Hildegard of Bingen was a multi-talented individual with a unique and versatile body of work. She was a theologian and prophetess, botanist, physician, and musician. With her words and actions, she ventured into new territory, ambitious and willing to take risks, but also wise and pragmatic when it came to asserting her own views and interests. Barbara Beuys uncovers new aspects of the abbess, who has become a cult figure, in her successful biography and also demonstrates that women played a significant role in the intellectual and social life of the Middle Ages.