It's that time, DUers! Time for the Friday Afternoon Challenge Question!

[CTyankee]

She was an accomplished artist in many media and one of the first to sign her works; she founded, financed and ran two organizations, advised a queen, an emperor and a pope; in her extensive medical writings, she may have been the first to describe the female orgasm. And in the last year of her long life, she literally “stood her ground” against the local authorities. Who was she?

[Captain Hilts]

1. I should know this....nt

[WCGreen]

2. Lyndsey Lohan...

[gateley]

3. Rachel Maddow in a previous incarnation. nt

[CTyankee]

6. Maybe so! Rachel reminds me of her...

I studied this woman in grad school. She was, indeed, very gutsy...

[EFerrari]

4. Was she or would she have been Italian?

[CTyankee]

7. She was not.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

5. Is it

Hildegard von Bingen

[CTyankee]

11. Why do you guess her?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

20. "Hildegard's writings are also unique

for their generally positive view of sexual relations"

and

Hildegard, known as "Sybil of the Rhine", produced major works of theology and visionary writings.

[CTyankee]

23. Do you know her better for her theology than for her music?

I first encountered her in a course on Mysticism...

[HCE SuiGeneris]

25. My Uncle was a writer who told stories about the idiosyncrasies of priests

It was in a discussion with him that we touched upon Hildegard.

He was well regarded by his peers and won a prestigious literary honor. Can you name him? :D

Clue available if needed...

[CTyankee]

27. I can't think of it. I'm wondering if he was one of the essayists in the book,

"Voice of the Living Light: Hildegard of Bingen and Her World," John Van Engen or Constant Mews?

These essays were papers that were delivered at a conference at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music back in 1991 (I think). Excellent source...

[HCE SuiGeneris]

28. I didn't give you much to work with other than "my uncle"

and a very generalized topic.

http://www.nationalbook.org/nbawinners_category.html#fict may help...

[CTyankee]

37. Boy, you have me stumped. I scrolled down the list on the link you sent.

Trying to find something in Hildegard's era or in mysticism or just old European topics but all I could find under that broad a category was "A Distant Mirror" but that was by Barbara Tuchman so...

Do tell the answer, please!

[Staph]

19. Hildegard is my guess, too.

I'm reading about her this week, in Thomas Cahill's Mysteries of the Middle Ages and the Beginning of the Modern World. Interesting and very modern woman.

[CTyankee]

21. Yes, it's Hildegard...Cahill's book is great, I remember reading it after I had studied her.

There's a massive amount of interest in her academically. I did my research at both the Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Music (altho I was studying at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven at the time). She was one of 4 subjects of essays for my Master's final project entitled "The Artist as a Relational Being."

[HCE SuiGeneris]

22. I love your posts on Friday.

However, I will not be a spoiler anymore. I will send it privately if I think I have the answer too quickly.

[CTyankee]

24. Oh, it's OK. Hildegard is very popular now! she has her own "room" at Amazon!

[malaise]

26. Indeed I love this Friday thread n/t

[CTyankee]

29. Thanks, Malaise. Check in next week!

It's tough to fool this DU crowd. They are just too good!

[pinto]

32. Thanks for the Challenge. Somehow I've never caught this before.

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

[CTyankee]

34. I usually post the weekly Challenge around 5 pm on Friday.

If you know something about art, you are in excellent shape. If not, you might just get the answer anyway...sometimes it's not all that esoteric about art, per se, but often it is...I try to make it fun!

[NYC_SKP]

8. Virginia Johnson of Masters and Johnson?

:shrug:

[MzNov]

9. Simone de Beauvoir ?

:shrug:

[malaise]

12. That was my first thought but I suspect this

would have to be in the Victorian era.

[MzNov]

18. and now we know the woman was German....

[pinto]

10. Frida Kahlo?

:shrug:

[Robb]

13. Ooo!

...Was she German?

Edited to add: Or Icelandic, actually?

[CTyankee]

16. yes.

[CTyankee]

17. Yes.

[virgogal]

14. Georgia O'Keefe?

[pinto]

15. That crossed my mind as well.

:hi:

[mdmc]

30. Jane Goodall

:shrug:

[mdmc]

31. thanks for the thread

always enjoy them..

[patrice]

33. Catherine de Medici ?

[CTyankee]

35. What a great guess! You must know your history...but no.

It's Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine nun who ran two convents, was a seer, theologian and advisor to all the bigwigs of her day and was also a mystic, composer, poet, medical writer, herbalist and theologian!

You can buy her CDs at Amazon, BTW!

[patrice]

36. I know only a little History and I think I own that CD: ethereal, haunting . . . . serene, if I

recall correctly.

Fascinating woman HB; I think I read something about here once - that she was something of a reformer for her order, in a time of some corruption, she made the bishops keep their monks and such away from the nuns and got her women to agree to work and stay separate to protect themselves from some of the sleazier elements associated with the RC church in those days.

[tango-tee]

38. I was too late (as always) to participate, CTyankee!

By the time I finally saw your thread, the riddle had already been solved. D*%m! :nuke: I want to kick myself, because I had looked forward to it so much! Grrr.

There are books available over here with Hildegard's recipes, such as cookies which were said to be good for the "nerves" (noooo, not MJ brownies). No more than three per day for children, six for adults. The recipe sounds delicious, similar to today's oatmeal cookies.

And of course, as you said, she was an accomplished and gifted herbalist and healer. A woman far ahead of her time.

I need to be on the lookout for next Friday's question!


PS on edit: Do you usually post your Friday Question at a particular time? I'm six hours ahead of EST, and it would be nice to know when to start looking...

[CTyankee]

39. I usually post the question at around 5 p.m. each Friday.

I like to catch the people who are coming home from work (and before I have to start dinner).

Did you know the answer to this week's challenge?

[tango-tee]

40. I think I would have had a chance.

By the way, I love the way you guide posters along to find the correct answer.

For me, your Friday Question thread is a true highlight here on DU.

Thank you!

[CTyankee]

42. Thank YOU! That's so nice...

I love trivia and talking with people who also love art. It's a lot of fun coming up with these questions...

[tango-tee]

41. Oops, delete. Finger trouble.