Notker the Stammerer
Notker the Stammerer ( – 6 April 912),
Notker Balbulus, or simply
Notker,
Notker of Saint Gall or
Notker the Poet.|group=n}} was a
Benedictine monk at the
Abbey of Saint Gall active as a composer, poet and scholar. Described as "a significant figure in the Western Church", Notker made substantial contributions to both the music and literature of his time. He is usually credited with two major works of the
Carolingian period: the ''
Liber Hymnorum'', which includes an important collection of early musical
sequences, and an early biography of
Charlemagne, the ''
Gesta Karoli Magni''. His other works include a biography of
Saint Gall known as the ''Vita Sancti Galli'' and a
martyrology, among others.
Born near the
Abbey of Saint Gall, Notker was educated alongside the monks
Tuotilo and
Ratpert; all three were composers, making the Abbey an important center of early
medieval music. Notker quickly became a central figure of the Abbey and among the leading literary scholars of the
Early Middle Ages. A renowned teacher, he taught
Solomon III, the bishop of Constance and on occasion advised
Charles the Fat. Although venerated by the Abbey of Saint Gall and the namesake of later scholars there such as
Notker Physicus and
Notker Labeo, Notker was never formally canonized. He was given "the Stammerer" as an
epithet, due to his lifelong
stutter.
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