Notker the Stammerer ( – 6 April 912), Notker Balbulus, or simply Notker, was a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall active as a poet, scholar and (probably) composer. 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 sequences, and the earliest biography of Charlemagne, Gesta Caroli Magni. His other works include a biography of Saint Gall, the Vita Sancti Galli, and a martyrology. 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. Life and career Notker was born around 840, near the Abbey of Saint Gall in modern-day Switzerland. His family was wealthy and of either Alemannic or Swiss descent and they owned land in Jonschwil of Thurgau. Notker's later biographer Ekkehard V claims he was born in Heiligau—now Elgg—in the Canton of Zürich, but this has been rejected by the historian , who suggests a birthplace near Jonschwil. Since childhood Notker had a stutter, resulting in the Latin epithet () or "the Stammerer" in English. He began schooling at Saint Gall early in age and spent the rest of his life in the Abbey. His teachers included the Swiss monk and the Irish monk Moengal, called "Marcellus" by Notker. The later Casus monasterii Sancti Galli of Ekkehard IV "paints a lively picture of the monastery school", and notes that Notker was taught alongside Tuotilo and Ratpert; all three would become teachers at the Abbey. Although first and foremost a scholar, Notker held numerous positions at the Abby including librarian in 890 and master of guests () in 892 and 894. He became established as a well-known teacher and was eventually appointed "master