Hermann of Reichenau - Monk & Polymath

As you may have noticed, my primary historical interests are in the 19th and 20th centuries. In my desire to expand my knowledge of disability history, I've needed to branch out. This story goes way back to the European Middle Ages. Since this is not an era I know very well, I had to do a lot of extra research. It was a "sacrifice" that I happily made. This story also involves church history, which fascinates my husband and recently became another interest of mine.

Hermann of Reichenau is known by many different names. His first name is sometimes anglicized as Herman, latinized as Hermannus, or written in the older form as Heriman. He has been known as Hermann of Vöhringen after his birthplace. Traditionally, he was also called "Hermannus Contractus," which appeared in English as "Hermann the Lame," "Hermann the Cripple," or "Hermann the Twisted."

Given the names he was known by, it is fairly obvious that Hermann had physical disabilities. He was born on July 18, 1013 in modern-day Vöhringen, Bavaria, Germany. His parents were Count Wolverad II von Altshausen-Veringen and his wife Hiltrud. He was one of fifteen children. Hermann was born with a cleft palate and some kind of "paralytic disease." There is scholarly debate on what specifically afflicted him. The most common theories are cerebral palsy and/or spina bifida. A 1999 research article hypothesized that he may have had amyotrophic lateral scleroris or spinal muscular atrophy. Due to the state in which their child was born, the Count and his wife immediately sent for the priest to baptize their child, in case he would not live long. Because of, or perhaps in spite of, their fear, they christened their son Hermann, meaning "fighting man." 

Though disability is not well-recorded from this time period, it was a very visible occurrence, consisting of the "lepre, the blynde, the dumbe, the deaff, the natural fool, the creple, the lame and the lunatick" (click here to see a collection of disability represented in medieval art). Interestingly, it was not common to think of disibility as being unholy or undesirable (like it was later during the eugenics movement), but more as an ordinary fact. Some scholars argue that the disabled "were no less undistinguished at the dawn of the Middle Ages from the economically weak." Given the intensive labor it took to survive this period, many had physical disabilities resulting from injuries or malnutrition. Some people with kyphosis or dwarfism were able to fulfill the role of court jester, giving them a level of prestige. Others did have to resort to begging, depending on how well their families and communities could support them. France's King Louis IX, who ruled during the 1200s, granted the rare legal right to beg in Paris to blind people.

There were conflicting religious views of disability at this time as well. Some thought it was the result of sin; the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 created a law that linked bodily infirmity to (only) sometimes be caused by sin. Because of this, physicians were asked to hear their patient's confessions so that their soul would be "cured" before attending to their body. Conversely, some thought that their earthly suffering would bring them closer to God, making them more pious than the average person. There were few rules in Canon Law that put restrictions against those with disabilities. These men could still become priests and even bishops. The church was also expected to give charity to anyone who disadvantaged, so the disabled community benefited from this. 

Medicine at the time included "religious, metaphysical, or supernatural" elements, along with the "scientific" theories. Many of these went back to Galen, a Greek surgeon who lived from the years 129-216. Physicians did what they could to treat illnesses and injuries but, if something did not go away on its own, it was deemed an "incurable illness" and therefore an act of God. Some people, in an effort to cure their ailments, made pilgrimages to holy sites and shrines seeking "miracles." 

Mental illness, however, was often thought of as being due to demonic possessions, so their only hope was to pray for divine healing. Some mental illness were thought of as an imbalance of the body's four humors. Depression, known then as melancholia, was thought to be caused by an excess of black bile in the body. In 1247, England's first mental institution, called the Bethlehem Hospital or "Bedlam" was founded. Around this time, almshouses began as places for the elderly and disabled to live. Though these institutions provided far from adequate care, they were at least attempts to help. 

