Pope Sylvester II ( – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the

bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

and ruled the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab and

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy, reintroducing to Europe the

abacus The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hi ...

and

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of ...

, which had been lost to

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman era. He is said to be the first in Europe to introduce the

decimal The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...

numeral system using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. He is credited with the invention of the first

mechanical clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and th ...

in 996.

Early life

Gerbert was born about 946 in the town of Belliac, near the present-day commune of Saint-Simon, Cantal,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Around 963, he entered the Monastery of St. Gerald of Aurillac. In 967, Count

Borrell II of Barcelona Borrell II (died 993) was Count of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona from 945 and Count of Urgell from 948. Borrell was first seen acting as Count during the reign of his father Sunyer II in 945 at the consecration of the nunnery church of Sant Pere ...

(947–992) visited the monastery, and the abbot asked the count to take Gerbert with him so that the lad could study mathematics in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

and acquire there some knowledge of Arabic learning.

Scholarly work

Gerbert studied under the direction of Bishop Atto of Vich, some 60 km north of Barcelona, and probably also at the nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll. Like all Catalan monasteries, it contained manuscripts from

Muslim Spain Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...

and especially from Cordoba, one of the intellectual centres of Europe at that time: the library of

al-Hakam II Al-Hakam II, also known as Abū al-ʿĀṣ al-Mustanṣir bi-Llāh al-Hakam b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (; January 13, 915 – October 16, 976), was the Caliph of Córdoba. He was the second ''Umayyad'' Caliph of Córdoba in Al-Andalus, and son of Ab ...

, for example, had thousands of books (from science to Greek philosophy). This is where Gerbert was introduced to

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

. Borrell II was facing major defeat from the Andalusian powers so he sent a delegation to Córdoba to request a truce. Bishop Atto was part of the delegation that met with al-Ḥakam II, who received him with honour. Gerbert was fascinated by the stories of the

Mozarab The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

Christian bishops and judges who dressed and talked like the Arabs, well-versed in mathematics and natural sciences like the great teachers of the Islamic

madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s. This sparked Gerbert's veneration for the Arabs and his passion for mathematics and astronomy.

Abacus and numerals

Gerbert learned of Hindu–Arabic digits and applied this knowledge to the

, but probably without the numeral

zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by Multiplication, multiplying digits to the left of 0 by th ...

. According to the 12th-century historian

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

, Gerbert got the idea of the computing device of the abacus from a

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or s ...

scholar. The abacus that Gerbert reintroduced into Europe had its length divided into 27 parts with 9 number symbols (this would exclude zero, which was represented by an empty column) and 1,000 characters in all, crafted out of animal horn by a shieldmaker of Rheims.. According to his pupil Richer, Gerbert could perform speedy calculations with his abacus that were extremely difficult for people in his day to think through using only

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ...

. Due to Gerbert's reintroduction, the abacus became widely used in Europe once again during the 11th century.

Armillary sphere and sighting tube

Although lost to Europe since the terminus of the

era, Gerbert reintroduced the astronomical

to Latin Europe via the Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus, which was at that time at the "cutting edge" of civilization. The details of Gerbert's armillary sphere are revealed in letters from Gerbert to his former student and monk Remi of Trèves and to his colleague Constantine, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of Micy, as well as the accounts of his former student and French nobleman Richer, who served as a monk in

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. Richer stated that Gerbert discovered that stars coursed in an oblique direction across the night sky.. Richer described Gerbert's use of the armillary sphere as a visual aid for teaching mathematics and astronomy in the classroom. Historian Oscar G. Darlington asserts that Gerbert's division by 60 degrees instead of 360 allowed the lateral lines of his sphere to equal to six degrees.. By this account, the

polar circle A polar circle is a geographic term for a conditional circular line (arc) referring either to the Arctic Circle or the Antarctic Circle. These are two of the keynote circles of latitude (parallels). On Earth, the Arctic Circle is currently d ...

on Gerbert's sphere was located at 54 degrees, several degrees off from the actual 66° 33'. His positioning of the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towa ...

