"The last night of the first millennium" "Brothers, this is the night of all nights." "The last night that we will spend on earth." "After this night there shall be no new day, for time has fulfilled itself." "And the earth will perish, and we with it." "Reflect on your sins, repent, throw yourselves to the ground, and await the end in humility and silence." "That's the sun!" "From the life of Hildegard von Bingen" "As the new era's first century closed, a girl, Hildegard, came into the world." "She would understand the language of plants, stones, and animals, and with her heart recognize the signs that are revealed to only a few." "Christ protect you." "You are now his little bride." "Please stay a bit longer!" "These are the crests of the families who generously gave us donations." "You know this one:" "The crest of Count von Sponheim's line." "Our most important benefactors." "They've given us much land." "God granted that the count's daughter has joined our cloister:" "Jutta von Sponheim." "She will raise you from now on, in the robes of humility and innocence." "Here a rich man is punished for refusing to give and to share." "From now on, I'll be your mother." "You can trust me." "Why don't they look at me?" " It's the rule." " Which rule?" "The Benedictines' rule." "You'll soon find out." "Can't I look at you either?" "You can look at me." "Just not at the men." "This is Jutta." "Little Jutta, my namesake." "Give one another a kiss." "This is where we'll live together." "Until you've taken the vow." " When will that be?" " In eight years." "I always had to take that at home." "Were you ill often?" "Yes." "Once, I had to stay in bed for a whole year." "Is that why your parents sent you here?" "No." "I've been given to God as a gift." "God is pleased with his gift, and so am I." " No, she gave it to me!" " No, give it to me!" "Give me the board." "And the pencil." "Now repeat this:" "Envy is ugly and misshapen." "Envy is ugly and misshapen." "Its bear paws tear up everything." "Its wooden feet walk dead paths." "Its bear paws tear up everything." "Its wooden feet walk dead paths." "It brings only evil to man." "It brings only evil to man." "Love, however, is the greatest power given by God." "Love, however, is the greatest power given by God." "30 years later" "Your weeping hinders me from going to meet my maker." "Leave now, please." "Hildegard?" "Come sit with me." "Give me your hand." "I tried to be a good mother to you." "If I failed at times, forgive me... and give me a farewell kiss." "Since Jutta von Sponheim was summoned to God... there's been no one in charge of the sisters' well-being." "We must bring this situation to an end and appoint a new magistra." "I thought of you, Hildegard." "Oh, no!" "Please, venerable Father." "It was the deceased magistra's wish, too." "You were her confidante." "She passed on all her knowledge, human and spiritual, on to you." "I am unworthy." "I shall decide if you are worthy." "No, venerable Father." "My sisters shall decide." "As a rule it is the sisters who vote for their leader." "That applies to convents." "This is a communal cloister, and I have the final word." "I can only accept the post if my sisters vote for me." "I ask you to consider that I am often... very ill." "I am a weak woman." "You've often seen that I could not fulfill the rules due to sickness... or being too weak." "Our great saints were often afflicted with illness." "Your spirit will guide you, not your body." "You realize that you are bound to absolute obedience to the abbot?" "It is our divine right to decide our own fate." "Sister Barbara!" "Sister Adelgard!" "Sister Ursula!" "Sister Elisabeth!" "Rejoice!" "Sister Hildegard is our new magistra!" "Rejoice!" "I hope you'll help me guide our younger sisters." "In memory of our mother." "You were always her favorite." "Her eyes only lit up when you sang." "She only talked to you about the healing power of music." "Envy is ugly and misshapen." "It brings only evil to man." "Do you remember?" "Yes." "Only love is a great power." "But she only ever showed you love!" "Venerable Mother!" "Bishop Siward of Uppsala is here and he brought his travel library!" "I asked him to allow me to borrow some books for you." "You can choose:" "books on medicine, precious stones, or antique classics." "The Bishop treasures the Dioscorides, and... the Physiologus." "A mixture of fables and observations in the realm of nature." "It originates from Alexandria, second century AD." "It contains excerpts from the works of Aristotle," "Plutarch, and