Hermann's parents, Wolverad and Hiltrud, cared for him for the first seven years of his life. He had incredible difficulty moving and could barely speak. He navigated his environment by being carried, using crutches, or being wheeled around in a special chair designed for him. Even with these challenges, his parents could tell their son was intelligent. When his care needs became too intensive, Hermann was placed in the Abbey of Reichenau, a Benedictine monastery on an island on Lake Constance in modern-day Germany. It should be noted that this was not uncommon for children of nobles (disabled or not) in the Middle Ages to be educated by monks.

At the time of Hermann's life, the island of Reichenau was the artistic and literary center of southwestern Germany. This monastery had been ounded in the year 724 by St. Pirmin as he fled the Moorish invaders in Spain. It was an important area for scholarship since it was a center where manuscripts were copied, along with having an impressive library and a well-equipped workshop. Hermann entered the Cloister School, attached to the monastery, on September 13, 1020. He studied there under the Abbot Berno. 

Though Hermann had significant physical difficulties, the monks, likes his parents, also noted his strong intellect. He learned to read and write and was especially interested in theology and the world around him. He became literate in many languages, including Arabic (technically, it is only assumed that he knew Arabic, but not confirmed), Greek, and Latin. At the age of twenty, Hermann entered the order as a Benedictine monk, vowing his commitment to God, the Catholic Church, the monastery, and its surrounding community. 

The intellectual influence of Hermann cannot be understated. He was a polymath, and a particularly productive one at that. One of his greatest accomplishments was translating Arabic scientific and mathematical work into Latin, giving central Europe access to previously unavailable research. With this, he also introduced three scientific instruments based on knowledge from Arabic Spain: the astrolabe, a portable sundial, and a quadrant with a cursor. Some of his works include De Mensura Astrolabii and De Utilitatibus Astrolabii. He most likely based parts of these on works by Gerbert of Aurillac. Hermann's writings on the astrolabe also include star charts and a calculation of the earth's diameter. His interest in astronomy also led him to write Epistola de quantitate mensis lunaris, a description of the problem of the lengths of the lunar month - he created a new lunar calendar in Abbreviato compoti in 1042. 

His academic prowess also extended to mathematics. He wrote the treatise Qualiter multiplicationes fiant in abbaco, which dealt with multiplication and division and is entirely written with Roman numerals. Specifically, it "contains the multiples, products, and quotients of the duodecimal fractions." Hermann also create a complicated game based on Pythagorean number theory. 

At this time, music was also considered a part of mathematics. He had learned musical theory from the Abbot Berno, a leading music expert at the time. It was Berno who had reformed the Gregorian chant into eight modes called "tones." These were further explored in Hermann's Opuscula musica, where he proposed his own system of notation of musical intervals with letters. This further transformed Gregorian chanting into a more developed, harmonious form. It is also said that he built fine musical instruments by hand. He also wrote on musicology, specifically his findings on the biological, emotional, and psychological effects of music on humans. 

And, as if all of the above was not enough, Hermann also wrote about history, such as when he compiled a martyrology. Most famously, he wrote Chronicon ad annum 1054, a comprehensive historical epic that spanned from the birth of Jesus until his own present day. The manuscript survived long enough to be printed in 1529. Because Hermann was a contemporary of Henry III, a duke turned German king turned Holy Roman emperor, this work is an important primary source from Germany at that time. It also records the death of Hermann's mother, Hiltrud, in 1052. He had written an inscription for her grave showing his love and devotion to her.

His work was not limited to academia, as Hermann was also known as a religious poet and musical composer. He also wrote and set to music officia for St. Afra and St. Wolfgang. He turned especially to poetry and music later in his life, after becoming blind.  One of his poems became the now well-known Catholic prayer, "Hail, Holy Queen." This is also a hymn based on this, Salve Regina ("Hail Queen"). Other well-known medieval liturgical songs attributed to him are Veni Sancte Spiritus ("Come Holy Spirit") and Alma Redemptoris Mater ("Nourishing Mother of the Redeemer"). If you've never listened to the Latin singing of monks, I highly recommend listening to the linked YouTube videos.  There is something simple yet also otherworldly.

