Hermannus contractus biography of nancy

Among his surviving works are officia for St. Afra and St. When he went blind in later life, he began writing hymns. Herman died on Reichenau on 24 Septemberaged The Roman Catholic Church beatified him in Three of five symphonies that were written by Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya are based on his texts. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk.

Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Hermann Staudinger. Hermann Minkowski. Hermann Michael Biggs. Hermann Max Pechstein. Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl. Hermann Karl Vogel. Hermann J. Muller and the Induction of Genetic Mutations. Hermann Hankel. Hermann Georg. Hermann Fol. Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Hermant, Jacques. Hermanus Quondam Judaeus. Hermanuv Mestec.

Hermbstadt, Sigismund Friedrich. Hermbstaedt, Sigismund Friedrich. Herimanus Augiensis, Hermann von Reichenau. Chronicler, mathematician, and poet; b. Being a cripple from birth hence the surname Contractus he was powerless to move without assistance, and it was only by the greatest effort that he was able to read and write; but he was so highly gifted intellectually, that when he was but seven years of age his parents confided him to the learned Abbot Berno, on the island of Reichenau.

Here he took the monastic vows inand probably spent his entire life. His iron will overcame all obstacles, and it was not long before his brilliant attainments made him a shining light in the most diversified branches of learning, including, besides theology, mathematics, astronomy, music, the Latin, Greek, and Arabic tongues. Students soon flocked to him from all parts, attracted not only by the fame of his scholarship, but also by his monastic virtue and his lovable personality.

We are indebted to him chiefly for a chronicle of the most important events from the birth of Christ to his day. However, Gerbert of Aurillacwho died ten years before Hermann was born, had learnt much from Arabic sources in Spain and had written several works which, almost certainly, would have found their way to the monastery at Reichenau.

Hermannus contractus biography of nancy

Hermann introduced three important instruments into central Europe, knowledge of which came from Arabic Spain. He introduced the astrolabea portable sundial and a quadrant with a cursor. The portable sundial is described by Lynn Thorndike in [ 14 ]. It consists Apparently these instruments were used to determine the latitude as well as to find the hour and the altitude of the sun, or at least they were adapted to determine the hour in different places and latitudes where a traveller might be.

Some parts of these works may not have been written by Hermann and the most likely author on which they are based must be Gerbert of Aurillac. The description of the astrolabe that Hermann gives is for an instrument which is designed to be used at a latitude of forty-eight degrees, which is indeed the latitude of Reichenau. These works contain more than just a description of the astrolabe, however, for they also contain star charts again with data correct for the latitude of Reichenau and a calculation of the earth's diameter.

Hermann's contributions to mathematics include a treatise Qualiter multiplicationes fiant in abbaco dealing with multiplication and division, although this book is written entirely with Roman numerals. Florence Yeldham describes in [ 15 ] manuscripts based on the work of Hermann:- The Cathedral Library at Durham possesses an unnoticed early twelfth-century manuscript of English provenance of a work, hitherto unrecorded, of Hermannus Contractus.

It contains the multiples, products, and quotients of the duodecimal fractions. The manuscript, when first found by Dr Singer in February,was pasted on linen and very roughly nailed to a wooden frame