. Translated and explained according to the sources. 3. Edition. Müller, Salzburg and Vienna 1997. ISBN 978-3-7013-0946-7
  • Peter Riethe: From the elements, from the metals. Edited, explained and translated. Müller, Salzburg and Vienna 2000. ISBN 978-3-7013-1015-9
  • Peter Riethe: The Book of the Trees. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salzburg and Vienna 2001. ISBN 978-3-7013-1033-3
  • Peter Riethe: The Book of Plants. Translated and explained according to the sources. Müller, Salzburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-7013-1130-9

Secondary literature

  • Johannes Gottfried Mayer , Konrad Goehl and Katharina Englert: The plants of monastery medicine in presentation and application. With plant pictures by Benedictine Vitus Auslasser (15th century) from Clm 5905 of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. (= DWV writings on the history of medicine. Vol. 5). Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag, Baden-Baden, 2009. ISBN 978-3-86888-007-6 .
  • Christine Mayer-Nicolai: Medicinal plant indications yesterday and today: Hildegard von Bingen, Leonhart Fuchs and Hager's manual in comparison. Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag, Baden-Baden 2010, ISBN 978-3-86888-016-8 ( part 1 online , part 2 online )
  • Irmgard Müller: Hildegard von Bingen's herbal remedies: healing knowledge from monastery medicine. Herder Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3451059452 .
  • Moulinier, Laurence, 1989. La botanique d'Hildegarde de Bingen. Médiévales , 16-17  : 113-129. ( Plantes, mets et mots. Dialogues avec André-Georges Haudricourt , sous la direction de Françoise Sabban, Odile Redon et François Jacquesson. Doi : 10.3406 / medi.1989.1142 or Persée .)
  • Moulinier, Laurence, 1993. Hildegarde de Bingen, les plantes médicinales et le jugement de la postérité: pour une mise en perspective. Les plantes médicinales chez Hildegarde de Bingen. Ghent. pp.61-75. Hal . List of plants with botanical identification.
  • Moulinier, Laurence, 1995. Le manuscrit perdu à Strasbourg. Enquête sur l'œuvre scientifique de Hildegarde. Paris / Saint-Denis. (Série Histoire ancienne et médiévale, 35, Publications de la Sorbonne, Presses universitaires de Vincennes). 287 p.
  • Moulinier, Laurence, 1999. Deux fragments inédits de Hildegarde de Bingen copiés par Gerhard von Hohenkirchen († 1448). Sudhoffs archive, Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden. pp.224-238 Hal .

To the reception in the Middle Ages

  • Barbara Fehringer. The “Speyer Herbal Book” with Hildegard von Bingen's medicinal plants. A study of the Middle High German Physica reception with a critical edition of the text. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1994 (= Würzburg medical-historical research, supplement 2), ISBN 3-88479-771-9
  • Peter Riethe : Hildegards von Bingen "Liber simplicis medicinae" in the Mainz garden of health . In: Sudhoffs Archiv 89 (2005) pp. 98–119. Riethe discovered that the Gart der Gesundheit (Mainz 1485) contains extensive excerpts from the German translations of the herbal chapters of the Physica by Hildegard in the "Speyrer Herb Book" under false author names .
  • Melitta Weiss-Amer (= Melitta Weiss Adamson): Hildegards von Bingen's 'Physica' as a source for the 'Meister Eberhards cookbook'. In: Sudhoffs Archiv , Volume 76, No. 1, 1992, pp. 87-96. - Compare with Anita Feyl: The cookbook of Eberhard von Landshut (first half of the 15th century). In: Ostbairische Grenzmarken , Volume 5, 1961, pp. 352-366; and Anita Feyl: Master Eberhard's cookbook. A contribution to the old German specialist literature. Dissertation, Freiburg im Breisgau 1963.
  • Irmgard Müller: How authentic is Hildegard medicine? On the reception of Hildegard von Bingen's Liber simplicis medicinae in Codex Bernensis 525. In: Hildegard von Bingen. Prophetess through the ages. Ed. V. Edeltraut Forster u. the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard, Eibingen. Freiburg, Basel, Vienna 1997, pp. 420-430.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Natural history and medicine: Hildegard von Bingen - work and activity. St. Hildegard Abbey.
  2. a b Hildegard von Bingen. Bayerischer Rundfunk , April 16, 2014.
  3. Tobias Niedenthal: How the healing art came into the monasteries. In: Rudolf Walter (Ed.): Health from monasteries. Herder Verlag , Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-00546-6 , p. 7.
  4. Mayer et al. 2009.
  5. ^ Monastery medicine: Researching ancient healing knowledge. Science Information Service , October 20, 2009.
  6. ↑ The renaissance of monastery medicine: Many Germans swear by Hildegard von Bingen's art of natural healing. ( Memento from April 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Evangelical Church in Germany, July 29, 2011.
  7. The Physica of St. Hildegard. ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Reprint of Pharmaceutische Post, Vienna 1897, p. 28
  8. ^ Thomas Richter: Melissa officinalis L .: A leitmotif for 2000 years of scientific history. Königshausen and Neumann, Würzburg 1998, ISBN 3-8260-1645-9 .
  9. Hildegard's nutrition theory: The wheat. Research group for monastery medicine.
  10. ^ Mayer-Nicolai 2010.
  11. Hildegard von Bingen: "Physica" and "Causae et Curae". Research group for monastery medicine.
  12. ^ Ärzteblatt Rheinland-Pfalz, March 1998 edition, pp. 101-104, ISSN  0001-9488 , online publication here .
  13. Laurence Moulinier (ed.): Beate Hildegardis Cause et cure. Academy, Berlin 2003, p. LXIV.
  14. Irmgard Oepen: Article Hildegard medicine. In: Lexicon of Parasciences 1999.
  15. Wolf-Dieter Müller-Jahncke: Hildegard von Bingen: Adored as a healer of her and our time.
  16. ^ Benedikt Konrad Vollmann . On the way to the authentic Hildegard. Comments on the texts that have only survived in the Florentine Physica manuscript. In: Sudhoffs Archiv 87 (2003) pp. 159–172.
  17. Karl Jessen. About editions and manuscripts of the medicinisch-naturhistorischen works of the holy Hildegard. In: session area. d. Mathematic Science Class of the Kaiserl. Akad. D. Wiss. 45/1. Vienna 1862, pp. 97–116 digitized
  18. ^ Digitized version of the Bavarian State Library
  19. ^ Heidelberg University Library
  20. H.-P. Michael Freyer: Speyrer herbal book. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 1349.