at 24 degree was nearly exact, while his positioning of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

was correct by definition. Richer also revealed how Gerbert made the planets more easily observable in his armillary sphere:

He succeeded equally in showing the paths of the planets when they come near or withdraw from the earth. He fashioned first an armillary sphere. He joined the two circles called by the Greeks ''coluri'' and by the Latins ''incidentes'' because they fell upon each other, and at their extremities he placed the poles. He drew with great art and accuracy, across the ''colures'', five other circles called parallels, which, from one pole to the other, divided the half of the sphere into thirty parts. He put six of these thirty parts of the half-sphere between the pole and the first circle; five between the first and the second; from the second to the third, four; from the third to the fourth, four again; five from the fourth to the fifth; and from the fifth to the pole, six. On these five circles he placed obliquely the circles that the Greeks call ''loxos'' or ''zoe'', the Latins ''obliques'' or ''vitalis'' (the zodiac) because it contained the figures of the animals ascribed to the planets. On the inside of this oblique circle he figured with an extraordinary art the orbits traversed by the planets, whose paths and heights he demonstrated perfectly to his pupils, as well as their respective distances.

Richer wrote about another of Gerbert's last armillary spheres, which had sighting tubes fixed on the axis of the hollow sphere that could observe the constellations, the forms of which he hung on iron and copper wires.. This armillary sphere was also described by Gerbert in a letter to his colleague Constantine.. Gerbert instructed Constantine that, if doubtful of the position of the

pole star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...

, he should fix the sighting tube of the armillary sphere into position to view the star he suspected was it, and if the star did not move out of sight, it was thus the pole star.. Furthermore, Gerbert instructed Constantine that the north pole could be measured with the upper and lower sighting tubes, the Arctic Circle through another tube, the Tropic of Cancer through another tube, the equator through another tube, and the

Tropic of Capricorn The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...

through another tube.

Ecclesiastical career

In 969, Borrell II made a pilgrimage to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, taking Gerbert with him. There Gerbert met

Pope John XIII Pope John XIII ( la, Ioannes XIII; died 6 September 972) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and t ...

and

Emperor Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of Hen ...

. The pope persuaded Otto I to employ Gerbert as a tutor for his young son,

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy ...

. Some years later, Otto I gave Gerbert leave to study at the cathedral school of Rheims where he was soon appointed a teacher by Archbishop Adalberon. When Otto II became sole

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

in 973, he appointed Gerbert the abbot of the

monastery of Bobbio Bobbio Abbey (Italian: ''Abbazia di San Colombano'') is a monastery founded by Irish Saint Columbanus in 614, around which later grew up the town of Bobbio, in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is dedicated to Saint Columbanus. ...

and also appointed him as count of the district, but the abbey had been ruined by previous abbots, and Gerbert soon returned to Rheims. After the death of Otto II in 983, Gerbert became involved in the politics of his time. In 985, with the support of his archbishop, he opposed King

Lothair of France Lothair (french: Lothaire; la, Lothārius; 941 – 2 March 986), sometimes called Lothair II,After the emperor Lothair I. IIICounting Lothair II of Lotharingia, who ruled over modern Lorraine and Belgium. or IV,Counting Lothair II of Ita ...

's attempt to take

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

from Emperor

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

by supporting Hugh Capet. Hugh became

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...

, ending the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

line of kings in 987. Adalberon died on 23 January 989.. Gerbert was a natural candidate for his succession, but King Hugh appointed

Arnulf Arnulf is a masculine German given name. It is composed of the Germanic elements ''arn'' "eagle" and ''ulf'' "wolf". The ''-ulf, -olf'' suffix was an extremely frequent element in Germanic onomastics and from an early time was perceived as a mere ...

, an illegitimate son of King Lothair, instead. Arnulf was deposed in 991 for alleged treason against Hugh, and Gerbert was elected his successor. There was so much opposition to Gerbert's elevation to the See of Rheims, however, that

Pope John XV Pope John XV ( la, Ioannes XV; died on 1 April 996) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from August 985 until his death. A Roman by birth, he was the first pope who canonized a saint. The origins of the investiture controversy ...

