Vatican gives rare volume to University Special Collections

28 May 2014 The University has been chosen to receive a copy of a very rare book, printed by the Vatican, concerning Hildegard of Bingen. The book, originally intended solely for internal use, laid the foundations for the canonisation in 2012 of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), the medieval abbess, artist, composer, doctor, mystic, saint, scientist and theologian. George Ferzoco, Research Fellow in the Department of Religion and Theology, studied the 736-page document in the Vatican while researching a book he has recently co-edited on Hildegard. 'I was permitted to study this amazing document that had been collated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,' says Ferzoco. 'It contains a summary and an analysis of all of Hildegard's writings, and a thorough history of her cult. This was used by the Roman Catholic Church in deciding not only to declare Hildegard a saint, but also to make her a Doctor of the Church - an exceedingly rare honour.' The Prefect of the Congregation, Angelo Cardinal Amato, and the general co-ordinator of the Church's canonisation processes, the Reverend Vincenzo Criscuolo, granted Ferzoco a copy of this document for the University's Special Collections. Bristol is one of a very limited number of institutions, and the only one outside the Italian peninsula, to possess a copy.