Pliny." " Is that a unicorn?" " Yes." "No hunter can kill it or catch it, but it will jump into the lap of a virgin maid." "So it says." "You flagellated yourself?" "I wanted to suffer as He suffered for us." "He who kills the flesh, kills the soul that inhabits it." "God wants you to give mercy, not sacrifices." "Which herbs will help heal the wounds?" " Mullein." " No, it's for coughs." " Tetterwort." " Tetterwort is for warts." " Horehound." " No, it's for diarrhea and snakebite." "Prayer and fasting alone will not cure our sick patients." "Yarrow." "If someone is wounded by beating, first wash the wound with wine, then lay a cloth on the wound and lay yarrow upon the cloth." "It must be boiled and then strained." "It draws out the pus from the wound." "Music can also heal your wounds... and your soul." "Sister Sieglinde!" "Man was created from earth, and the earth will help you." "Repeat that 3 times a day for 3 days." "Let me go!" "You are the devil!" "Chrysoprase." "Hold it against your throat until it gets warm." "Afterwards, you'll feel no more fury." "I want each of you to show me a herb you know." " Tetterwort." " And?" "It's for treating warts." " Sister Berta?" " Tansy." "For rheumatism and gout." " Wormseed." "To treat fleas." " Good." " The milk thistle." " Well?" " Sister Clara?" " Yarrow, for healing wounds." "Good." "But plants and stones... can only release their healing powers when man is at one with nature and with God." "First our souls must be healed." "And then... the body can follow." "Hurry, God, to redeem me!" "Lord... please help me." "Brother Volmar." "I asked you here because I must make a confession." "I've not told another soul before." "Since early childhood..." "I've had visions." "When I was just three years old" "I saw such a great light that my soul trembled." "I saw things that other people didn't see." "I was different from the others." "And I felt ashamed of that." "I don't think that's a sin." "The sin I committed is not that I did anything wrong." "It was that..." "I refused to do something that I was appointed to do." "A few months ago... there was a blazing light... flashing with lightning, coming down from the sky..." "It flowed through my brain my breast, and my heart." "It was like a flame that didn't burn, but warmed like the sun." "And I heard a voice saying:" ""I am the living light that illuminates all." "You, O mortal, are appointed... to reveal that which is hidden." "Write down... what you hear and see."" "You didn't hear the voice in a dream?" "I was fully conscious." "What were you afraid of for so long?" "Of people's skepticism." "Were you not more afraid that your visions weren't sent by God, but by the Devil?" "Oh, no." "In such a sublime light, in such splendor... only the Almighty can appear." "Did the voice explain to you what you saw?" "I am to warn mankind." "To help him find his way back to God." "Then you must heed the voice." "We have a seer among us." "A seer who receives messages from God." "Who is it?" "The magistra." " Hildagard?" " Yes, Father." "Hildagard." "I request your permission to help her transcribe her visions." "And what if it's the Devil's work?" "I'm sure it's not." "May I show you one of her visions?" "She wrote it down without my consent?" "I encouraged her to do it." " You know that must be punished?" " I'll face it gladly, Father." ""Again I heard the voice from Heaven." "It said to me:" "God, who called the universe into being, created everything so that His name be recognized and worshipped." "Through His creation He does not only proclaim the visible and temporal, but also that which is invisible and eternal."" "It would certainly be an extraordinary occurrence... if Hildegard's visions proved to be sent by God." " I'm convinced it is so." " It would bring us great honor." "And our cloister's name would be spoken everywhere." "Pilgrims would travel here, our nation's powerful men too, and our benefactors would give new gifts." "I'll go to see Archbishop Heinrich and the Mainz chapter to inform them." "These gentlemen have traveled far to put you to the test." "I want you to answer them just as you answered me." "Magistra Hildegard." "You claimed... you've received messages from God." "I am merely His servant." "The messages come from the living light." "What does the light look like?" "It is a fire that shines brightly." "Eternal, inextinguishable, and full of life." "Are you dreaming, or awake?" "I do not see the visions in a dream-like state, not in sleep, not in madness," "not with the body's