The Visionary

(1098-1179 CE) The founder and first abbess of the Benedictine community at Bingen. She was a member of the aristocracy, but displayed an acute humility before God. She believed that she was the tool through which God was calling the church to reform, and spoke boldly in a realm where only men were expected to speak. She was also a prolific musician and playwright, and completed the first known morality play. We meet her at the age of eighty.