Hermannus Contractus (also called Hermannus Augiensis, Hermann of Reichenau) (1013 July 18 – 1054 September 24) was an 11th century scholar, composer, and music theorist. Hermannus was a son of the duke of Altshausen. He was crippled by a paralytic disease from early childhood. He spent most of his life in the abbey of Reichenau, an island on Lake Constance. Hermannus contributed to all four arts of the quadrivium. He was renowned as a musical composer (among his surviving works are officia for St. Afra and St. Wolfgang). He also wrote a treatise on the science of music, several works on geometry and arithmetics and astronomical treatises (including instructions for the construction of an astrolabe, at the time a very novel device in Christian Europe). As a historian, he wrote a detailed chronicle from the birth of Christ to his own present day, for the first time compiling the events of the 1st millennium AD scattered in various chronicles in a single work, ordering them after the reckoning of the Christian era. He was essentially beatified in 1863. Events Danish invasion of England under king Sweyn I. King Ethelred flees to Normandy, and Sweyn becomes king of England. ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... Events Cardinal Humbertus, a representative of Pope Leo IX, and Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, decree each others excommunication. ... September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Music theory is a field of study that describes the elements of music and includes the development and application of methods for analyzing and composing music, and the interrelationship between the notation of music and performance practice. ... Altshausen is a small Swabian town (c. ... 15th-century towers on the Romanesque church of Sts Peter and Paul in Reichenau-Niederzell Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately 47°42′N 9°4′E. It lies between the Gnadensee and the Untersee, almost due west of the city of Constance. ... Map of the Bodensee; Schweiz is Switzerland, Deutschland is Germany, and Osterreich is Austria. ... The quadrivium comprised the four subjects taught in medieval universities after the trivium. ... This article is in need of attention. ... St. ... Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity which involves organized and audible sound, though definitions vary. ... Geometry (Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure) arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. ... Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number) in common usage is a branch of (or the forerunner of) mathematics which records elementary properties of certain operations on numerals, though professional mathematicians often treat arithmetic as a synonym for number theory. ... Astrology: the study of the positions of the celestial objects relative to the Earth and how these positions affect happenings on the lives of cultures, nations and the natural environment. ... A 16th century astrolabe. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... (Redirected from 1st millennium AD) (1st millennium BC – 1st millennium – 2nd millennium – other millennia) Events Beginning of Christianity and Islam London founded by Romans as Londinium Diaspora of the Jews The Olympic Games observed until 393 The Library of Alexandria, largest library in the world, burned Rise and fall of... Anno Domini (Latin: In the year of the Lord), or more completely Anno Domini Nostri Jesu Christi (in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ), commonly abbreviated AD or A.D., is the designation used to number years in the dominant Christian Era in the world today. ... 1863 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia
• Hermannus Contractus German language site with a collection of original texts
• Catholic Forum
• MacTudor Math biography