eyes, or the ears of the outer person, and not in remote places," "but rather awake, in a clear state of mind, with the eyes and ears of the inner person." "It's hard for flesh-cloaked people to understand how it happens." "You're saying that you can understand, but we can't?" "It's hard for me to understand, too." "That I... a weak woman, should be chosen by God to proclaim His will." "What does God demand?" "That I say what I see and hear." "After such wonderful words, I'm sure you do not doubt my Magistra's credibility." "Since the holy prophets, no man or woman has made such claims!" "To claim to hear secrets that the prophets were denied?" "Outrageous!" "Only the Holy Father can judge her case." "She will probably be expelled from the Church as a heretic!" "So I secretly left the cave I'd been hiding in... and wanted to climb up to where my enemy couldn't find me." "But they placed such a stormy sea before me, that I could not cross it." "Then I heard my mother's voice." ""Hurry, my daughter." "The Almighty has given you wings to fly." "Fly over every obstacle."" "I shall write to Bernard of Clairvaux." "He is the most powerful one of all, perhaps more so than the Holy Father!" "If he condemns you, you are lost." "He could destroy you as he destroyed our brother Abaelardus." "I know." "But I must risk it." "He has just made a call to arms for a new holy war." "He'll be far too busy to answer an unknown nun." "Have you lost your faith in me?" "He's known for not liking women!" "But he loves the virgin Mary." "I will approach him with the greatest humility." "Revered Father Bernard," "I have been lain in your soul that you reveal to me with your word, whether you want me to speak or to keep silent the things I see and that I am appointed to do." "I implore you by God's grace to give me solace, then I will have certitude." "In God, anything is possible." "You have come to the attention of the Holy Father." "At the Trier Synod." "You knew it was being held?" "Yes, venerable Father." "So you'll know that our church's highest dignitaries were present, among them the great Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux." "He presented your visions to the Holy Father and entreated him not to allow such a bright light to be smothered by silence." "In this correspondence to the "blessed virgin", he grants you, in the name of Christ and Saint Peter, permission to publish everything you have heard from the Holy Ghost." "Then I see, in the heights of the divine secrets two throngs of divine spirits that sparkle in many lights." "Those in the first vision are holding feathers... on their chests and faces, that seem to be like pure water." "Those in the second vision are also holding feathers... and human faces... in which the image of the son of man shines as if in a mirror." " Venerable Father." " My blessings." "Richardis, Margravine of Stade, a relative of Jutta von Sponheim, and her daughter Richardis." "My daughter heard of your reputation, which even surpasses that of Jutta von Sponheim." "Since then, she gives me no peace." "She wants to join your hermitage and take instruction from you." " How old are you?" " 16." " You're very young." " You were younger when you joined." "It was not a free choice." "Jutta, my aunt, was my age when you came to her." "And you believe you can endure daily life in a cloister?" "Yes." "Don't think it will be easy." "Not everyone can keep the silence, and bear the quietude." "You need not worry, I want to subordinate myself to you." "Not to me, my child," "It is God you must subordinate yourself to." "Richardis may be lively, but she is obedient, and well educated for her age." "My family ensured that she learned to read and write as a young child." "Will you read something for us?" "You have a lovely voice." "Will you take me?" "The Magistra would be pleased to accept you here." "Have you considered the decision to leave her here?" "Yes, she agrees." "I didn't ask you." "Forgive me, please." "I am sure that you can teach Richardis humility." "She certainly will." "Let's discuss the enrollment rules." "Very well." "We shall give it a try." "I called you here to discuss the rules of St. Benedict." " I know them by heart." " But you haven't followed them." "They are guidelines, not commandments." "And thus, you believe you can act according to your will?" "Oh, no!" "I will act as I am expected." "Richardis..." "We live in a community here." "We eat together, we work together... we pray and we are silent together." "We respect one another." "And we try to