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58-685: The concept of a renaissance was first applied to the Ottonian period by the German historian Hans Naumann - more precisely, his work published in 1927 grouped the Carolingian and Ottonian periods together under the title Karolingische und ottonische Renaissance ( The Carolingian and Ottonian Renaissance ). This was only two years after Erna Patzelt's coining of the term 'Carolingian Renaissance' ( Die Karolingische Renaissance: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Kultur des frühen Mittelalters , Vienna, 1924), and

116-455: A crown without the support and approval of the emperor ." Though the testimony of William of Malmesbury did much to discredit and defame Gerbert, there were many important intellectual distinctions made from it. For example, the legend of Gerbert of Aurilac's talking head helped to describe the line between prohibited and permitted knowledge. Gerbert did work in music theory, mathematics, geometry, and several other fields accepted and taught in

174-628: A direct Holy and Imperial lineage as a source of legitimized power linked from Constantine and Justinian. In this atmosphere the masterpieces that were created fused the traditions which the new art was based on: paintings from Late Antiquity , the Carolingian period, and Byzantium . In this way, the term is used as an analogue to the Carolingian Renaissance which accompanied Charlemagne 's coronation in 800. A small group of Ottonian monasteries received direct sponsorship from

232-439: 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 then became the teacher of Otto III , and Pope Gregory V (996–999), Otto III's cousin, appointed him archbishop of Ravenna in 998. With imperial support, Gerbert was elected to succeed Gregory V as pope in 999. Gerbert took

290-631: A letter to abbot Eberhard of Tours concerning the foundation of a large scientific library. He dedicated immense sums of money to establishing the library and purchasing texts from a wide variety of western European authors. He wrote to many monks and abbots in Europe requesting classical literature from their monasteries. Gerbert was also able to acquire some work from earlier era authors such as Cicero and Statius . Two specific requests Gerbert made that documentation exists for are letters sent to Lupitus of Barcelona and Bishop Miró Bonfill of Girona, asking

348-596: A member of the Nazi Party , Naumann was a strong proponent of the book burning . This article about a German academic is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to a European folklore is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a writer of non-fiction is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sylvester II Pope Sylvester II ( Latin : Silvester II ; c.  946 – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac ,

406-405: A tutor for his young son, Otto II . 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 in 973. He remained in this position until 989, with the only gap being his time as the head of the monastery of Bobbio from 981 to 983. When Otto II became sole emperor in 973, he appointed Gerbert the abbot of

464-452: Is sometimes credited with the invention of the first mechanical clock in 996, though it was perhaps only an elaborate water clock , as the verge and foliot does not appear to have been invented until the 13th century. Gerbert may have been the author of a description of the astrolabe that was edited by Hermannus Contractus some 50 years later. Besides these, as Sylvester II he wrote a dogmatic treatise, De corpore et sanguine Domini —On

522-461: Is the province of Auvergne. Gerbert's parents, wanting him to have a quality education, took him to receive instruction at the nearby Benedictine Abbey. Here, Gerbert became a pupil of a monk named Raimund, who admired his desire of knowledge and assisted him in his studies. Around 963, he entered the Monastery of St. Gerald of Aurillac . In 967, Count Borrell II of Barcelona (947–992) visited

580-662: The Isagoge of Porphyry, the Categories of Aristotle, the distinction between rhetoric and dialectic of Fulbert himself, the Topica of Cicero, the De Interpretatione of Aristotle, Boethius three comments and de Ratione written by Gerbert in 997. The development of dialectics was furthered by Majolus of Cluny . The growing interest in the disciplines of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy)

638-669: The Andalusian powers so he sent a delegation to Córdoba to request a truce. Bishop Atto was part of the delegation that met with al-Ḥakam II, who received him with honour. Gerbert was fascinated by the stories of the Mozarab Christian bishops and judges who dressed and talked like the Moors, well-versed in mathematics and natural sciences like the great teachers of the Islamic madrasahs . This sparked Gerbert's veneration for

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696-475: The Carolingian line of kings in 987. Adalberon died on 23 January 989. Gerbert was a natural candidate for his succession, but King Hugh appointed Arnulf , an illegitimate son of King Lothair, instead. Arnulf was deposed in 991 for alleged treason against Hugh, 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

