Saint Hildegard (1098-1179) was the founder and first abbess of the Benedictine community in Bingen, Germany. The tenth child born into an aristocratic family, she was given to the Church at a young age, and lived a famously spiritual life. She was most famous during her lifetime as a visionary and a prophet. Hildegard was aware that she was part of a social and religious elite, and was highly outspoken about her mission and her gifts, but she championed humility and charity above all virtues. Later medieval generations remembered Hildegard as a prophet, and her unique spiritual contributions continue to inspire people today. She was a prolific writer and well-known composer, and among her surviving works are her recorded visions, an encyclopedia of herbal medicine and natural science, many letters to people from around Europe and from every societal class who sought her advice, visual art, mystical poetry, and a body of music including seventy liturgical songs and the Ordo Virtutum, the first known morality play.