The First Written Description of the Female Orgasm Came From a 12th Century Nun
And that’s only one of the more minor accomplishments of Hildegard of Bingen
Sending a woman off to be a nun in the middle ages was a good way to shut them up and remove them from society, right?
Wrong! If you were an upper-class woman who played her cards right, taking orders was a pretty cool gig. Freed from the need to run a household and cater to the whims of a husband who called all the shots, a nun could climb the ranks and make a difference in the world.
Now, to be fair, if you didn’t arrive at the nunnery with a substantial dowery — bride of Christ and all that — you were looking at a life of kitchen drudgery, cleaning, and other menial tasks. But for those women at the top of the socio-economic ladder, if a life of the mind was your hankering, holy orders was the way to go.
Hildegard of Bingen took her opportunity and made the most of it. She was a true polymath, master of many disciplines. She is famous for her musical compositions, sacred visions, sermons, advice written to rulers and other influential people, and writings on topics including gender, sexuality, medicine, theology, politics, and more.
