See what "Sylvester II" is in other dictionaries. Information boom Magic book and black dog

Sylvester: Surname Sylvester, James Joseph English mathematician Sylvester, Mikael French football player Name Main article: Sylvester (name) Pseudonym Timofeev, Sergei Ivanovich (1955 1994) - Russian criminal. Sylvester... ... Wikipedia

And husband.; decomposition Seliverst, a and Silverst, a; old Silvestre, a.Otch.: Silvestrovich, Silvestrovna; decomposition Sylvestrych.Derivatives: Sylvestruchka; Strength; Siwa; Seliverstka; Selya; Silverstka.Origin: (Latin silvester forest.)Name day: January 15, 14 ... Dictionary of personal names

- (? ca. 1566), priest of the Moscow Annunciation Cathedral from the late 1540s. Provided big influence to Ivan IV from 1547. Member of the Elected Rada. From 1560 in disgrace, he became a monk. Author of a special edition of Domostroy and many others. messages. Collected handwritten ... Russian history

Forest; Siliverst, Sylverst; Silvestrushka, Silya, Siva, Selya Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Sylvester noun, number of synonyms: 1 name (1104) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin... Synonym dictionary

- (? around 1566), priest of the Moscow Annunciation Cathedral from the late 1540s. He was close to Tsar Ivan IV (from 1547). Member of the Chosen Rada. Author of a special edition of Domostroy and many messages. From 1560 in disgrace, he became a monk... Modern encyclopedia

- (? 1123) ancient Russian writer, abbot of the Mikhailovsky Vydubetsky Monastery, close to Vladimir Monomakh, since 1118 bishop of Pereyaslavl (southern). One of the compilers of the Tale of Bygone Years...

- (? ca. 1566) priest of the Moscow Annunciation Cathedral from the end. 1540s He had a great influence on Ivan IV from 1547. Member of the Elected Rada. Author of a special edition of Domostroy and many messages. From 1560 in disgrace, he became a monk... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

I (? 1123), abbot of the Mikhailovsky Vydubetsky Monastery, from 1118 bishop of Pereyaslavl (southern); writer. Being close to Vladimir Monomakh, he played a prominent role in church and political affairs Old Russian state. One of the compilers... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (in the monks Spiridon) (died before 1577), political figure, writer. From the 1540s priest. While in Moscow, he made an accusatory speech against the young tsar, which contributed to the growth of his influence on the tsar and court circles. Sylvester became... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

Books

• , I. M. Petropavlovsky. Sylvester II, Prince Svyatopolk Chetvertinsky, Bishop of Mogilev, and his fortune Orthodox Church in the Mogilev diocese. Reproduced in the original author's spelling of the publication...
• Sylvester II, Prince Svyatopolk of Chetvertinsky, Bishop of Mogilev, I.M. Petropavlovsky. Sylvester II, Prince Svyatopolk Chetvertinsky, Bishop of Mogilev, and the state of the reception of the Orthodox Church in the Mogilev diocese. Reproduced in the original author's spelling of the 1893 edition...

Woland is being a little disingenuous: Herbert was hardly a “warlock,” although such a reputation accompanied him during his life, and especially after his death; but he was definitely the Pope under the name of Sylvester II, which, of course, the prince of darkness wisely keeps silent about.

Herbert was born in the very middle of the 10th century (the exact date is unknown) somewhere in central France, and in his early teens he entered service in a strict Benedictine monastery in the town of Aurillac. The young man showed either a zeal for science, or an obstinate disposition; in any case, when the Barcelona Count Borrell came to the monastery, the abbot asked him to take the young man with him for further education.

Catalonia at that time was the last outpost Christendom in Western Europe further began the caliphate, Arab Andalusia. Herbert took full advantage of this position. Arab world was then incomparably more enlightened and sophisticated than the European one: while the largest European book collection hardly numbered a thousand books, in Cordoba, the capital of the caliphate, the library could boast of almost half a million manuscripts. Herbert studied, albeit second-hand, Arab achievements in astronomy and mathematics; in particular, he mastered Arabic-Indian numerals, and subsequently amazed his contemporaries with mental calculations. If you try to perform arithmetic operations with Roman numerals in your head, you will understand why Herbert's tricks seemed like a miracle and magic.

