Hildegarde was a visionary, who advised most of the rich and powerful of Europe. She was one of the German Cannoness nuns, who took vows of chastity and poverty, but not obedience. They were great scholars, writers and calligraphers. Abbesses of convents like Bingen, and Gandersheim were like the great lords of their time, they even struck their own coins. Hildegarde was great.