HERMANN OF SCHULDSCHNEID. — Augustinian theologian and canonist of the 14th century, d. 8 July 1357. He was the first of the German Hermits to be awarded the doctoral degree. In 1320 he was a student in Paris, where he remained as a teacher in 1326–27. From 1328 to 1330 he was a lecturer in the convent of Herford; in 1332 he became bachelor, and finally in 1337 master superior of his Saxon-Thuringian religious province. In 1338 he was sent by the German bishops on a mission to Avignon to reconcile Louis the Bavarian with Benedict XII. Among his contemporaries he enjoyed a reputation for vast learning and great holiness. Historians of his Order honor him with the title of “blessed.”
He devoted much effort to the instruction of the young and carried out an intense apostolate among the people, both through his writings and in person, teaching, hearing confessions, and preaching. He combated the errors of the Flagellants; he promoted devotion to the Virgin and the reform of clerical morals.
His activity also extended to writing, though part of his works are lost or confused with those of other scholastics. Among his surviving works are cited: *Speculum secundum de tribus Sacramentis principalibus* (Nuremberg 1478 and 1480, Venice 1480, Treviso 1481, Campbell 1506); *Contra flagellatores*, written in 1351 (cf. H. Denifle, *Chartularium*, II, pp. 655–656); *Consulti haereticos negantes imminutam et iurisdictionem Ecclesiae pro Ioanne XXII* (ms. cod. Paris. 4272); *Introducimur iuris*, published by Sekel.