The Wisdom of Serpents: Hildegard Von Bingen and Her Darkest Hour

By Diane Baia Hale

Famed real-life German poet and prophetess, musician and mystic, author, artist, preacher, and founder of two abbeys, Hildegard von Bingen is one of the most influential personalities of the twelfth century. Yet woman in such a position of power is bound to have enemies, and Hildegards penchant for telling the truth, especially regarding the corruption of the clergy, has made her more than a few. Thus when she dares to defy both church and state in defense of a heretic knight, it might take more than a miracle to save her. Based on a true story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499013672

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Diane Baia Hale.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014908052

ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-4990-1368-9

Softcover 978-1-4990-1369-6

eBook 978-1-4990-1367-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Rev. date: 06/20/2014

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CONTENTS

ACT I SCENE 1

ACT II SCENE 2

ACT III SCENE 3

ACT IV SCENE 4

ACT V SCENE 5

ACT VI SCENE 6

ACT VII SCENE 1

ACT VIII SCENE 2

ACT IX SCENE 3

ACT X SCENE 4

ACT XI SCENE 5

For Philip

CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that the play represented in this book is subject to a royalty. It is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and all countries covered by the International Copyright Union (including the Dominion of Canada and the rest of the British Commonwealth), as well as all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations. All rights, including professional, amateur stage rights, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound recording, all other forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as CD-ROM, CD-1, information storage and retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid upon the matter of readings, permission for which must be secured from the author in writing.

ALL INQUIRIES CONCERNING RIGHTS, INCLUDING AMATEUR RIGHTS, SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO: Diane Baia Hale at [e-mail].

HISTORICAL NOTES

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN (1098-1179), German poet and prophetess, musician and mystic, author, artist, preacher, and founder of two abbeys, was one of the most remarkable personalities of her time, counting many of the crowned heads of Europe, including Emperor Frederick (Friedrich) Barbarossa, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and King Henry II of England, among her friends and correspondents. Although her writings and prophecies were endorsed by St. Bernard of Clairvaux and she was officially given leave by Pope Eugenius III to go out and preach like a man, she was nevertheless a fearless critic of the corruption of both church and state during the medieval era. Recognized as a people’s saint in her native Germany since her death in the twelfth century, she was not to be officially canonized by the Catholic Church until May 10, 2012. Later declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI on October 7, 2012, she became one of just thirty-five great saints—and only the fourth female—acknowledged to have provided extraordinary insights and teachings about the faith. Hildegard, however, was an inconvenient woman, and for centuries the patriarchy found it far easier to let the dust of history obscure not only her outcries but her achievements as well.

And those achievements were many and varied. Hildegard established an abbey at Rupertsberg and another at Eibingen and offered both spiritual and temporal aid to the lay communities nearby. She also authored three prophetic works based on her mystical experience of the divine: Scivias (Know the Way), Liber Vitae Meritorum (Book of Life’s Merits), and Liber divinorum operum (Book of Divine Works), each of them beautifully illuminated. The early 1150s saw the completion of her musical masterpiece, Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues), considered by many to be the world’s first morality play. At approximately the same time, she compiled and set to music more than seventy-five of her poems to form the Symphonie armonie celestium revelationum (Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations). Hildegard’s curiosity about the physical world around her also knew no bounds and resulted in Liber simplicis medicinae (Physica), a nine-volume, general medical treatise, along with Liber compositate medicinae (Cause et Curae), the first work written by a woman to explore female sexuality. Capping off her prodigious output was the vast correspondence that she carried on with popes and emperors, kings and queens, and monks and nuns, of which more than 400 letters survive to this day.

Despite these accomplishments, not everyone regarded Hildegard with admiration. A woman in such a position of power was bound to have enemies, and Hildegard’s penchant for telling the truth, especially regarding the immorality of the clergy, made her more than a few. Undaunted by either church or state, she was a defiant rebel when she believed that God’s law was being subverted by man’s. In the last year of her long life, her enemies finally found the opportunity to destroy her when she refused to obey an order which went counter to her conscience. Inspired by that episode, The Wisdom of Serpents depicts how—centuries before Sir Thomas More confronted accusers on the same basis—a woman for all seasons had already done so . . . and triumphed.

The Wisdom of Serpents was a finalist for the 2009 Jane Chambers Award as one of the top five feminist plays adjudged that year.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

5 Women      7 Men

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN: Founder of the abbey of St. Rupert. At age eighty, this real-life German mystic remains active, energetic, and surprisingly youthful.

BROTHER VOLMAR: German monk and sacristan for the abbey of St. Rupert, he is close to HILDEGARD’s age.

DECIMA OF FLANDERS: Not a nun, this seventeen-year-old dresses soberly but well and wears her hair unbound.

SISTER MECHTILDE: A German peasant in her forties, she is HILDEGARD’s servant.

SISTER ELFRIDA: In her fifties, she is a widowed German aristocrat who has taken the veil.

SISTER BERTA: Another aristocrat, this young woman in her twenties was once possessed by demons.

SIR JAUFRÉ DE ROHAN: A French knight and former Crusader, he too is in his thirties

BISHOP ODO DE BESANÇON: A French churchman, he is in his early thirties.

LUCIEN DE MARAIS: Cousin to ODO and captain of the bishop’s guard, he is in his late forties.

EMPEROR FRIEDRICH I (BARBAROSSA): Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire of which Germany is the center. He is a fit, bearded redhead in his forties.

ERNST VON EINHARDT: Margrave of Saxony and FRIEDRICH’s closest advisor. He is a soldierly man in his fifties.

BISHOP HEINRICH OF MAINZ: In middle age, he is the bishop of one of Germany’s most important cities.

SET REQUIREMENTS

At a minimum, there can be movable, free-standing gothic doorways and windows that can be rearranged to suggest different rooms. Projections may also be used to provide backdrops to various interiors. At the other end of the spectrum, the sets may also be as realistic as desired.

SOUND REQUIREMENTS

Hildegard’s contributions to the world of music cannot be underestimated. Thus, during scene changes and throughout the intermission, recordings of her work should be played.

THE TRANSLATIONS

The English lyrics of Hildegard’s twelfth-century chants were translated by the playwright. The Latin originals can be found in the Anelecta Sanctae Hildegardis edited by Jean-Baptiste Pitra, Volume 8, Analecta Sacra (Monte Cassino, 1882), pp. 441 - 457.

A LAST NOTE

The pace of this