(985–996) sent a legate to France who temporarily suspended Gerbert from his episcopal office. Gerbert sought to show that this decree was unlawful, but a further synod in 995 declared Arnulf's deposition invalid. Gerbert then became the teacher of

, and

Pope Gregory V Pope Gregory V ( la, Gregorius V; c. 972 – 18 February 999), born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin, Emperor ...

(996–999), Otto III's cousin, appointed him

archbishop of Ravenna This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia. With imperial support, Gerbert was elected to succeed Gregory V as

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

in 999. Gerbert took the name of Sylvester II, alluding to

Sylvester I Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester, 285 – 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The acco ...

(314–335), the advisor to Emperor

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

(324–337). Soon after he became pope, Sylvester II confirmed the position of his former rival Arnulf as archbishop of Rheims. As pope, he took energetic measures against the widespread practices of

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to i ...

and concubinage among the clergy, maintaining that only capable men of spotless lives should be allowed to become bishops. In 1001, the Roman populace revolted, forcing Otto III and Sylvester II to flee to

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the c ...

. Otto III led two unsuccessful expeditions to regain control of the city and died on a third expedition in 1002. Sylvester II returned to Rome soon after the emperor's death, although the rebellious nobility remained in power, and died a little later. Sylvester is buried in

St. John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

Legacy

Gerbert of Aurillac was a humanist long before the Renaissance. He read

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

and

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the t ...

; he studied Latin translations of Porphyry and

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

. He had a very accurate classification of the different disciplines of philosophy. He was the first French pope. Gerbert was said to be one of the most noted scientists of his time. Gerbert wrote a series of works dealing with matters of the

quadrivium From the time of Plato through the Middle Ages, the ''quadrivium'' (plural: quadrivia) was a grouping of four subjects or arts—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy—that formed a second curricular stage following preparatory work in the ...

(

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

), which he taught using the basis of the

trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

(

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes doma ...

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...

, and

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

). In Rheims, he constructed a

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

-powered

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

with brass pipes that excelled all previously known instruments,. where the air had to be pumped manually. In a letter of 984, Gerbert asks Lupitus of Barcelona for a book on

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

and

, two terms historian S. Jim Tester says Gerbert used synonymously. Gerbert may have been the author of a description of the

astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...

that was edited by

Hermannus Contractus Blessed Hermann of Reichenau (18 July 1013– 24 September 1054), also known by other names, was an 11th-century Benedictine monk and scholar. He composed works on history, music theory, mathematics, and astronomy, as well as many hymn ...

some 50 years later. Besides these, as Sylvester II he wrote a dogmatic treatise, ''De corpore et sanguine Domini''—On the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Legends

The legend of Gerbert grows from the work of the English monk William of Malmesbury in ''

De Rebus Gestis Regum Anglorum William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...

'' and a polemical pamphlet, ''Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae contra Hildebrandum'', by Cardinal Beno, a partisan of

Emperor Henry IV Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

who opposed

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

in the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...

. According to the legend, Gerbert, while studying mathematics and astrology in the Muslim cities of Córdoba and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...

, was accused of having learned sorcery. Gerbert was supposed to be in possession of a book of spells stolen from an Arab philosopher in Spain. Gerbert fled, pursued by the victim, who could trace the thief by the stars, but Gerbert was aware of the pursuit, and hid hanging from a wooden bridge, where, suspended between heaven and earth, he was invisible to the magician. Gerbert was supposed to have built a brazen head. This "robotic" head would answer his questions with "yes" or "no". He was also reputed to have had a

pact A pact, from Latin ''pactum'' ("something agreed upon"), is a formal agreement between two or more parties. In international relations, pacts are usually between two or more sovereign states. In domestic politics, pacts are usually between two ...

with a female demon called Meridiana, who had appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly love, and with whose help he managed to ascend to the papal throne (another legend tells that he won the papacy playing dice with the Devil). According to the legend, Meridiana (or the bronze head) told Gerbert that if he should ever read a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

in Jerusalem, the Devil would come for him. Gerbert then cancelled a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but when he read Mass in the church

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, ( la, Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem) is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pil ...

