Gerbert was born about 946,[2] or at any rate between 945 and 950.[3] His exact birthplace is unknown, but it must have been in what was then theDuchy of Aquitaine, part of theKingdom of France.[4] More precise proposals include the town of Belliac, near the present-day commune ofSaint-Simon, Cantal,[2] orAurillac.[5] Another speculated location is the province of Auvergne.[6] Gerbert's parents, wanting him to have a quality education, took him to receive instruction at the nearby Benedictine Abbey.[6] Here, Gerbert became a pupil of a monk named Raimund, who admired his desire of knowledge and assisted him in his studies.[6]
Around 963, he entered theMonastery of St. Gerald of Aurillac. In 967, CountBorrell II of Barcelona (947–992) visited the monastery, and the abbot asked the count to take Gerbert with him so that the lad could study mathematics inCatalonia and acquire there some knowledge of Arabic learning. While away from the monastery, Gerbert pursued studies in Barcelona, and also received Arabic instruction atSeville andCórdoba.[6]
Gerbert studied under the direction of BishopAtto of Vich, some 60 km north of Barcelona, and probably also at the nearbyMonastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.[7] Like all Catalan monasteries, it contained manuscripts fromMuslim Spain and especially fromCórdoba, one of the intellectual centres of Europe at that time: the library ofal-Hakam II, for example, had thousands of books (from science to Greek philosophy). This is where Gerbert was introduced tomathematics andastronomy.[8] Borrell II was facing major defeat from theAndalusian powers so he sent a delegation toCórdoba 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 theMozarab Christian bishops and judges who dressed and talked like the Moors, well-versed in mathematics and natural sciences like the great teachers of the Islamicmadrasahs. This sparked Gerbert's veneration for the Moors and his passion for mathematics and astronomy.
Model of the addition 908+95 on part of Gerbert's abacus (with modern numerals, not Gerbert's ones)
Gerbert learned ofHindu–Arabic digits and applied this knowledge to theabacus, but probably without the numeralzero.[n 2] According to the 12th-century historianWilliam of Malmesbury, Gerbert got the idea of the computing device of the abacus from aMoorish scholar[10] fromUniversity of Al-Qarawiyyin.[11] Theabacus 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 ofanimal horn by a shieldmaker of Rheims.[12][13][14] 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 onlyRoman numerals.[12] Due to Gerbert's reintroduction, the abacus became widely used in Europe once again during the 11th century.[14]
Bernelinus of Paris, who was probably a pupil of Gerbert, wrote a book called theLiber Abaci (not to be confused withFibonacci'sLiber Abaci) where he discussed the abacus' design.[15] In this book, he individually introduced the "Hindu-Arabic" symbols the abacus used and related them to the more common Latin numerical nouns.[15] Bernelinus'Liber Abaci has survived in 11 manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries.[16] In two of them, probably the oldest ones, the number 3 is reproduced in a form that differs from the other manuscripts. This symbol is reminiscent of the "Tironian note" for the Latin word "ter" from the Roman shorthand.[17] The reason for this is not known, but it is speculated that Bernelinus did not want to use an "unbeliever" symbol to indicate the number that represents the Holy Trinity.[18]
Although lost to Europe since the terminus of theGreco-Roman era, Gerbert reintroduced the astronomicalarmillary sphere to Latin Europe via the Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus, which was at that time at the "cutting edge" of civilization.[19][20] The details of Gerbert's armillary sphere are revealed in letters from Gerbert to his former student and monk Remi ofTrèves and to his colleague Constantine, theabbot ofMicy, as well as the accounts of his former student and French nobleman Richer, who served as a monk inRheims.[21] Richer stated that Gerbert discovered that stars coursed in an oblique direction across the night sky.[22] 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.[23] By this account, thepolar circle on Gerbert's sphere was located at 54 degrees, several degrees off from the actual 66° 33'.[23] His positioning of theTropic of Cancer at 24 degree was nearly exact, while his positioning of theequator was correct by definition.[23] 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 Greekscoluri and by the Latinsincidentes because they fell upon each other, and at their extremities he placed the poles. He drew with great art and accuracy, across thecolures, 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 callloxos orzoe, the Latinsobliques orvitalis (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.[24]
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.[25] This armillary sphere was also described by Gerbert in a letter to his colleague Constantine.[26] Gerbert instructed Constantine that, if doubtful of the position of thepole star, 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.[27] 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 theTropic of Capricorn through another tube.[27]
In late 984, Gerbert sent a letter to abbot Eberhard of Tours concerning the foundation of a large scientific library.[28] He dedicated immense sums of money to establishing the library and purchasing texts from a wide variety of western European authors.[28] He wrote to many monks and abbots in Europe requesting classical literature from their monasteries.[28] Gerbert was also able to acquire some work from earlier era authors such asCicero andStatius.[28] Two specific requests Gerbert made that documentation exists for are letters sent to Lupitus of Barcelona and Bishop Miró Bonfill of Girona, asking the former for an astrology book and the latter for an arithmetic book.[28] It can be inferred from this that the library contained many volumes of books covering a wide variety of topics, but the exact size and influence the library had is seemingly unknown.
