Oil on wood panel 12"x16"x7/8" Hermann of ReichenauAlso known as Herman the Cripple, was born in 1013 with a cleft palate, cerebral palsy and spina bifida. He was one of fifteen children of the Count and Countess of Altshausen. He was baptized soon after he was born. At the age of seven he could hardly grunt out his words and had to be carried or wheeled about. His father brought him to the monastery on Lake Constance to meet the abbot. His father told the abbot that "Our Hermann cannot read or write, but can see things I can't." He would live at the monastery for the rest of his life.Hermann was a polymath who attracted scholars from near and far. He wrote of math and music. Two of his musical works are still loved today, Salve Regina and Alma Redemptoris Mater.Herman died on Reichenau on 24 September 1054, aged 41. The Roman Catholic Church beatified him in 1863.*information from The Magnificat