Signs of Life: Images of the living world in Honorius Augustodunensis and Hildegard of Bingen

This thesis explores how the natural world was understood in selected works by Augustinian canon, Honorius Augustodunensis (c. 1070-c. 1140) and the visionary Benedictine nun, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). Through the use of intellectual history and the principles of ecosemiotics, I demonstrate how Honorius and Hildegard understood the universe as a collection of signs that could illuminate the divine. I examine selections from their written works to draw out their shared appreciation for the universe, and how they diverged in aspects of their interpretation.