754-693: The Pope at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome . The period is sometimes extended to cover the reign of Emperor Henry II (1014-1024) as well, and, rarely, his Salian successors. The term is generally confined to Imperial court culture conducted in Latin in Germany. - it is sometimes also known as the Renaissance of the 10th Century , or 10th Century Renaissance , so as to include developments outside Germania, or as

812-491: The Year 1000 Renewal , due to coming right at the end of the 10th century. It was shorter than the preceding Carolingian Renaissance and to a large extent a continuation of it - this has led historians such as Pierre Riché to prefer evoking it as a 'third Carolingian renaissance', covering the 10th century and running over into the 11th century, with the 'first Carolingian renaissance' occurring during Charlemagne 's own reign and

870-447: 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. After the death of Otto II in 983, Gerbert became involved in the politics of his time. In 985, with the support of his archbishop, he opposed King Lothair of France 's attempt to take Lorraine from Emperor Otto III by supporting Hugh Capet . Hugh became king of France , ending

928-550: The 'second Carolingian renaissance' happening under his successors. Libraries were created and enriched during the Ottonian Renaissance through the intense activity of the monastic scriptoria and were the subject of further developments in the 10th century, as evidenced by the catalogs that have survived. The catalog of Bobbio Abbey lists almost 600 works, that of Fleury Abbey nearly the same count. Gerbert (the future Pope Sylvester II) played an important role in

986-476: The 11th century. Bernelinus of Paris, who was probably a pupil of Gerbert, wrote a book called the Liber Abaci where he discussed the abacus' design. In this book, he individually introduced the "Hindu-Arabic" symbols the abacus used and related them to the more common Latin numerical nouns. Bernelinus' Liber Abaci has survived in 11 manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries. In two of them, probably

1044-751: The Body and Blood of the Lord. The legend of Gerbert grows from the work of the English monk William of Malmesbury in De Rebus Gestis Regum Anglorum and a polemical pamphlet, Gesta Romanae Ecclesiae contra Hildebrandum , by Cardinal Beno , a partisan of Emperor Henry IV who opposed Pope Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy . According to the legend, Gerbert, traveled to Spain in order to further his knowledge of

1102-500: The Church. Repenting, Sylvester II then cut off his hand and his tongue. The inscription on Gerbert's tomb reads in part Iste locus Silvestris membra sepulti venturo Domino conferet ad sonitum ("This place will yield to the sound [of the last trumpet] the limbs of buried Sylvester II, at the advent of the Lord", mis-read as "will make a sound") and has given rise to the curious legend that his bones will rattle in that tomb just before

1160-681: The Devil would come for him. Gerbert then cancelled a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but when he read Mass in the church Santa Croce in Gerusalemme ("Holy Cross of Jerusalem") in Rome, he became sick soon afterwards and, dying, he asked his cardinals to cut up his body and scatter it across the city. In another version, he was even attacked by the Devil while he was reading the Mass, and the Devil mutilated him and gave his gouged-out eyes to demons to play with in

1218-498: The Emperor and bishops and produced some magnificent medieval illuminated manuscripts, the premier art form of the time. Corvey produced some of the first manuscripts, followed by the scriptorium at Hildesheim after 1000. The most famous Ottonian scriptorium was at the island monastery of Reichenau on Lake Constance: hardly any other works have formed the image of Ottonian art as much as the miniatures which originated there. One of

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1276-575: The Greeks call loxos or zoe , the Latins obliques or vitalis (the zodiac) because it contained the figures of the animals ascribed to the planets. On the inside of this oblique circle he figured with an extraordinary art the orbits traversed by the planets, whose paths and heights he demonstrated perfectly to his pupils, as well as their respective distances. Richer wrote about another of Gerbert's last armillary spheres, which had sighting tubes fixed on

1334-514: The Moors and his passion for mathematics and astronomy. Gerbert learned of Hindu–Arabic digits and applied this knowledge to the abacus , but probably without the numeral zero . According to the 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury , Gerbert got the idea of the computing device of the abacus from a Moorish scholar from University of Al-Qarawiyyin . The abacus that Gerbert reintroduced into Europe had its length divided into 27 parts with 9 number symbols (this would exclude zero, which

