Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) Medieval Wise Woman (Herbalist) Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Abbess of the Rupertsburg convent in the German Rhineland. Hildegard compiled herbal formulas and her book, Hildegard 's Medicine, combined mystical Catholicism and early German folk medicine with her own extensive herbal experience. She also was the only medieval woman who left any account of "wise women" healing practices, many of them still hold true today. Hildegard's herbal recommendations include the following: She promoted a balanced diet and tooth-brushing with aloe and myrrh, both of which have been found to have antibacterial, decay-preventing properties. Although the Chinese herbalists had used apple bark for centuries to treat diabetes, Hildegard was the first medieval woman to prescribe raw apples as a tonic for healthy people. She was the first to recommend bilberries for respiratory complaints. She prescribed burdock to treat cancerous tumours. Centuries after Hildegard prescribed burdock, the herb's reputation as a tumour treatment spread to Russia, China, India and the Americas. Burdock was used as ingredient in alternative cancer treatments until the late 1950s. She prescribed celery seed to treat gout. Some 800 years after Hildegard recommended celery for gout, science validated her claim. Gout is formed by a build up of crystal-forming uric acids; celery was found to reduce uric acid levels and to have anti-inflammatory qualities. Hildegard prescribed horehound for coughs. Centuries later Russian and German studies proved that horehound contains a compound called marrubiin, which is an expectorant. It was used in over-the-counter cough remedies in North America until 1989. She prescribed hyssop to cleanse the lungs and also to treat depression. Hildegard prescribed licorice for stomach and heart problems. Contemporary herbalists still prescribe licorice to treat indigestion. She prescribed parsley compresses for arthritis. She prescribed vervain and vermouth for toothaches. Thirteenth century German folklore tells the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. In the story, the piper charmed both rats and children with hypnotic flute playing and a hypnotic root, valerian. About 100 years prior to the tales inception, however, Hildegard recommended valerian as a tranquilizer and a sleep air. Hildegard was lucky to have lived in the 12th century, for if she had practiced herbalism from 1300 to 1650, she probably would have been burned as a witch. It is not clear what caused Europe's 350 years of witch-hunts. A recent theory proposes that European rulers and the Catholic Church became alarmed by a decline in population and wanted to stop wise women midwife/herbalists from prescribing herbal contraceptives and abortifacients. The leading medieval contraceptive-abortifacients were taken after intercourse � "morning-after" plants, in modern parlance. The most popular were pennyroyal, artemisia and rue. Modern research shows that all three stimulate uterine contractions and abortion. After 1300 A.D., the image of the folk herbalist changed from helpful wise woman to evil witch. Accusations of "sexual intercourse with the Devil" were typically accompanied by testimony that the alleged witch practiced herbal medicine and made healing mixtures, cosmetics, love potions, aphrodisiacs, abortifacients and poisons. Accusations of poisoning were particularly implicative. It is possible that some female herbalists dabbled in herbal assassination, which had been practiced since ancient times. Socrates, for example, was put to death by being forced to drink poison hemlock. But this was the era before the discovery of the "dose-response relationship," the idea that the greater the dose, the greater the effect. Many so-called "witches' plants," poisonous in large amounts, caused no harm in therapeutic or cosmetic amounts. One plant associated with witchcraft was "witch's bells," large amounts of which are poisonous, though small amounts stimulate the heart. After the witch-hunt era, its name was changed to foxglove and it became the source of digitalis, a drug used to treat congestive heart failure. After the witch-hunts, herbalists like Hildegard were forgotten and replaced by the witches of Shakespeare's Macbeth, who threw mandrake, belladonna and other poisonous herbs into their bubbling cauldron. The witch-hunts failed to eradicate women's herbalism, however; they only succeeded in driving it underground. Source: Castleman, M. The New Healing Herbs, Bantam Books, 2002. For more about flowers, plants and herbs, see Ireland's OWN Myths and Magic Page last updated 2 Aug  2008 Website Design and Myths & Magic logo by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2008 Ireland's OWN All Rights Reserved.