In Spain, Herbert became acquainted with the abacus, the prototype of the abacus, the first computer in the world, and subsequently wrote a treatise about this instrument. He also wrote about complex astronomical instruments, including the astrolabe; about geometry trying to fill the gaps caused by the poor familiarity of the Europeans of that time with the works of Euclid; about music apparently, he designed a “monochord,” an instrument with one string in the Pythagorean spirit, and used it to study the relationship between the length of strings and the pitch of sounds, that is, he laid the foundations of acoustics; he is also credited with the creation of the first hydraulic organ, in which the injection of air into the pipes was carried out using a mechanism, and not an exhausted church servant.

Going as a pilgrim to Rome with his Barcelona patron, Herbert made a favorable impression on the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and allowed himself to be persuaded to work as a mentor to the young prince, the future Otto II. However, after several years, Herbert felt that he himself still needed to gain knowledge and, with the permission of the emperor, went to receive additional education to one of the most famous cathedral schools in Europe in the city of Reims in France.

Herbert stayed in Reims for a long time (he is often called Herbert of Reims); it was there that he built an organ and built a giant abacus in one of the annexes of the cathedral. There he collected lists of learned books from all over Europe, offered the neighboring archbishop to exchange his own model of the celestial sphere for a complete copy of the ancient poem, and addressed the slow copyists in Ciceronian quousque tandem that is, “how long?!” Teaching rhetoric at the Reims school, he advised his students not to show off the beauty of style, but to hide them, which ran counter to the tastes of the time, fluctuating between barbaric primitiveness and learned floweriness; but his main merit in this field is the transfer of the center of gravity of teaching from grammar to dialectics. From this subsequently grew the entire tradition of European scholasticism.

Legends tell about Herbert's dialectical abilities, however, more reliable than other stories about his life. The fame of the Reims scientist thundered throughout Europe; the best German dialectician, Otrich, challenged him, and the philosophers agreed on an open debate (the topic was the most abstract - “on the classification of sciences”) in the city of Ravenna. The debate continued for a whole day, until the listeners Otto II and his court were completely exhausted, and the emperor, by a willful decision, stopped the discussion.

Herbert's ecclesiastical career was successful, and at the turn of the millennium, in 999, he was elected Pope, becoming the first Frenchman to hold the See of St. Peter. He took the name Sylvester II, in memory of the first Sylvester, advisor to Emperor Constantine. His papacy was restless, including due to mass unrest, which forced both himself and his pupil, Emperor Otto III, to flee to Ravenna. Otto tried three times to regain his rebellious the eternal City, but died during the third expedition. But Pope Sylvester II nevertheless returned there, but he briefly outlived his patron and died in May 1003.

So why still a warlock? But because learning, including Eastern scholarship, made Herbert popular character legends. According to one of them, he received his papacy by playing dice with Satan. According to another, in Spain, Herbert was a student of a powerful Islamic sorcerer and decided to steal the book in which the sorcerer kept all his secrets. The sorcerer suspected something was wrong, but the cunning Herbert seduced the daughter of his teacher, who, crazy with love, got her father drunk, took out the key to the secret chest and handed the magic book to the cunning man.

Herbert immediately ran away, taking the book with him. Waking up from his heavy sleep, the sorcerer discovered the loss and set off in pursuit. He, it must be said, had a horse that could gallop faster than the wind, and a dog that could smell everything that was above the ground, underground, above the water and under the water.

Near the town of Martorell, Herbert discovered a pursuit. He ran to the bridge and climbed under it, hanging on it from below, like on a horizontal bar. So he found himself neither above the ground nor underground, neither above the water nor under the water. Since the dog's instincts were limited to the specified limits, he lost the trail, and the sorcerer had to return with nothing, and Herbert safely took the book of spells with him.

