Home

Un ours bien léché : le thème de l'ours chez Hildegarde de Bingen

Élisabeth KLEIN

fr Anthropozoologica 19 - Pages 45-54

Published on 01 July 1994

A Well-groomed greezly bear: the them of bear by Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard of Bingen was a visionary benedictin abbess, in the area of Mainz (Germany) in the XIIth century. She wrote an important naturalist work. A chapter of the Physica is dedicated to the bear. The role of the mother-bear is described. Bear is depicted as a bipolar animal, warm an cold, soft and irascible, rather close to Man. Comparaison with Hildegard's other texts about bear still not clarify the mystery surrounding the elaboration of her thoughts.


Keywords:

Hildegard of Bingen, medieval, bear, Physica, prematurity, saliva.

Download full article in PDF format Order a reprint