The Early Medieval Image of the Earth and Its Transformations in the Liber divinorum operum (Visio II.1.1–7)
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Abstract
The fifth vision (II.1) of Hildegard’s of Bingen Liber divinorum operum presents a model of worldly geography. The present paper examines possible early medieval referents for this vision, such as the idea of the five climatic zones of the world, the place and form of the earth, and the Isidorian rotae of the year and of the mundus-annus-homo. These antecedents, transmitted through works on natural knowledge, are deeply transformed in Hildegard’s vision. She describes first a distinct model of the world as having five parts and then correlates these parts with the five senses and the human acts. Furthermore, the climatic zones are transformed into places of reward and condemnation in the afterlife. Through the five senses Hildegard accomplishes thus a shift from the outer geography towards the soul and its actions.
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