In 969, Borrell II made a pilgrimage toRome, taking Gerbert with him. There Gerbert metPope John XIII andEmperor Otto I. The pope persuaded Otto I to employ Gerbert as a tutor for his young son,Otto II. Some years later, Otto I gave Gerbert leave to study at thecathedral school of Rheims where he was soon appointed a teacher by ArchbishopAdalberon in 973. He remained in this position until 989, with the only gap being his time as the head of the monastery of Bobbio from 981 to 983.[29] When Otto II became soleemperor in 973, he appointed Gerbert the abbot of themonastery of Bobbio 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 KingLothair of France's attempt to takeLorraine from EmperorOtto III by supportingHugh Capet. Hugh becameking of France, ending theCarolingian line of kings in 987.
Adalberon died on 23 January 989.[30] Gerbert was a natural candidate for his succession,[12] but King Hugh appointedArnulf, 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, thatPope John XV (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 ofOtto III, andPope Gregory V (996–999), Otto III's cousin, appointed himarchbishop of Ravenna in 998.
Seal of Sylvester II
With imperial support, Gerbert was elected to succeed Gregory V aspope in 999. Gerbert took the name of Sylvester II, alluding toSylvester I (314–335),[citation needed] the advisor to EmperorConstantine I (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 ofsimony 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 toRavenna. 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 he died a little later. Sylvester is buried inSt. John Lateran.
Gerbert of Aurillac was a noted humanist. He readVirgil,Cicero andBoethius; he studied Latin translations ofPorphyry andAristotle. He had a very accurate classification of the different disciplines of philosophy. He was the firstFrench 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 thequadrivium (arithmetic,geometry,astronomy,music), which he taught using the basis of thetrivium (grammar,logic, andrhetoric). In Rheims, he constructed ahydraulic-poweredorgan with brass pipes that excelled all previously known instruments,[31] where the air had to be pumped manually. In a letter of 984, Gerbert asksLupitus of Barcelona for a book onastrology andastronomy, two terms historian S. Jim Tester says Gerbert used synonymously.[32] Gerbert is sometimes credited with the invention of the firstmechanical clock in 996, though it was perhaps only an elaboratewater clock, as theverge and foliot does not appear to have been invented until the 13th century.[33] Gerbert may have been the author of a description of theastrolabe that was edited byHermannus Contractus 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.
