Pope Sylvester II
Pope Sylvester 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.
Sylvester II | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
Sylvester, in blue, as depicted in the Gospels of Otto III | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 2 April 999 |
| Papacy ended | 12 May 1003 |
| Predecessor | Gregory V |
| Successor | John XVII |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 991 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gerbertus (Gerbert) c. 946 |
| Died | 12 May 1003 (aged c. 57) Rome, Papal States |
| Other popes named Sylvester | |
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