Physica
By Hildegard
von Bingen
•Born
at Böckelheim on
the Nahe,
1098
•Died
on the Rupertsberg near
Bingen,
1179
•Age
of 8 she was placed under the care of Jutta, sister of Count Meginhard
•Started
having visons as a young age
•Given
the command from the Church to record what she saw
•Illness
over came her often
•Physica
is her only known non-metaphysical book
•German
Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary
•
Earliest book on Natural History written in Germany.
•While Brunfels, Fuchs and Bock are called the German Fathers of Botany, really we are more indebted to the German Mother of Botany.
•Included recipes handed down through the generations by her predecessors.
•Considered a great look into the folk medicine of Germany
•Woodcuts from Physica had little to do with the material within. They were borrowed from another medical book.
•Original
Manuscript c. 1150 – Not Extant
•1st Edition – 1533
•Book
One : Plants
•Book
Two : Elements
•Book
Three : Trees
•Book
Four : Stones
•Book
Five : Fish
•Book
Six : Birds
•Book
Seven : Animals
•Book
Eight : Reptiles
•Book
Nine : Metals
