Pope Sylvester II
946 CE–1003 CE · Aurillac, Auvergne
Gerbert of Aurillac was the foremost scholar of his age—mathematician, astronomer, and teacher—who studied in Catalonia, where he absorbed Arabic-influenced learning, including the abacus and the armillary sphere. He taught at Reims, served as abbot of Bobbio and archbishop of Reims and Ravenna, and tutored Emperor Otto III, who made him pope in 999, the first Frenchman to hold the office. He took the name Sylvester to evoke the partnership of pope and Christian emperor. He promoted clerical reform against simony. His extraordinary erudition later spawned legends, unjustly, that he was a sorcerer in league with the devil.
Did you know?
The mathematician who was pope at the year 1000
Gerbert of Aurillac — who studied mathematics and astronomy in Catalonia — became Pope Sylvester II and held the office from 999 to 1003, sitting as bishop of Rome across the turn of the year 1000. He is credited with reintroducing the abacus and the armillary sphere to Latin Europe and with promoting Hindu-Arabic numerals in the Christian West.
How we know
Gerbert of Aurillac (Pope Sylvester II) c. 946–1003; pope from 2 April 999; credited with reintroducing the abacus and armillary sphere and promoting Hindu-Arabic numerals.
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Aurillac, Auvergne
We know they were here, but the specifics of what they did at this stop aren’t recorded yet in our corpus.
About Aurillac, Auvergne
Aurillac, a town in the Auvergne, central France, site of a reforming Benedictine abbey. Gerbert of Aurillac, the scholar who became Pope Sylvester II, was educated at its monastery.
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Pope Sylvester II’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
In the same tradition
Pope Gregory V, Pope Gregory VI, Pope John XIX, Pope John XVIII, Pope John XVII
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Pope Sylvester II’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Christian world
- Pope John XII· 937 CE–964 CE
- Symeon the New Theologian· 949 CE–1022 CE
- Pope St. Leo IX· 1002 CE–1054 CE
- Pope Sergius IV· –1012 CE
- Pope John XV· –996 CE
- Pope Benedict VIII· –1024 CE
- Pope John XIV· –984 CE
- Pope Benedict VII· –983 CE
- Pope Benedict VI· –974 CE
- Pope John XIII· –972 CE
- Pope Clement II· –1047 CE
- Pope Damasus II· –1048 CE
- Pope Benedict V· –966 CE
- Pope Leo VIII· –965 CE
- Pope Stephen IX· –1058 CE
- Pope Nicholas II· –1061 CE
- Pope Sylvester III· –1063 CE
- Pope Agapetus II· –955 CE
- Pope Marinus II· –946 CE
- Pope Alexander II· –1073 CE
Islamic world
Scientists
Buddhist world
Jewish world
Hindu world
Luminaries & Explorers world
Rulers world
- al-Aziz Billah· 955 CE–996 CE
- Almanzor (al-Mansur ibn Abi Aamir)· 938 CE–1002 CE
- Yaropolk I of Kiev· 958 CE–980 CE
- Rajaraja Chola I· 947 CE–1014 CE
- Vladimir the Great· 958 CE–1015 CE
- Sabuktigin· –997 CE
- al-Qadir· 947 CE–1031 CE
- Hisham II· 966 CE–1013 CE
- Svyatoslav I of Kiev· 943 CE–972 CE
- Basil II· 958 CE–1025 CE
- Emperor Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuangyin)· 927 CE–976 CE
- Mahmud of Ghazni· 971 CE–1030 CE
- Ly Thai To· 974 CE–1028 CE
- Rajendra Chola I· 971 CE–1044 CE
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.