Physica (Hildegard)

12th-century text by Hildegard of Bingen

The Physica (Medicine),[1] also known as the Liber simplicis medicine (Book of Simple Medicine), is a 12th-century medical text by Hildegard of Bingen.

## Publication history[edit]

Hildegard of Bingen served as an infirmarian at her first monastery and was well-acquainted with various medical traditions.[2] What was subsequently given the conventional title of Physica, or Medicine, by Johannes Schott[3] is part of Hildegard's lost medical collection, the Subtilitatum diversarum naturarum creaturarum libri novem (Nine Books on the Subtleties of Different Kinds of Creatures),[4][1] written between 1151 and 1158.[1]

In 1222, Gebeno [de], prior of the Cistercian monastery at Eberbach, claimed in the foreword of his Speculum futurorum temporum (Mirror of Future Times; a compilation of prophecies by Hildegard) that she had written a "book of simple medicine" (librum simplicis medicine).[5] A decade later, the Physica (under the title of Liber simplicis medicine) was submitted to Rome as part of Hildegard's canonisation inquiry, alongside the Liber composite medicine (Book of Compound Medicine),[a] another entry in Hildegard's Subtilitatum.[7]

The Physica survives in at least nine manuscripts dating from as early as the thirteenth century, five of which contain the full text.[8]

## Content[edit]

The Physica comprises nine books on plants (230 chapters),[8] elements (63 chapters),[b][10] trees (63 chapters),[10] stones (26 chapters),[11] fish (37 chapters),[11] birds (72 chapters),[c][12] animals (45 chapters),[d][14] reptiles (18 chapters),[15] and metals (8 chapters).[15] Each chapter discusses the medicinal properties of an entity based on the ideas of hot, cold, wet, and dry.[3]

## Legacy[edit]

According to Lois N. Magner, the Physica was "probably the first book by a female author to discuss the elements and the therapeutic virtues of plants, animals, and metals", as well as the first book on natural history composed in Germany.[4]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ This text is now conventionally referred to as Cause et cure (Causes and Cures).[6]
2. ^ Namely various types of air, "water" (rivers), and "earth" (such as calamine and clay).[9]
3. ^ Possibly including certain unidentified flying insects.[12]
4. ^ Namely various quadrupeds.[13]

## References[edit]

### Citations[edit]

1. ^ a b c Hozeski 2001, p. x.
2. ^ Sweet 2014, p. 222.
3. ^ a b Wallis 2021, p. 146.
4. ^ a b Magner 1992, p. 109.
5. ^ Wallis 2021, p. 147.
6. ^ Wallis 2021, p. 144.
7. ^ Wallis 2021, p. 148.
8. ^ a b Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 28.
9. ^ Wallis 2021, p. 156.
10. ^ a b Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 29.
11. ^ a b Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 30.
12. ^ a b Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 33.
13. ^ Wallis 2021, p. 155.
14. ^ Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 43.
15. ^ a b Kitchell & Resnick 1998, p. 45.

### Works cited[edit]

* Hozeski, Bruce W. (2001). Hildegard's Healing Plants. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807021088.
* Magner, Lois N. (1992). A History of Medicine. CRC Press. ISBN 9780824786731.
* Kitchell, Kenneth F.; Resnick, Irven M. (1998). "Hildegard as Medieval "Zoologist": The Animals of the Physica". In Maud McInerny (ed.). Hildegard of Bingen: A Casebook. Garland Publishing Company. pp. 25–52.
* Sweet, Victoria (2014). "Hildegard of Bingen". Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 222–223. ISBN 9781135459321.
* Wallis, Faith (2021). "Hildegard of Bingen: Illness and Healing". In Jennifer Bain (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Hildegard of Bingen. Cambridge University Press. pp. 144–169. ISBN 9781108471350.