The visionary nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), known as the Sybil of the Rhine, was a linguist, painter, healer, poet, and musician who dedicated a large part of her long life to the study of botany, human physiology, and medicine. Dermatologic diseases fell within her range of interests. The depth of Hildegard's work, her ability to observe nature, and the excellence of her music make it clear that the simple label of mystic applied to so many religious figures of her time is inadequate to cover the accomplishments of this many faceted nun, who merits consideration alongside learned Renaissance figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo.

Hildegard was well-born and at the age of 8 years was called to a religious life. 1, 2 Her family brought her to the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg, where she was educated under the guidance of Abbess Jutta of Spanheim. At that time, the community comprised both nuns and monks, 3 forming a type of mixed community that had been suppressed by Justinian, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, possibly in response to problems and scandals in convents. The practice nonetheless continued in Spain, Germany, and France during the High Middle Ages under theoretically strict rules governing how the men and women lived together. Benedictine nuns, known as the black nuns for the color of their habit, were among those who lived in such monasteries along with both monks and oblates, who were referred to as milites because they provided a certain degree of protection. It is clear that Hildegard's educators indulged her in allowing access to knowledge of copulation, conception, sexual relations, sexual dysfunction, and the female orgasm—which she described in detail (Appendix). It is possible that she had direct knowledge of what she described.