Gerard's own work, the "Deliberatio supra hymnum trium puerorum" also contain references to his life. Simon of Kéza's chronicle and the "Illuminated Chronicle" preserved fragments from the common source of Gerard's two "Lives". A 13th-century rhymed version (or chant) of Gerard's legend was also preserved, but it does not contain more information than the "Short Life". Gerard's "Long Life" dedicates two chapters to his family and childhood. Conventional elements of medieval hagiographies abound in both chapters, suggesting that the author borrowed many motives from other legends, especially from the "Life of Saint Adalbert of Prague". Gerard was born in Venice in a noble family. The noble origin of saintly hermits was often emphasized in their legends. The identification of Gerard's family is uncertain. An expanded version of Petrus de Natalibus's "Catalogue of Saints", which was published in 1516, identified Gerard as a member of the Sagredo family. Although the family was granted Venetian nobility only in the 14th century, some scholars (including Fabio Banfi) accept the Sagredos' claim to their kinship with Saint Gerard. Historian László Szegfű says that Gerard was actually a Morosini. Gerard's father, who was also named Gerard, and mother, Catherine, had awaited his birth for three years. They baptised their son George because he was born on the feast of Saint George (23 April). The year of his birth is unknown, but he was born between around 977 and 1000. He was renamed in the memory of his father who died during a pilgrimage or journey (anachronistically mentioned in Gerard's "Long Life" as a crusade). At the age of five, Gerard was taken seriously ill. His recovery was attributed to the prayers of the Benedictine monks of the San Giorgio Monastery in Venice. His family soon sent him to the monastery, offering him to spiritual life. Gerard took the "religious cloth" and was educated in the monastery. He could read and write and knew the basic elements of arithmetic. His "Long Life" emphasizes that Gerard strictly observed the rules of monastic life and wore coarse cloths to "mortify his body". He also studied the "words of the prophets and the speeches of the Orthodox apostles". The use of certain expressions (including "dux verbi", or "leader of the Word") suggests that Gerard read Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in Greek.