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Sylvester II

File:Meister_der_Reichenauer_Schule_002_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Sylvester II

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Also known as Gerbert d'Aurillac, Pope Sylvester II

Pope of the Catholic Church from 938 to 1003

AI overview

Sylvester II was a Pope of the Catholic Church who served from 938 to 1003. He is a significant historical figure because he held one of the highest positions in medieval Christianity during a period of important cultural and political change in Europe.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
1

Top works

  • The Letters of Gerbert, with his papal privileges as Sylvester II

via Open Library + Wikidata

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Silvester
Gender
male
Place of birth
Saint-Simon
Place of death
Lateran Palace
Occupation
theologian
Languages spoken
Latin
Image
Meister der Reichenauer Schule 002 (cropped).jpg
Work location
Bobbio
Religious order
Benedictines
Show 11 more facts
Commons category
Sylvester II
date of death
1003-05-12
date of birth
0938-00-00
manner of death
natural causes
described by source
Wikitólica
name in native language
Gerbert d'Orlhac
birth name
Gerbert d'Orlhac
maintained by WikiProject
WikiProject Mathematics
P13311
mind
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

4 objects attributed to Sylvester II, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Pope Sylvester II (Latin: Silvester II; c. 946 – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Moorish and Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy, reintroducing to Western Christendom the abacus, armillary sphere, and water organ, which had been lost to Latin Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. He is said to be the first in Christian Europe (outside of Al-Andalus) to introduce the decimal numeral system using the Hindu–Arabic numeral system.

Early life

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sylvester II” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (8)