According to another legend, Herbert had a talking head, which was given to him by the so-called “Nine Unknowns” - a mystical and omnipotent secret society originally from India (the existence of which is still rumored to this day). She knew how to answer general issues(that is, requiring a “yes” or “no” answer). After consulting his head, Herbert found out that he would die while celebrating Mass in Jerusalem, so he postponed his already planned pilgrimage to the Holy Land. But one day, after a mass celebrated in one of the Roman churches, he felt ill, and then it turned out that this church was dedicated to St. Mary of Jerusalem, and was popularly called simply “Jerusalem.” Since Herbert had a pact with the devil, he asked his cardinals to cut his body into pieces and scatter it among the Roman wells, hoping that immortal soul he will somehow win back from Satan on his own.

Legends also surround the posthumous fate of Sylvester II. He is buried in the Roman Church of St. John on the Lateran Hill, and on his marble tombstone is written bad Latin verses beginning with the words

ISTE LOCVS MVNDI SILVESTRI MEMBRA SEPVLTI VENTVRO DOMINO CONFERET AD SONITVM

That is, “Here lie the mortal limbs of Sylvester, who will rise at the sound of the coming of the Lord.” That is: Pope Sylvester II will rise from the dead when the Lord comes in his glory, to the sound of a trumpet doomsday. But popular rumor reinterpreted these words in its own way: the coming Lord was reinterpreted as a new pope, and the sounds as the rattling of bones. Hence the legend: before the death of the next pope, something quietly rumbles in the tomb of Sylvester II.

But why are the manuscripts of this versatile person, according to Woland, were discovered in the Moscow State Library? Well, there is an explanation for this too. It was at the turn of the first and second millennia that Eastern Europeans first appeared on the stage of Christendom. Pope Sylvester II actively participated in this debut: he blessed Stephen I to the Hungarian throne and organized the first archiepiscopal diocese in Poland, although he opposed the idea of ​​Otto III to make Bolesław the Brave a full-fledged king. He also communicated with Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the “Red Sun” and the baptist of Rus'. So the foreign consultant’s legend was quite plausible.

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SYLVESTER II(Herbert d'Orillac (Avrilaaksky), also Herbert of Reims) - Pope from April 2, 999 to May 12, 1003, scientist and church leader who popularized Arab scientific achievements in mathematics and astronomy in Europe. As a scientist he was far ahead of his time. Trying to find an explanation for Herbert’s extraordinary learning, his contemporaries accused him of witchcraft and witchcraft, believing that this was not without the intervention of superhuman powers. Greek language he did not know and became acquainted with the works of Greek thinkers on translations. His main scientific studies took place in the field of quadrivia (a course of higher sciences that included music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy), although he became famous not only in the field of mathematics, rhetoric, dialectics, astronomy, but also even playing the organ. One of Herbert's main achievements was the study of the Arabic numeral system and its application. Based on the decimal number system (though without using zero), he restored the abacus calculating machine (the prototype of the future computer) and improved it on the basis of Arab mathematical achievements, the use of an armillary sphere and an astrolabe, improved later, on which the celestial equator and tropics were indicated , ecliptic and poles, forgotten after the fall of the Roman Empire. His name was shrouded in legends. There is an unlikely legend that Herbert even studied at the Muslim University of Seville occult sciences. He was credited with studying magic and astrology in the Islamic cities of the Cordoba Caliphate, even communicating with the devil himself. They wrote that, with the help of the daughter of an Arab philosopher, with whom he studied, he took possession of a book of spells, and that he hid from the philosopher who was pursuing him, becoming invisible. In the legend about the connection of the still young Herbert with a succubus (demoness), transmitted by a 12th century author. Walter Mapes tells that one day the future Pope met a girl of amazing beauty named Meridiana, who promised him wealth and her magical services if he agreed to be with her. The young man succumbed to temptation and every night enjoyed the company of his mysterious mistress. It was also said that Herbert created a copper head - teraphim (talisman). This magical head answered his questions: “Yes” or “No.” It was believed that with the help of the copper head he managed to rise to the papal throne (another legend says that he won the papacy by playing dice with the devil). According to legend, the copper head told Herbert that if he ever said mass in Jerusalem, the devil would seize him. Herbert canceled the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but while he was saying mass in the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem (also called the "Jerusalem Church") in Rome, he became ill and, dying, he asked his cardinals to cut up his body so that it would not go to the devil. According to another version, he was attacked by the devil while he was reading mass, and he tore him into pieces. The legendary image of Herbert was used by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891–1940) in the novel “The Master and Margarita” (Woland explains his stay in Moscow by the need to sort out Herbert’s papers). The image and life of Herbert is the subject of Thomas Mann's (1875–1955) late novel The Chosen One (1951). The plot is based on a poem from the 12th century. Hartmann von Aue "Gregory, or the Good Sinner", as well as the legend "Von der wundersamen Gnade Gottes und der Geburt des seligen Papstes Gregor" (chapter 81) from the famous collection of the 14th century. "Gesta Romanorum". Herbert was the first pope of French descent. He was born around 946 in Avrilak (in modern reading Aurillach, Auvergne, France) in an illiterate family. Around 963 he entered the monastery of St. Herald (ibid.). In 967, the monastery was visited by the Count of Barcelona Borrell II (previously 934 - 992/993), and the abbot asked him to take the gifted monk with him so that he could continue his studies in mathematics and study Arabic in Spain scientific works. With the consent of the Count, Herbert was transferred to Vic, where he continued his studies under the guidance of Bishop Ato (Aton). Count Borrell II at this time equipped a diplomatic mission to the Cordoba caliph al-Hakam II (961–976); The delegation was headed by Bishop Ato. From this trip the bishop brought new documents and books. Thanks to the close ties of Christian Barcelona with Arab Cordoba, Herbert, who diligently studied mathematics and astronomy, gained access to scientific information that no one else had in Europe at that time. In particular, he was one of the first among Europeans to become acquainted with Arabic numerals, realized their convenience compared to Roman ones, and began in every possible way to promote their introduction into European arithmetic.