1392-499: The Roman populace revolted, forcing Otto III and Sylvester II to flee to Ravenna . Otto III led two unsuccessful expeditions to regain control of the city and died on a third expedition in 1002. Sylvester II returned to Rome soon after the emperor's death, although the rebellious nobility remained in power, and died a little later. Sylvester is buried in St. John Lateran . Gerbert of Aurillac

1450-757: The West. The globus cruciger became a symbol of kingly power and the Holy Roman Emperors were represented as crowned by Christ in the Byzantine fashion. It was in trying to revive the "glory that was Rome" that Otto III made the Eternal City his capital and increased in Greco-Roman fashion the ceremony of the court. Schools also revived under the influence of the Dukes of Naples and Capua where

1508-482: The accounts of his former student and French nobleman Richer, who served as a monk in Rheims . Richer stated that Gerbert discovered that stars coursed in an oblique direction across the night sky. Richer described Gerbert's use of the armillary sphere as a visual aid for teaching mathematics and astronomy in the classroom. Historian Oscar G. Darlington asserts that Gerbert's division by 60 degrees instead of 360 allowed

1566-408: The acquisition and inventory of the library of Bobbio, and spent his wealth to fund his collection. Adso of Montier-en-Der 's book chest included a large number of books such as those of Porphyry, Aristotle, Terence, Cicero, and Virgil. The Logica vetus (consisting of translations of Aristotle by Boethius and Porphyry and the Topica of Cicero) remained the basis of dialectic education; Gerbert,

1624-402: The axis of the hollow sphere that could observe the constellations, the forms of which he hung on iron and copper wires. This armillary sphere was also described by Gerbert in a letter to his colleague Constantine. Gerbert instructed Constantine that, if doubtful of the position of the pole star , he should fix the sighting tube of the armillary sphere into position to view the star he suspected

1682-401: The basis of the trivium ( grammar , logic , and rhetoric ). In Rheims, he constructed a hydraulic -powered organ with brass pipes that excelled all previously known instruments, where the air had to be pumped manually. In a letter of 984, Gerbert asks Lupitus of Barcelona for a book on astrology and astronomy , two terms historian S. Jim Tester says Gerbert used synonymously. Gerbert

1740-452: The changes which took place during the time. She was a nun who composed verse and drama , based on the classical works of Terence . The architecture of the period was also innovative and represents a predecessor to the later Romanesque . Politically, theories of Christian unity and empire thrived, as well as revived classical notions of Imperial grandeur in the West. By Otto II's Greek wife Theophanu, Byzantine iconography entered

1798-445: The death of a pope. The story of the crown and papal legate authority allegedly given to Stephen I of Hungary by Sylvester in the year 1000 (hence the title ' apostolic king ') is noted by the 19th-century historian Lewis L. Kropf as a possible forgery of the 17th century. Likewise, the 20th-century historian Zoltan J. Kosztolnyik states that "it seems more than unlikely that Rome would have acted in fulfilling Stephen's request for

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1856-725: The first in Christian Europe (outside of Al-Andalus ) to introduce the decimal numeral system using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system . Gerbert was born about 946, or at any rate between 945 and 950. His exact birthplace is unknown, but it must have been in what was then the Duchy of Aquitaine , part of the Kingdom of France . More precise proposals include the town of Belliac, near the present-day commune of Saint-Simon, Cantal , or Aurillac . Another speculated location

1914-435: The former for an astrology book and the latter for an arithmetic book. It can be inferred from this that the library contained many volumes of books covering a wide variety of topics, but the exact size and influence the library had is seemingly unknown. In 969, Borrell II made a pilgrimage to Rome , taking Gerbert with him. There Gerbert met Pope John XIII and Emperor Otto I . The pope persuaded Otto I to employ Gerbert as

1972-497: The future Pope Sylvester II was familiar with these books and was noted for his mastery of dialectics during the dispute of Ravenna against Otric in 980, and in his treatise De rationalis et ratione uti (Of the rational and the use of reason), composed in 997 and dedicated to Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor . Abbo of Fleury wrote commentaries on these works through two treatises. An anthology of dialectical works dating from Fulbert of Chartres and probably from his library, contains