His sense of humor also comes through in his writings, as seen in a poem about the eight deadly sins (pride, vainglory, envy, wrath, sadness, avarice, gluttony, and lust) written for the nuns at Buchau, who affectionately called him "Herimannulus" (Little Hermann). "Poem" seems like too small a word for this: we have only the first book, which was 1,720 lines long and written in several different meters. 

Following the death of his former teacher, the Abbot Berno, Hermann became the Abbot of the Monastery in 1048. At the age of 41, Hermann died at Reichenau on September 24, 1054. As he had wished, he was buried next to his mother in Altshausen. He had also requested that his successor, Berthold of Reichenau, take the wax tablets of all his writings and make them into manuscripts. It is because of this that so much of his work survived. Berthold also, as Hermann desired, continued his immense historical chronicle until 1080 (he himself died about eight years later). Berthold's student, Bernold of Constance, added to it until 1100, then other monks continued it until 1175.

Over 800 years later, in 1863, he was beatified by Pope Pius IX of the Roman Catholic Church, turning him into Blessed Hermann of Reichenau. His feast day takes place on September 25. His influence extends to today in other ways: for instance, Russian classical composer Galina Ustvolskaya based three of her five symphonies, written from the 1940s-70s, on his texts. 

Accounts claim that Hermann was generally cheerful and good-natured, often making jokes about his "ugly and ungainly body." In one of his works on the astrolabe, he referred to himself as, "Hermann, the rubbish of Christ's poor ones, among the recruits of philosophy slower than a donkey or a snail." This is quite the contrast to what scholars called him in his time: "The Wonder of His Age." Students flocked from all over Central Europe to study under him. 

I have taken to ending these posts with the person's own words, wherever possible. Much of Hermann's writings are scientifically complicated and/or in Latin. However, I found one quote I quite enjoyed: "If things don't suffice for you, make yourself sufficient for things, and you'll be all the greater for not desiring more than you have." 

Most sincerely,

Christina

Further Reading

• Hermann of Reichenau: The Story of the Salve Regina and the Triumph of the Human Spirit by Maria Calasanz Ziesche

• Disability in Medieval Europe: Thinking about Physical Impairment in the High Middle Ages, c. 1100-1400 by Irina Metzler

• Disability in the Middle Ages: Reconsiderations and Reverberations edited by Joshua R. Eyler

• Disability and Medieval Law: History, Literature, Society edited by Cory James Rushton

• "A History of Disability: from 1050 to Present Day"

Works Consulted

Childed, S. (2019, March 12). Hermann of Reichenau: Disabled Monk Who Boosted Art and Science 1000 Years Ago. Music Tales. https://musictales.club/article/hermann-reichenau-disabled-monk-who-boosted-art-and-science-1000-years-ago.

Daily Medieval. (2012, September 24). Hermann of Reichenau. Daily Medieval. https://dailymedieval.blogspot.com/2012/09/hermann-of-reichenau.html.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2021, July 14). Hermann Von Reichenau: German Scholar. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hermann-von-Reichenau.

Esolen, A. (2021). God Makes No Mistakes. Catholic Education Resource Center. https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/god-makes-no-mistakes.html.

Historic England. (2021). Disability in the Medieval Period 1050-1485. Historic England. https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/1050-1485/.

Metzler, I. (2006). Disability in Medieval Europe: Thinking about physical impairment during the high Middle Ages, c. 1100-1400. Disability Studies Quarterly, 26(4), 355. https://doi.org/https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/836/1011

O'Connor, J. J., & Robertson, E. F. (2012, July). Hermann of Reichenau. MacTutor. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Hermann_of_Reichenau/.

Paolino, C. (2016, September 24). Blessed Hermann of Reichenau, "The Cripple". Branching Out. https://blog.renewintl.org/blessed-hermann-of-reichenau-the-cripple.

Last Updated: 21 Sept. 2023