Pope Sylvester II (950-1003), known worldwide as Herbert, had a reputation as a magician for two reasons.

Firstly, he was extraordinarily gifted and educated person, and secondly, he apparently studied in Spain, in Toledo or Cordoba, and Spain, which was at that time under the rule of the Saracens, or Moors, was considered the European heir to the wisdom and magic of the East, That's what the legend says.

Among the Spanish pagans, recognized masters of the magical arts, there was one man in whose house Herbert lived. This man owned a magic book that had no equal in the field of subordinating the devil to the will of the owner. Herbert decided to take possession of this treasure, but the Arab philosopher did not want to part with it and hid the book under his pillow at night. Herbert discovered the hiding place while making love to beautiful daughter Saracen. After that, all he had to do was get his master drunk, steal the book and run away.

However, the magician began to pursue him and, being an expert in astrology, had the opportunity, with the help of the stars, to discover Herbert’s location on land or at sea. For some time Herbert managed to confuse him by hiding under the bridge in such a way that he did not touch either land or water, and ultimately the fugitive reached the seashore safely. Hastily opening the book, he summoned the main demon with the help of the powerful spells contained in it, and the spirit easily transported him to the opposite shore. From that moment on, Herbert never had to look back. He defeated a strong opponent and now set his sights on the papal throne.

To achieve this goal, he sold his soul to the devil, and he made him pope. Sylvester, who enjoyed using his powers for personal gain, naturally wanted to know how long he could remain in his high position. It turned out that as long as he abstained from celebrating the Divine Mass in Jerusalem, he had nothing to fear. He who is forewarned is forearmed, and therefore Sylvester II had no trouble issuing a decree prohibiting him from visiting the Holy Land, after which he completely devoted himself to a luxurious and vicious life.

But he who sups with the devil needs a long spoon. While performing the rite of communion in an unfamiliar Roman church, the vicious pope suddenly felt that his strength was rapidly fading, and realized that he was surrounded on all sides by demons. Having learned that the church was called the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, he realized that he had been deceived, and his days were numbered.

The shock he experienced seriously undermined his self-confidence. He began to publicly confess his sin and expressed the most solemn and moving warnings against alliance with evil spirits. He then ordered that his body should be cut into pieces, and that after his death he should be placed on a green wooden bier, which was to be drawn by two horses that had not known stallions, one white and one black. The horses should have been released, and the place where they would have stopped should have been made a grave. One can imagine what the feelings of those around him were when such a strange funeral procession approached the Lutheran church and when loud screams and lamentations were heard from the coffin. Then there was dead silence, and Sylvester II was buried in this cathedral.

