Sylvester II summary

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Sylvester II, orig. Gerbert of Aurillac, (born c. 945, near Aurillac, Auvergen, France—died May 12, 1003, Rome), First French pope (999–1003). Renowned as a scholar of logic and mathematics, he became archbishop of Reims (991) and of Ravenna (c. 998). Appointed pope by his former student, Otto III, Sylvester worked closely with Otto, strengthening papal authority in distant states such as Kiev and Norway as well as in Italy. He denounced simony, demanded clerical celibacy, and limited the power of the bishops. He wrote textbooks on mathematics, the sciences, and music and the philosophical work De rationali et de ratione uti (“Concerning the Rational and the Use of Reason”). According to legends that emerged shortly after his death, his great learning was the result of magical arts or the Devil’s coaching.

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