("Holy Cross of Jerusalem") in Rome, he became sick soon afterwards and, dying, he asked his cardinals to cut up his body and scatter it across the city. In another version, he was even attacked by the Devil while he was reading the Mass, and the Devil mutilated him and gave his gouged-out eyes to demons to play with in the Church. Repenting, Sylvester II then cut off his hand and his tongue. The inscription on Gerbert's tomb reads in part ''Iste locus Silvestris membra sepulti venturo Domino conferet ad sonitum'' ("This place will yield to the sound f the last trumpetthe limbs of buried Sylvester II, at the advent of the Lord", mis-read as "will make a sound") and has given rise to the curious legend that his bones will rattle in that tomb just before the death of a pope. The alleged story of the crown and

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

authority given to

Stephen I of Hungary Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen ( hu, Szent István király ; la, Sanctus Stephanus; sk, Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the ...

by Sylvester in the year 1000 (hence the title '

apostolic king His (Royal) Apostolic Majesty was a styled title used by the Kings of Hungary, in the sense of being latter-day apostles of Christianity. First creation The origin of this title dates from about A.D. 1000 when it was conferred by Pope Silvester ...

') is noted by the 19th-century historian Lewis L. Kropf as a possible forgery of the 17th century. Likewise, the 20th-century historian Zoltan J. Kosztolnyik states that "it seems more than unlikely that Rome would have acted in fulfilling Stephen's request for a crown without the support and approval of the

Honours

Hungary issued a commemorative stamp honouring Pope Sylvester II on 1 January 1938, and France honoured him in 1964 by issuing a postage stamp.

Works

Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert d'Aurillac) - De geometria

Gerbert's writings were printed in volume 139 of the ''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...

''. Darlington notes that Gerbert's preservation of his letters might have been an effort of his to compile them into a textbook for his pupils that would illustrate proper letter writing. His books on mathematics and astronomy were not research-oriented; his texts were primarily educational guides for his students. ;Mathematical writings *''Libellus de numerorum divisione'' *''De geometria'' *''Regula de abaco computi'' *''Liber abaci'' *''Libellus de rationali et ratione uti'' ;Ecclesiastical writings *''Sermo de informatione episcoporum'' *''De corpore et sanguine Domini'' *''Selecta e concil. Basol., Remens., Masom., etc.'' ;Letters *''Epistolae ante summum pontificatum scriptae'' (218 letters, including letters to the emperor, the pope, and various bishops) *''Epistolae et decreta pontificia'' (15 letters to various abbots and bishops, including Arnulf) **a dubious letter to Otto III **five short poems ;Other writings *''Acta concilii Remensis ad S. Basolum'' *''Leonis legati epistola ad Hugonem et Robertum reges'' *''Celebacy for the guarantee of our future''

In popular culture

* Gerbert D'Aurillac appears as an adversary in Deborah Harkness' novel series called the ''

All Souls Trilogy ''A Discovery of Witches'' is a 2011 historical-fantasy novel and the debut novel by American scholar Deborah Harkness. It follows Diana Bishop, a history of science professor at Yale University, as she embraces her magical blood after finding ...

''. He is portrayed by

Trevor Eve Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series ''Shoestring'' and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC televi ...

in the trilogy's

television adaptation An adaptation is a transfer of a work of art from one style, culture or medium to another. Some common examples are: * Film adaptation, a story from another work, adapted into a film (it may be a novel, non-fiction like journalism, autobiography, ...

. * Gerbert d'Aurillac is the protagonist of Judith Tarr's 1989 novel ''Ars Magica''.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia Betty Mayfield, "Gerbert d'Aurillac and the March of Spain: A Convergence of Cultures"
lecture by Lynn H. Nelson.

includes four of his letters to

Adelaide of Italy Adelaide of Italy (german: Adelheid; 931 – 16 December 999 AD), also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Emperor Otto the Great; she was crowned with him by Pope John XII in Rome on 2 February 962. She was the ...

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