At the Councils of Saint-Basle de Verzy ( 991 ) and of Chelles ( c. 993 ), in the discourses of Arnoul, Bishop of Orléans, in the letters of Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II, sentiments of violent hostility to the Holy See are manifested, and an evident determination to elude the authority in matters of discipline which had until then been recognized as belonging to it.

Boyle then goes to the medieval fascination and obsession with clocks that are thought to have possibly been invented by Gerbert of Aurillac, a monk.

In 969, Count Borrell II made a pilgrimage to Rome, taking Gerbert with him.

According to the legend, Meridiana ( or the bronze head ) told Gerbert that if he should ever read a mass in Jerusalem, the Devil would come for him.

The turn of events outran the messages, when Hugh captured both Charles and Arnulf and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991 which obediently deposed Arnulf and chose as his successor Gerbert of Aurillac.

The turn of events outran the messages, when Hugh Capet captured both Charles and Archbishop Arnulf and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991, which obediently deposed Arnulf and chose as his successor Abbot Gerbert of Aurillac, afterwards Pope Silvester II.

As a prince of the Empire Gerbert was devoted to the interests of the house of Austria ; as a Benedictine abbot he was opposed to Emperor Joseph II's church policy.

In reply to this the French sovereign dispatched Andrew as his ambassador to Güyük Khan ; with Longjumeau went his brother William ( also a Dominican ) and several others — John Goderiche, John of Carcassonne, Herbert " Le Sommelier ," Gerbert of Sens, Robert ( a clerk ), a certain William, and an unnamed clerk of Poissy.

In the following years, Gerbert studied under the direction of Atto, Bishop of Vic, some 60 km north of Barcelona, and probably also at the nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.

When Otto II became Holy Roman Emperor in 973 ( he was co-emperor with Otto I from 967 ), he appointed Gerbert the abbot of the monastery 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.

Richer also revealed how Gerbert made the planets more easily observable in his armillary sphere:

This armillary sphere was also described by Gerbert in a letter to his colleague Constantine.

Gerbert also studied and taught Islamic medicine.

Gerbert was not only a scholar of astronomy, mathematics and philosophy, but also of music.

His examination of archives during his travels had awakened in him a taste for historical research, and under his rule St. Blaise's became a notable centre of the methodical study of history ; it was here that Marquard Herrgott wrote his Monumenta domus Austriacae, of which the first two volumes were edited, for the second edition, by Gerbert, who also published a Codex epistolaris Rudolphi I., Romani regis ( 1772 ) and De Rudolpho Suevico comite de Rhinfelden, duce et rege, deque ejus familia ( 1785 ) ( cf Rudolf of Rheinfelden ).

Manessier's Continuation ( also called the Third Continuation, because that is its place in the manuscripts that do not include Gerbert ) added 10, 000 lines and, at last, an ending.

Posthumously, his published and unpublished writings were collected and, with the exception of Les Cours royales des Îles normandes and Lettres de Gerbert, were published in two volumes called Questions mérovingiennes and Opuscules inédits ( 1896 ), containing important papers on diplomatics and on Carolingian and Merovingian history, as well as a large number of short monographs covering a variety of subjects.

After the death of Otto II in 983, Gerbert became involved in the politics of his time.

Gerbert now became the teacher of Otto III, and Pope Gregory V ( 996 – 999 ), Otto III's cousin, appointed him Archbishop of Ravenna in 998.

But the clergy, including both Adalberon and Gerbert ( who later became Pope Sylvester II ), argued eloquently for Hugh Capet, who was not only of royal blood but had proven himself through his actions and his military might.

The choir takes its name from Gerbert of Aurillac who was the abbot of the monastery of St. Columban in Bobbio around the year one thousand and later became Pope with the name of Sylvester II.

As for Gerbert, he set out for the imperial court at Magdeburg and became the preceptor to Emperor Otto III.

Some years later, Otto I gave Gerbert leave to study at the cathedral school of Rheims where he was soon appointed a teacher by Archbishop Adalberon.

Otto's mental gifts were considerable, and were carefully cultivated by Bernward, afterwards bishop of Hildesheim, and by Gerbert of Aurillac, archbishop of Reims.

Archbishop Adalberon ( in office 969 to 988 ), seconded by the monk Gerbert ( afterwards ( from 999 to 1003 ) Pope Silvester II ), founded schools which taught the classical " liberal arts ".

Many persons availed themselves of the advantages offered by his reforms, among them Gerbert, the monk of Aurillac, afterwards Pope Sylvester II, who was distinguished for his learning.

In 967, Borrell 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 in Spain and acquire there some knowledge of Arabic learning.

" Gerbert goes on to suggest that if Adalberon wished to free his father who was held captive by Lothair, he needed only to warm up to Hugh by arranging an advantageous marriage alliance with Otto III.

phrase sums up the quality of the cathedral schools in the history of learning, and indeed characterizes the age which opened with Gerbert ( 950 – 1003 ) and Fulbert ( 960 – 1028 ) and closed in the first quarter of the 12th century with Peter Abelard.

Richer stated that Gerbert discovered that stars coursed in an oblique direction across the night sky.

From the 980s, Gerbert of Aurillac ( later, Pope Sylvester II ) used his position to spread knowledge of the numerals in Europe.

Gerbert studied in Barcelona in his youth.

Together, they held a synod a few days after the coronation in which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims, was ordered to be restored to his See of Reims, and Gerbert of Aurillac, the future Pope Silvester II, was condemned as an intruder.

His successor was Gerbert, who took the name Silvester II.

Pope Sylvester II ( or Silvester II ) ( c. 946 – 12 May 1003 ), born Gerbert d ' Aurillac ( Gerbert of Aurillac ), was a prolific scholar, teacher, and Pope.

Gerbert was born about 946 in the town of Belliac, near the present-day commune of Saint-Simon, Cantal, France.

Gerbert insisted that Atto teach him more about these Arabic princes who seemed to him more interested in the sciences and literature than warfare.

Gerbert was fascinated by the stories of the Christian Bishops and judges who dressed and talked like the Arabs, well-versed in mathematics and natural sciences like the great teachers of the Islamic madrasahs.

Gerbert was a natural candidate for his succession, but Hugh Capet appointed Arnulf, an illegitimate son of Lothair instead.

Arnulf was deposed in 991 for alleged treason against the King, and Gerbert was elected his successor.

There was so much opposition to Gerbert's elevation to the See of Rheims, however, that Pope 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, as a scientist, was said to be far ahead of his time.