Blessed Herman the Cripple
![[]](sainth1a.jpg "??kb jpg detail from an antique German holy card, artist unknown; if you have information on this image, please email me; please do not write to ask about the image")
- Also known as
-
Herman of Reichenau;
Herman Contractus
- Memorial
- 25 September
- Profile
- Born with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, and spina bifida to a farm family.
His parents were unable to care for the child, and in 1020 gave him to the abbey of Reichenau at age seven; he spent the rest of his life there.
Benedictine monk at age twenty.
A genius, he studied and wrote on astronomy, theology, math, history, poetry, Arabic, Greek, and Latin.
Built musical instruments, and astronomical equipment.
Eventually went blind, and had to give up his academic writing.
The most famous religious poet of his day, and is the author of Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater.
- Born
- 18 February 1013 at Altshausen, Swabia (in modern Germany)
- Died
- 21 September 1054 at Reichenau abbey of natural causes
- Beatified
- 1863 (cultus confirmed)
- Translate
-
español | français | deutsch | italiano | português
