What do an international pop superstar and a canonised Benedictine abbess have in common? Creative talent and an eye for the hustle.
While this may seem an unlikely comparison, or even just a ploy to write about my favourite saint (no comment), there is perhaps more common ground between these two women than first meets the eye.
St. Hildegard von Bingen, also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a nun living from c. 1098-1179. She was born into lower nobility in modern day Germany and dedicated to the church at a young age; she spent the first 40-odd years of her life enclosed in hermitage with a few fellow nuns. Here, she learnt to read, write and play the psaltery (a medieval dulcimer). From the age of 3, she experienced vivid divine visions, which eventually brought her renown across the Catholic world as a mystic.
In 1136, she was unanimously elected mother superior of her community and, from then on, climbed to positions of ever higher religious power – a rare and impressive feat for a woman of her time in a highly patriarchal clerical institution.
She is often referred to as a polymath and, to give you an idea of her skillset, she: delivered papally-verified visionary prophecies, pioneered natural history and biological studies, composed some sick liturgical music (we have more surviving chants from Hildegard than from any composer of the entire Middle Ages), wrote the oldest surviving morality play, held preaching tours across Germany, developed her own language and system of writing, wrote homoerotic poetry, was an early medical researcher and left us more letters than anyone else of her period (nearly 400).
All this to say, she had fingers in many pies.
While it may be a stretch to call T. Swift a polymath in quite the same way, she certainly is multifaceted. A songwriter from 14 (around the same age Hildegard entered hermitage), Swift has produced 10 studio albums, widely ranging in style and genre. Holding 14 Grammys, an Emmy, 39 Billboard Music Awards and 118 Guinness World Records, her success as a musician is impossible to deny. She has also had stints in acting (Cats, anyone?) and production.
My main point of comparison between these two respective cultural icons is the self-cultivation of their influence and success. Hildegard, like Taylor, amassed a substantial and highly dedicated fanbase, who would attend her acclaimed sermon tours (in a potential parallel to Swift’s immensely popular live performances). Similarly, both artists are significant for having used their creative output to great strategic advantage, displaying an exceptionally business-savvy mindset.
Hildegard successfully utilised her mystic visions to secure ecclesiastical integrity and influence, bolstering her opinions or goals with the weight of divine prophecy throughout her career. While it would be unfair and unfounded to claim that Hildegard’s visions were
entirely invented or deliberately manufactured for her own gain, it remains noteworthy that she selectively employed them to support her own views. For example, when trying to secure her position as leader of her monastery in c.1140, Hildegard used the papal approval of her visions and sermons to strengthen her case as a suitable figure of authority, despite her gender. Additionally, Hildegard later compiled accounts and interpretations of all her visions into written works: Scivias, Liber Vitae Meritorum and Liber Divinorum Operum. These volumes combine her visions and theological philosophy with detailed illuminations and are impressive artefacts in their own right, gaining her further recognition and regard across the Catholic church. She closely supervised the production of the works herself, ensuring they aligned with her aims, then distributed them accordingly to best consolidate her influence.
For Taylor, one needs to look no further than her ongoing Eras Tour: the highest-grossing tour of all time and the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue. What’s more, the film edition of the Tour, released in cinemas and on streaming platforms, is the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning $262 million in its theatrical run alone.
The Eras Tour exemplifies her excellent showbusiness strategy, allowing her to capitalise on ‘brand storytelling’ marketing by revisiting the development of her image, catering to nostalgic fans with all albums of her decades-long career, nurturing a close (even parasocial) loyalty and community with fans, utilising social media presence and trends as self-perpetuating advertisement and involving surprise appearances from other celebrities to further generate hype. It is a production of tactical genius.
Furthermore, both women are figures of great influence in otherwise notably patriarchal institutions. Swift has been outspoken about the discrimination women face in the music industry, as well as the misogynist scrutiny female public figures experience from popular media. By comparison, in a society where female public presence was rare, if not specifically obstructed, Hildegard managed to establish two monasteries under her own authority – having explicitly moved away from her initial community because of the limitations placed on her power by male church leaders.
So, while Hildegard likely never engineered elaborate and bedazzled costume changes part-way through her sermons or released ‘sad girl autumn’ versions of her monophonic chants, she remains a giant of the 12th century catholic world at a height only paralleled by our own TS. In fact, she is probably a figure best viewed on her own terms rather than through the lens of an anachronistic and slightly absurd comparison, who deserves a great deal more recognition than I have given her in this article. It made a fun premise though…