help one another." "I'd prefer to live with you alone." "I only joined to be with you." "You are so good and so wise." "I want to learn everything from you." "No one is forced to stay." "Anyone can leave at any time." "You too, Richardis." "If your faith is not strong enough." "I want to be close to you as long as you live." "Brother Volmar... let me introduce Richardis von Stade." "She is a very bright girl." " She can help us transcribe the texts." " Oh, yes!" "I have nice handwriting!" "That's my mother's opinion." "We'll have to help her take our rules seriously." "I take them seriously." "The only thing I find difficult is the vow of silence." "I have so many thoughts I want to share with someone." "We all feel that way in the begining." "In the night, the sylphs sometimes come to me." "Try to drive them out with prayer." " I've tried." " You must have patience, child." "Stay in the garden awhile." "Enjoy the quietude." "Listen to the birds." "She can speak and write Latin." "We could use a little demon like her." "It says here:" ""Thus, I am the living spring, because all that was created was like a shadow within Me."" "But the venerable Mother wrote:" ""Verat umbra e Me fuerant."" "It should be "fuit." Can I correct it?" "Yes." "I'll suggest to the Magistra that you join us when we work." "Thank you!" "Richardis." "In the presence of the brothers and sisters gathered here, I ask you:" "Do you swear... to remain loyal to this cloister and our community, through good days and bad days?" "I swear it." "Do you swear, under the guidance of the Gospels, to seek God, to strive for repentance, and to lead your life according to St. Benedict's rules?" "Yes, I swear it." "Will you honor Jesus above all else, and swear obedience?" "Yes, I swear it." "May God, who began His good work in you, complete it." "Amen." "Wear this veil as a sign that you no longer belong to yourself, but to Christ." "With Him you are joined in God." "Amen." "God has called upon this sister of ours to follow Christ in the monastic life." "Let us ask the Almighty Father to shower His mercy upon her, and to help her..." " to realize the oath she took today." " Amen." "Venerable Mother?" "This is my brother, Hartwig." "Thank you for having the patience for my little sister." "As a child she climbed trees instead of praying." "I believe one can pray even up a tree." "Our saints managed it on columns." "Just as the earth lets grow things of use and of no use, the feet of man carry them to deeds of use and of no use." "When man does good deeds, the elements have their proper path." "But when he does bad deeds, he turns the elements against himself in punishment." "Do you believe that the elements can turn against us to punish us?" "Yes, my child, I do." "That is why we must account for everything we do... and chasten ourselves." "For without the elements, man cannot live." "Sister Richardis." "We'll continue tomorrow, Sister Richardis." "Straight after prayers." "Bring me some wormwood wine." "Please." "Stand up and look at me." "You have broken the vow of chastity?" "When did your menstruation stop?" "Three months ago." "Any other woman could rejoice." "But you have broken our rules." "Perhaps there's a medicine I could take?" "Sister Clara will have to leave the cloister." "No." "No." "Please don't send me away!" "I regret it so deeply!" "Believe me, my child, it weighs on my heart as much as yours." "The only thing we can do for you... is to let you leave voluntarily." "Your sisters will not find out." "Don't send me away!" "And ask God for forgiveness." "Don't send me away." "Please, no!" "I can't return to my family." "We'll find a way." "We need a cloister of our own." "Your own cloister?" "The hermitage is too small for us." "Who gave you this heretical idea?" "The living light showed me where we shall build our new dwelling." "And where is it?" "Where the Nahe meets the Rhine, on Rupert Hill." "It belongs to Count von Hildesheim." "We will not appropriate any property." "So how will you acquire it?" "Using the gifts from our families." "They gave the gifts to this cloister!" "Yes, but largely because Jutta the Holy was here." "Now it is me who is revered." "I would never let you virgins go anywhere unprotected." "Our virgins are unprotected here." "What do you mean by that?" "For the male spirit it is often harder than for us... to resist the temptation of the flesh." "Curb your enthusiasm, Hildegard." "By our presence here, we are unable to help our brothers in their zeal to conquer their flesh." "If anyone here