2030-831: The greatest Reichenau works was the Codex Egberti , containing narrative miniatures of the life of Christ, the earliest such cycle, in a fusion of styles including Carolingian traditions as well as traces of insular and Byzantine influences. Other well known manuscripts included the Reichenau Evangeliary , the Liuther Codex , the Pericopes of Henry II , the Bamberg Apocalypse and the Hitda Codex . Hroswitha of Gandersheim characterises

2088-603: The illustrious Bishop St Alfanus I , an imitator of ancient writers, was closely involved in music, astronomy and medicine. Hans Naumann Hans Naumann (May 13, 1886 – September 25, 1951) was a German literary historian ( philologist ) and folklorist ( Germanist ). Naumann was the first historian to describe the Ottonian period as a medieval renaissance . Naumann was born in Görlitz and died in Bonn . Being

2146-511: The lateral lines of his sphere to equal to six degrees. By this account, the polar circle on Gerbert's sphere was located at 54 degrees, several degrees off from the actual 66° 33'. His positioning of the Tropic of Cancer at 24 degree was nearly exact, while his positioning of the equator was correct by definition. Richer also revealed how Gerbert made the planets more easily observable in his armillary sphere: He succeeded equally in showing

2204-530: The lawful arts, as defined by the quadrivium. Gerbert quickly became more knowledgeable than anyone around him in mathematics, astronomy, and astrology. This is the point in William of Malmesbury's testimony where Gerbert is said to have begun learning the dark arts. During Gerberts time in Spain, he was said to live with a Saracen philosopher, who was responsible for giving this knowledge to Sylvester. This knowledge

2262-455: The marriage of Otto II with Princess Theophanu , who upon her husband's death in 983 ruled as Empress dowager for her minor son Otto III until 991. After Otto I's Imperial coronation, there emerged a renewed faith in the idea of Empire in Otto's immediate circle and a reformed church, creating a period of heightened cultural and artistic fervor. Ottonian art was a court art, created to confirm

2320-546: The monastery, and the abbot asked the count to take Gerbert with him so that the lad could study mathematics in Catalonia and acquire there some knowledge of Arabic learning. While away from the monastery, Gerbert pursued studies in Barcelona, and also received Arabic instruction at Seville and Córdoba . Gerbert studied under the direction of Bishop Atto of Vich , some 60 km north of Barcelona, and probably also at

2378-441: The name of Sylvester II, alluding to Sylvester I (314–335), the advisor to Emperor Constantine I (324–337). Soon after he became pope, Sylvester II confirmed the position of his former rival Arnulf as archbishop of Rheims. As pope, he took energetic measures against the widespread practices of simony and concubinage among the clergy, maintaining that only capable men of spotless lives should be allowed to become bishops. In 1001,

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2436-425: The nearby Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll . Like all Catalan monasteries, it contained manuscripts from Moslem Spain and especially from Cordoba , one of the intellectual centres of Europe at that time: the library of al-Hakam II , for example, had thousands of books (from science to Greek philosophy). This is where Gerbert was introduced to mathematics and astronomy . Borrell II was facing major defeat from

2494-461: The oldest ones, the number 3 is reproduced in a form that differs from the other manuscripts. This symbol is reminiscent of the "Tironian note" for the Latin word "ter" from the Roman shorthand. The reason for this is not known, but it is speculated that Bernelinus did not want to use an "unbeliever" symbol to indicate the number that represents the Holy Trinity. Although lost to Europe since

2552-399: The other, divided the half of the sphere into thirty parts. He put six of these thirty parts of the half-sphere between the pole and the first circle; five between the first and the second; from the second to the third, four; from the third to the fourth, four again; five from the fourth to the fifth; and from the fifth to the pole, six. On these five circles he placed obliquely the circles that

2610-400: The paths of the planets when they come near or withdraw from the earth. He fashioned first an armillary sphere. He joined the two circles called by the Greeks coluri and by the Latins incidentes because they fell upon each other, and at their extremities he placed the poles. He drew with great art and accuracy, across the colures , five other circles called parallels, which, from one pole to

