Letter to Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen and brother of Richardis (October 1152)

O how great a miracle there is in the salvation of those souls so looked upon by God that His glory has no hint of shadow in them.  But He works in them like a mighty warrior who takes care not to be defeated by anyone, so that his victory may be sure. Just so, dear man, was it with my daughter Richardis, whom I call both daughter and mother, because I cherished her with divine love, as indeed the Living Lights had instructed me to do in a very vivid vision.

God favored her so greatly that worldly desire had no power to embrace her. For she always fought against it, even though she was like a flower in her beauty and loveliness in the symphony of this world. While she was still living in the body, in fact, I heard the following words concerning her in a true vision: “O virginity, you are standing in the royal bridal chamber.” Now, in the tender shoot of virginity, she has been made a part of that most holy order, and the daughter of Zion rejoice [Zach 2.10, 9.9]. But the ancient serpent had attempted to deprive her of that blessed honor by assaulting her through her human nobility. Yet the mighty Judge drew this my daughter to Himself, cutting her off from all human glory. Therefore, although the world loved her physical beauty and her worldly wisdom while she was still alive, my soul has the greatest confidence in her salvation. For God loved her more. Therefore, He was unwilling to give His beloved to a heartless lover, that is, to the world.

One of Hildegard’s letters to Richardis’ brother, Hartwig, in 1152 provides evidence for the love Hildegard bore Richardis, as well as an account of how Richardis’ removal from Rupertsberg was resolved between the von Stade family and Hildegard herself. The letter also highlights how the filmmakers behind Visionutilized primary sources such as these for the film’s narrative.

In the letter, Hildegard refers to Richardis as her daughter, but makes clear in the beginning that her love is perhaps not entirely maternal towards the young woman. Multiple references are made to Richardis’ beauty, and it is clear that this type of admiration was also central to Hildegard’s love for her. Although this can be read as a sensual appreciation, Hildegard mentioned rescuing Richardis from worldly appreciations of physical appearance, pointing to Hildegard’s own conceptions of God as being the sole benefactor of natural beauty. The invocation of divine love, as Hildegard explained was a mandate of her Living Light, places the love shared between the two women in a sphere outside intellectual comprehension. It is for this love that Hildegard said she sets aside her anger at the von Stade family for encouraging Richardis’ promotion to Abbess in a different cloister.

This letter shows the love and grief that Hildegard confessed to Hartwig after his sister had died, though it is adapted to a different context in Vision. Although the film takes its dialogue directly from their letters to each other, Hartwig and Hildegard meet face to face in the convent at Rupertsberg when he delivers the news of Richardis’ death in the film. Doing so downplayed the religious aspects of their correspondence, but allowed the filmmakers to better show Hildegard’s true, human reaction to such bad news. Ever serene even in grief, Hildegard’s lines sound less ecstatic than in the original letter, and although she remains conciliatory, the audience better feels the loss of Richardis through this reimagining and visualization of the source material. In this, the relationship between primary source and film is mutually beneficial, the former being interpreted more “realistically” for the sake of a story and the latter being a better “historical” film with the addition of the dialogue.