cannot conquer their flesh... it is your sisters!" "They seduce my brothers!" " And not the other way around." " The brother who seduced Clara lives, and will not reveal himself." "But she paid with her life." "I hope that God sent her to the darkest corner of Hell." "And what do you hope for your brother?" "The kingdom of Heaven?" "I shall write to the Dom Chapter today and ask for your excommunication." "And I shall return tomorrow." "We took a vow never to leave this place." "Not until we die." "And after that, we'll be buried here in our graveyard." "I know my plan is against our rules." "But I'm responsible for our well-being, and for those who'll join us in future." "I don't think our mother would have agreed." "And I want to be buried beside her." "I am your mother now." "We can ask for her help in our prayers, but you and I must act." "Are you willing to do it?" "I will not break my vow." "It's the first time you leave me alone." "Alone?" "Ask your little Richardis, she'll follow you anywhere." "For the last time:" "You've taken the veil here, and your sisters will be buried here." "I will also contravene the Archbishop's orders." "Even he serves a higher master, and it's from Him that I take orders." "You?" "You take orders from the Devil!" "You believe you're chosen by God, but you've been tricked by an illusion." "Did you speak with the Father?" "Venerable Father..." "The Magistra is very ill." "She can no longer speak." "She has talked too much already." "But it is not her, Father!" "Yes, yes." "It's the "living light"." "You no longer believe in her gift?" "I'm not the only critic of her visions." "Many eminent clerics are convinced that they are fake." "But you have always supported her!" "She's long known how to trick me." "Venerable Father!" "I fear she'll die." "If so, then it is God's will." "Let us pray." "God our Father, we commend Sister Hildegard to You." "Her pilgrimage has reached an end." "Deliver her from all evil, that she may return to eternal peace." "Welcome her to paradise, where there is no grief, no mourning, and no pain, but only peace and joy with Your son and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever." "Amen." "Brood of vipers!" "Archbishop Heinrich of Mainz... permits you and your sisters to leave our cloister... and to move to the place that appeared in your vision." "It was my mother helped arrange it!" "Without God's help it would not have succeeded." "I want you to hear our confessions before we leave here." "We must be pure of heart when we leave this place." "How long will it take before we at least have a roof?" "It depends on the weather, Mother." "I want running water in all the work rooms." "That's rather unusual, and not easy to accomplish." "Water cleans the soul as well as the body." "Even the Romans knew that." "You'll have to put more effort in." "It would've been easier had you moved to the other side of the Rhine." "Yes, but Saint Rupert lived here." "And we're less cut off than we were at Disibodenberg." "Bingen, the Rhine, the Nahe..." "Travelers from all over the world will bring us their learning." "I heard from Salerno that Arabic medicine is more advanced than ours." "But the Arabs are heathens, Mother." "Yes, but they know a bit about medicine." "We ask to be freed from this serfdom!" "We wanted our own cloister, we can't go back now." " You wanted your own cloister!" " Because you quarreled with Father." "We had to leave a place of comfort." "My family didn't send me to you to ruin my hands!" "Ora et labora." "You know the rule." "We don't want to sleep on straw beds!" "The time will come when we can adorn ourselves." "I warn you." "It will count against you in Heaven." "Some of you will get on the wrong track, and die before time." "My parents think you've been seduced by sylphs." "And that you use your gifts for your own glory, not for us!" "Then I saw in the true vision that I was beset with gloom, as Moses had been." "For as he led the sons of Israel out of Egypt and into the desert, they complained at God and afflicted Moses." "Thus God has granted that I too shall be afflicted." "My dearest daughter!" "I want to hear proposals on how to deal with sisters who want to leave because they do not like the hard work and believe they deserve better than to live in poverty." "Sister Jutta?" "They should be allowed to go." "Sister Berta?" "Stubbornness leads to punishment, unity wins the crown." "I say punish them." "Sister Gerhild?" "The fourth stage of humility is:" "A nun is first obedient in hard times." "Even