HERMANN, called CONTRACTUS. — Benedictine (called Contractus because of the paralysis from which he suffered), chronicler, poet, scientist, of the Abbey of Reichenau (Augia di ves) on Lake Constance, to which he was entrusted at the age of seven. Son of Count Wolfrad, born 18 July 1013, died at Reichenau on 24 October 1054. Endowed with great intellect, he studied and then taught all the sciences of his time and became one of the most learned men of his century.
He composed a Chronicle, highly esteemed for its accuracy, especially in matters of chronology, from Christ to 1054 (MGH, Scriptores, V [1844], pp. 67-133; PL 143, 53-263). Up to 1039 it is a diligent compilation from known sources, but from 1040-1054 it is the author’s own work. Various hymns and sequences are attributed to him and are collected by Dreves-Blume in Analecta hymnica, 50 (1907), pp. 308-19. Some would attribute to him the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Salve Regina; he also composed the melodies for various hymns. The graceful dialogue poem Conflicus evis et lini (PL 143, 445-58) is doubtful. He wrote various other works, such as on astrology (PL 143, 379-412) and on music (ibid., 413-42). Other short treatises and letters have been published in various journals, such as the poem De octo vitiis principalibus, ed. F. Dünniger in Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, 13 (1867), pp. 385-431.