Pope Sylvester II and the Devil in an illustration ofc. 1460
The legend of Gerbert grows from the work of the English monk William of Malmesbury inDe Rebus Gestis Regum Anglorum and a polemical pamphlet,Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae contra Hildebrandum, byCardinal Beno, a partisan ofEmperor Henry IV who opposedPope Gregory VII in theInvestiture Controversy.[citation needed] According to the legend, Gerbert traveled to Spain in order to further his knowledge of the lawful arts, as defined by the quadrivium. Gerbert quickly became more knowledgeable than anyone around him in mathematics, astronomy, and astrology. This is the point in William of Malmesbury's testimony where Gerbert is said to have begun learning the dark arts.[34] During Gerbert's time in Spain, he was said to live with a Saracen philosopher, who was responsible for giving this knowledge to Sylvester. This knowledge was first obtained through using money and promises as bartering chips for the philosoper's books, which Gerbert translated and learned from.[34] Despite his efforts, there was one book that Gerbert was not able to coax from the philosopher.[34] This book was said to contain all of the knowledge the Saracen philosopher had on the dark arts. After resorting to using wine, and intimacy with his daughter, Gerbert was able to steal the book from under the philosopher's pillow while he slept.[34] 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.[35]
Gerbert was supposed to have built abrazen head. This "robotic" head would answer his questions with "yes" or "no". He was also reputed to have had apact 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).[36]
According to the legend, Meridiana (or the bronze head) told Gerbert that if he should ever read aMass in Jerusalem, the Devil would come for him. Gerbert then cancelled a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but when he read Mass in the churchSanta Croce in Gerusalemme ("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 partIste locus Silvestris membra sepulti venturo Domino conferet ad sonitum ("This place will yield to the sound [of the last trumpet] the 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.[37]
The story of the crown andpapal legate authority allegedly given toStephen I of Hungary by Sylvester in the year 1000 (hence the title 'apostolic king') is noted by the 19th-century historian Lewis L. Kropf as a possible forgery of the 17th century.[38] 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 theemperor."[39]
Though the testimony of William of Malmesbury did much to discredit and defame Gerbert, there were many important intellectual distinctions made from it.[40] For example, the legend of Gerbert of Aurilac's talking head helped to describe the line between prohibited and permitted knowledge. Gerbert did work in music theory, mathematics, geometry, and several other fields accepted and taught in the quadrivium.[40] All of the works he did related to these subjects were not brought into question and were accepted as well as appreciated. But works done outside of the accepted liberal arts was condemned, including things learned from bird's songs and flight patterns, as well as the necromancy he was rumored to have taken part in.[40]
Hungary issued a commemorative stamp honouring Pope Sylvester II on 1 January 1938,[41] and France honoured him in 1964 by issuing a postage stamp.[42]
Gerbert's writings were printed in volume 139 of thePatrologia Latina. 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.[23] His books on mathematics and astronomy were not research-oriented; his texts were primarily educational guides for his students.[23]
InAnatole France'sThe Revolt of the Angels, Nectaire (a fallen angel) speaks of this Gerbert: "We taught them letters and sciences. A mouthpiece of their god, one Gerbert, took lessons in physics, arithmetic, and music with us, and it was said that he had sold us his soul." Then "The successors of the studious Gerbert, not content with the possession of souls (the profits one gains thereby are lighter than air), wished to possess bodies also."
^Other names includeGerbert of Reims orRavenna orAuvergne andGibert.[1]
^Charles Seife: "He probably learned about the numerals during a visit to Spain and brought them back with him when he returned to Italy. But the version he learned did not have a zero."[9]
^Kitchin, William P.H. (1992).A Pope-Philosopher of the Tenth Century: Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac) (Volume 8 No. 1 ed.). The Catholic Historical Review. p. 46.
^Truitt, E. R. (2015).Medieval robots : mechanism, magic, nature, and art. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 77.ISBN9780812291407.OCLC907964739.
Kosztolnyik, Zoltan J. (1977). "The Relations of Four Eleventh-Century Hungarian Kings with Rome in the Light of Papal Letters".Church History.46 (1):33–47.doi:10.2307/3165157.JSTOR3165157.S2CID154633530.
Tester, S. Jim (1987).A History of Western Astrology. Rochester: Boydell & Brewer.ISBN978-0-85115-446-6.
Freudenhammer, Thomas (2021). "Gerbert of Aurillac and the Transmission of Arabic Numerals to Europe - Gerbert von Aurillac Und Die Übermittlung Der Arabischen Ziffern Nach Europa."Sudhoffs Archiv, vol. 105, no. 1, 2021, pp. 3–19.,JSTOR48636817
Brown, Nancy Marie.The Abacus and the Cross: The Story of the Pope Who Brought the Light of Science to the Dark Ages (Basic Books; 2010) 310 pages,ISBN9780465009503
A translation of the letters of Gerbert (982–987) with introduction and notes, Harriet Pratt Lattin, tr., Columbus, OH, H. L. Hedrick, 1932.
Letters of Gerbert, with His Papal Privileges as Sylvester II, Translated with an introduction by Harriet Pratt Lattin, Columbia University Press (1961),ISBN0-231-02201-8ISBN9780231022019
The Peasant Boy who Became Pope: Story of Gerbert, Harriet Pratt Lattin, Henry Schuman, 1951.
The Policy of Gerbert in the Election of Hugh Capet, 987: Based on a Study of His Letters, Harriet Pratt Lattin, Ohio State University, 1926.
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