when injustice occurs she does not complain, but embraces patience." "She is steadfast, without tiring or running away." "For the scripture says:" "He who is steadfast till the end shall be saved." "I think we should let them leave." "If not, they'll just sow discord... and we'll end up hating each other." "But those who endure will pull together, and love will triumph over hardship." "Cloister Rupertsberg" "I've come to demand what's rightfully mine." "What could that be?" "The lands that my sisters have brought into this cloister." "You mean the sisters who left you... because they couldn't stand it?" "You know which properties I refer to!" "I'm prepared to give you half." "But we need the other half to survive." "The same goes for us." "We need it to survive." "It's God's will that we do not starve, that we may serve Him." "Ask the Margravine of Stade... who lobbied so hard for you." "Or your protector... the Archbishop of Mainz." "They can still your hunger." "The Devil take you!" "The Archbishop has allowed me to serve as your provost." "Oh, dearest Volmar!" "You come at the right moment." "I need you more than ever." "Bishopric of Mainz" "The visionary Hildegard, who shines with admirable virtue," "will receive from us a water mill at Bingen Gorge and the surrounding land." "Thus is the existence of your cloister secured." "I hope you'll again dedicate yourself to transcribing your visions." "We're keen to read them." "Man stands in the middle of the world... for he is more mighty than the other creatures living here." "He is small in form, but the strength of his soul makes him large." "He is master of the upper and lower elements." "You too are great through your soul's strength." "Just as man's heart is concealed within the body, so is his body surrounded by the soul's powers." "May I say something that may enrage you?" "Could you really enrage me, my child?" "I love you so deeply, I'm afraid you may die before me." "I shall certainly die before you." "It's perfectly natural." "I can't live without you." "I said the same to my mother Jutta... when I was your age." "And then she died, and I passed on what she taught me to you." "And you shall one day pass on what you've learned from me." "It is a musical play." "We will perform it in honor of our great guest," "Magistra Tengwich from Andernach." "Each of you will portray a virtue." "You, Richardis, will be the soul... who is seduced by the Devil." "Who shall be the Devil?" "Our priest, Volmar." "He's the only one who may not sing." " He won't like that." " Who knows... perhaps he'd like to be a devil." "You have embraced me." "But now you destroy me through your repentance." "But I shall conquer you!" "All your paths are evil, I have seen it." "Now I fight against you." "Now come to my aid," "Queen Humility, with your enlightening power." "O Victory, you have overcome the Devil, hurry here with your warriors." "Bind him, O glorious powers" "O, our Queen, we belong to you, and we follow your every command." "You know the letter from Paul to Timothy, in which he says:" ""Women should dress decently, modestly, and demurely." "Their adornment shall not be gold, pearls, or fine clothes, but instead good deeds."" "One does not exclude the other." "Our virgins wear their white robes as visible proof... of their union with Christ." "Paul ordained that women should cover their hair." "Your virgins wear it down, and visible to all." "His commandment is for married women." "As virgins, we are as naive and untouched as in paradise." "God loves beauty." "In paradise there was no ugliness." "We live on earth." "And thus, paradise..." "must first be earned again." "I will have to report" " these changes in your lifestyle." " Do that." " Will you be staying for supper?" " No." "I am fasting." "Ten years' work!" "Your first volume!" "Thank you." "I thank you, all." "Thank you..." "Thank you..." "We're done here." "Let's back to work." "There are men who possess an extraordinary masculine potency." "The sexual wind that blows in the loins of these men is more fiery than windy in nature." "He is possessed of two tent-like formations that surround the trunk of all masculine powers and reinforce it and make it erect." "Just as one builds a bulwark around a tower." "As soon as the man's seed falls on its place, the female blood draws it in with all the longing of its love, and sucks it in in the same way that one draws in a breath." "And in this way, female blood and the male seed are mixed." "What will be the title of this book?" "Liber subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum." "I'm sure you've seen for yourself how well we've put your generosity to good use." "It is a very well-planned site." "I hope peace has returned to you, and you've overcome the new start." "I am deeply indebted to you." "Without you, Richardis wouldn't have supported me." "I've come to discuss my daughter with you." "I can only sing her praises!" "She supports me in everything I do." "She is intelligent, humble..." "I'd not have finished my book without her." "Your daughter knew exactly how to win my heart completely." "I shouldn't say this, actually, because I am obliged to love all sisters equally." "I know how you adore her, and how she adores you, but..." "Her brother has found her a post that means she must leave you." "As you know, Hartwig is Bishop of Bremen, and he has ensured that the nuns at Bassum Convent... have voted Richardis to be their new Abbess." "You cannot do this without my consent." "I'm here to ask your consent." "I cannot do without Richardis!" "You'll have to, my friend!" "Never!" "My family feels that Richardis has served you long enough." "You've been a shining example of how to hold such a position." "Give her a chance to prove herself." "I can't let her go." "It's against our rules." "The Bishop of Mainz knows that this appointment means a lot to Hartwig." "And he is very fond of my son." "Your daughter will not accept your appointment." "Let's ask her." "She loves me as much as I love her." "Then call her." "Your mother just told me of Hartwig's wish... that you take the post of abbess." "Far away from this cloister and from your sisters." "Yes, venerable Mother." "You will refuse?" "No, venerable Mother." "But, you belong here." "You belong to us." " To me." " She is not your property." "You took a vow never to leave our cloister." "That was at Disibodenberg." "You have left there, with my help!" "You were to serve me and love me until I die." "I helped you found this convent, and you got what you asked for." "Now I demand that you do as I ask, please!" "Richardis." "Promise me you'll stay strong." "Richardis!" "Tell me I don't need to worry." "Tell me you'll stay with me." "My mother demands it of me." "I can't aggrieve her." "And so you are prepared... to aggrieve me instead?" "We'd hoped for your understanding." "Understanding?" "Understanding for your brother's ambition?" "He doesn't care about you!" "The post is just about increasing his power." "Do you care at all about me?" "I know you'd be unhappy if you left here." "Or maybe not." "Maybe I'd be as good a magistra as you, to whom pilgrims come, who people trust." "You only care about your own reputation?" "And you only care about your reputation!" "About your books, about your songs!" "About your correspondence with mighty men of the world!" "Have I been mistaken about your love?" "My love for you has always been pure and good." "But your love is mere selfishness!" "If you truly loved me... you'd be happy about my appointment." "You're glad to be leaving me?" "Yes." "I'm glad." "A letter from the Archbishop of Mainz." "He has always stood by me." ""Some deputies of a noble cloister have come to us." "They request that the nun who is living with you and whom they have elected as abbess, be released." "Thus we order you, by authority of our position, that you hand her over to those who request her."" "Their reasons carry no weight with God." ""If you do not comply, we shall renew our order, and we will not let up until you have fulfilled our request."" "I will not follow his orders." "The Countess has lost two sons to violent deaths." "She has only Hartwig and Richardis now." "Try to understand her." "Richardis is my daughter!" "And I am her daughter." "I don't recognize you like this!" "I'll ask the Holy Father for help." "He will not tolerate one of God's servants suffering so!" "You've had to suffer until now because you didn't heed your own voice!" "It was the voice... that told me to love Richardis." "I've written to your mother." "I begged her not to destroy your soul." "She won't listen to you." "For her and my brother, the matter is settled." "Everything will be all right." "I beg you!" "I beseech you!" "Do not tear my daughter from me!" "Sister Richardis is from an important noble family." "And it is fitting that she becomes an abbess." "May God keep you and protect your soul in the short time you have left." "Has Richardis left?" "That's why I am here." "Thank you." "Cloister Bassum" "Now shall all those lament who suffer a pain like mine, those