2668-430: The production of illuminated manuscripts from a handful of elite scriptoria , such as Quedlinburg Abbey , founded by Otto in 936, and in political ideology. The Imperial court became the center of religious and spiritual life, led by the example of women of the royal family: Matilda the literate mother of Otto I, his sister Gerberga of Saxony , or his consort Adelaide . The Byzantine influence further increased with

2726-465: The quadrivium. All of the works he did related to these subjects were not brought into question and were accepted as well as appreciated. But works done outside of the accepted liberal arts was condemned, including things learned from bird's songs and flight patterns, as well as the necromancy he was rumored to have taken part in. Hungary issued a commemorative stamp honouring Pope Sylvester II on 1 January 1938, and France honoured him in 1964 by issuing

2784-545: The same year as Charles H. Haskins published The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century (Cambridge Mass., 1927) One of three medieval renaissances , the Ottonian Renaissance began after King Otto's marriage to Adelaide of Italy (951) united the Italian and German kingdoms, and thus brought the West closer to Byzantium . He furthered the cause of Christian (political) unity with his Imperial coronation in 962 by

2842-473: The terminus of the Greco-Roman era, Gerbert reintroduced the astronomical armillary sphere to Latin Europe via the Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus, which was at that time at the "cutting edge" of civilization. The details of Gerbert's armillary sphere are revealed in letters from Gerbert to his former student and monk Remi of Trèves and to his colleague Constantine, the abbot of Micy , as well as

2900-510: The use of the monochord for musical study, and construction of the abacus for arithmetic studies. Fulbert of Chartres introduced the use of Arabic numerals . Hermann of Reichenau , of the school of Reichenau, was famed for his treatises on the astrolabe, calculus and music. The Ottonian Renaissance is recognized especially in the arts and architecture , invigorated by renewed contact with Constantinople , in some revived cathedral schools, such as that of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne , in

2958-455: Was a noted humanist. He read Virgil , Cicero and Boethius ; he studied Latin translations of Porphyry and Aristotle . He had a very accurate classification of the different disciplines of philosophy. He was the first French pope . Gerbert was said to be one of the most noted scientists of his time. Gerbert wrote a series of works dealing with matters of the quadrivium ( arithmetic , geometry , astronomy , music ), which he taught using

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3016-541: 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

3074-435: Was able to steal the book from under the philosopher's pillow while he slept. Gerbert fled, pursued by the victim, who could trace the thief by the stars, but Gerbert was aware of the pursuit, and hid hanging from a wooden bridge, where, suspended between heaven and earth, he was invisible to the magician. Gerbert was supposed to have built a brazen head . This "robotic" head would answer his questions with "yes" or "no". He

3132-508: Was also reputed to have had a pact with a female demon called Meridiana, who had appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly love, and with whose help he managed to ascend to the papal throne (another legend tells that he won the papacy playing dice with the Devil). According to the legend, Meridiana (or the bronze head) told Gerbert that if he should ever read a Mass in Jerusalem,

3190-462: Was first obtained through using money and promises as bartering chips for the philosoper's books, which Gerbert translated and learned from. Despite his efforts, there was one book that Gerbert was not able to coax from the philosopher. This book was said to contain all of the knowledge the Saracen philosopher had on the dark arts. After resorting to using wine, and intimacy with his daughter, Gerbert

3248-515: Was it, and if the star did not move out of sight, it was thus the pole star. Furthermore, Gerbert instructed Constantine that the north pole could be measured with the upper and lower sighting tubes, the Arctic Circle through another tube, the Tropic of Cancer through another tube, the equator through another tube, and the Tropic of Capricorn through another tube. In late 984, Gerbert sent

3306-403: Was represented by an empty column) and 1,000 characters in all, crafted out of animal horn by a shieldmaker of Rheims. According to his pupil Richer, Gerbert could perform speedy calculations with his abacus that were extremely difficult for people in his day to think through using only Roman numerals . Due to Gerbert's reintroduction, the abacus became widely used in Europe once again during

3364-427: Was translated to the teachings of the leading scholars of their time, such as Abbo of Fleury who wrote many treatises on the calculation of the computus , astronomical subjects such as the trajectories of the sun, moon and planets, and a star catalogue. The future Pope Sylvester II , introduced the use of wooden terrestrial spheres for the astronomical study of the movement of the earth, planets and constellations,

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