who loved another person in their hearts out of love for God as I loved you." "A person who was torn from them so suddenly as you were torn from me." "May God's angel walk before you, may His son protect you and His mother keep you." "Think of your poor mother Hildegard, so that your fortune does not fade." "Forgive me for what I have done to you." "You have done only good to me." "Without you I would have remained a lost child." "Will you be present at the ablution, as we were at our mother's?" "I promise you." "You must not fear." "I've never chastised myself." "You'll soon see our beloved mother." "I envy you." "Envy is ugly and misshapen." "Its bear's paws tear up everything." "Its wooden feet walk dead paths." "Love, however, is the greatest power given by God." "Barbarossa Palace" "I've asked you to come here due to your gifts as a seer." "I am just a poor creature." "I possess neither health, nor strength, nor might, nor learning." "God is strong in the weak." "Come, please." "Sit down." "I'll stand, with your permission." "You're not as weak as you claim." "You saw me in a vision." "What exactly did you see?" "I saw a man on a high mountain who saw in the valleys the deeds of man." "He held a staff, and he allotted everything rightly, so that deserts blossomed and the sleeping awoke." "On Sunday we were anointed and crowned... king in Aachen and Greenwood." "Now we wish to know what the future may bring." "You plan to go to Rome?" "Yes." "There you shall be granted what you wish for." "The Emperor's crown?" "You have it in your hands." "The Pope will crown me Emperor?" "But I warn you:" "Be a fighter who bravely resists the Devil, that God does not topple you and shame fall on your earthly realm." "Be assured, dear Mother." "I shall follow you in every respect." "The lands are darkened... by those who stifle justice with the blackness of their sins." "Vanquish them with the scepter of mercy." "Ensure that when you are judged you are not accused... of not holding office in righteousness." "Cast off your avarice, and embrace abstinence:" "That is what the Lord expects of you." "We will not cease, in all our undertakings, to honor the realm." "God keep you." "May you live eternally." "I owe you something in return, Mother." "I've heard... that you have great interest in the sciences." "Many of Europe's learned men are at my court." "I'd like to introduce you, if you'll permit it." "That would please me greatly." "And you would please me... if you'd play with me." "Be seated." "This game is not taught in the cloister." "I'll teach you." "The Caliph of Cordoba allegedly had a library of 400,000 volumes." "Can you imagine that?" "400,000 volumes!" "Our largest library has 400 manuscripts." "Sister Mechthild?" "Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen wants to talk to you." "I've come to inform you... to inform you both," "that our sister, your sister..." "Richardis is dead?" "She didn't value the honor I granted her." "Shortly before she died, she wept and from her heart she yearned to return to your cloister." "Therefore I request, from both of you," "if you consider me worthy:" "that you love her, as much as she loved you." "And should you have missed her, think on the tears she shed at having to leave your cloister." "Had death not prevented it, she would have returned here." "The world loved her beauty and intelligence." "But God loved her even more." "6 years later" "God again afflicted me with illness, and my body fought for breath, so that my veins with my blood, my flesh with my fluids, and my marrow with my bones dried out as if my soul would flee." "Then I saw a great host of angels from St. Michael's host." "One of them called to me." ""Ah, eagle..." "Why do you sleep in your wisdom?" "Rise up, for the sun has brought you forth."" "Then the entire host cried with a mighty voice:" ""Your work is not yet complete." "Up, up!" "Rise up and drink!"" "Bring me something to eat and drink." "And what did the angels tell you?" ""Get up, your work is not yet complete."" "I will finally write a work on the healing powers of nature, and on the causes and remedies of illnesses." "And..." "I will go traveling to preach." "Traveling to preach?" "Yes." "You know what that means?" "I do." "It's unheard of." " I'll be the first woman." " And turn everyone against you again." "And I'll read our clerics the Levites!" "Will you accompany me anyway?" ""But it pleased the Lord to touch a small feather that it flew aloft in wonder." "And a strong wind bore it so that it did not sink.""