However, it cannot be said that his spirit rested in peace, since he was doomed to lead the life of a ghost whose groans foreshadow death. When approaching last days of each subsequent pope, groans were heard from his grave, and his bones rattled, loudly hitting each other. However, it is unlikely that he was condemned to eternal torment, because it was probably God’s providence that led the horses with his remains to the holy place.

According to contemporaries, Herbert entered into a carnal union with the devil, and was accompanied everywhere by a spirit in the guise of a shaggy black dog. It was believed that he could blind his enemies and divine the location of hidden treasures through necromancy. That's how it was dark side his activities.

According to tradition, he was also the first to introduce Arabic numerals in Northern and Western Europe, and also took part in the ubiquity of watches. It was said that the beautiful clock he built in Magdeburg recorded all the movements of the heavens, as well as the times of sunrise and sunset. It is clear that astronomy, along with its sister astrology, were among the sciences that Herbert studied at Cordoba, where they especially flourished.

It was a time of great mechanical discovery, and William of Malmesbury notes that Herbert also built marvelous hydraulic machines at Reims, which used water to perform symphonies and enchanting arias. This historian goes on to recount his own visit to a magical underground palace that looked as it did when Herbert built it, but disappeared at the slightest touch.

It was assumed that Herbert created a copper head - teraphim. This magical head answered his questions: “yes” or “no.” It was believed that with the help of the copper head he managed to rise to the papal throne (another legend says that he won the papacy by playing dice with the devil).

According to legend, the bronze head told Herbert that if he ever read mass in Jerusalem, the devil would seize him. Herbert canceled the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but while he was saying mass in the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem (also called the "Jerusalem Church") in Rome, he became ill and, dying, he asked his cardinals to cut up his body so that it would not go to the devil. According to another version, he was attacked by the devil while he was reading mass, and he was torn to pieces.

The legendary image of Herbert was used by Mikhail Bulgakov in his “The Master and Margarita”. Woland explains his stay in Moscow by the need to sort out Herbert’s papers.

Sylvester II

Sylvester II.
Reproduction from the site http://monarchy.nm.ru/

Sylvester II (Herbert d'Orillac), 999.IV.2-1003.V.12

Sylvester II, Pope
Silvester Secundus
Worldly name: Herbert of Aurillac
Origin: Aurillac (Auvergne, France)
Years of life: approx. 950 - May 12, 1003
Years of pontificate: April 2, 999 - May 12, 1003

Herbert was born into a poor family living near the city of Aurillac. As a youth he went to a local monastery. In 967, the Count of Barcelona Borrell II visited the monastery, and the abbot persuaded him to take the young monk with him to Spain. First in Barcelona, ​​and then with the Arabs in Cordoba and Seville, Herbert studied mathematics and natural sciences, as well as magic, astrology and alchemy, achieving significant success. In 969, Count Borrell went on a pilgrimage to Rome, taking Herbert with him and presenting him to Pope John XIII.

Having appreciated the talents of the young monk, the pope recommended him to Emperor Otto I as a mentor for the heir. A few years later, Otto sent Herbert to Reims to Archbishop Adalbert, who made Herbert a teacher at the cathedral school.

In 983, Otto II appointed Herbert abbot of Bobbio Abbey, but the monastery was so poor that Herbert chose to return to Reims. Adalbert saw him as his successor, but after the death of the archbishop in 988, King Hugo Capet gave the see to Arnulf of Lorraine. aimed at cleansing the moral character of clergy. Simony and cohabitation of priests with women were condemned. Only people with an impeccable reputation could become bishops.

In 1001, the emperor's opponents once again rebelled and expelled the pope from Rome. Sylvester fled to Ravenna. Otto launched two unsuccessful campaigns against the rebels. During the third campaign in 1002 he died. Despite this, Sylvester soon achieved the opportunity to return to Rome, but a year later he died and was buried in the chapel of St. John.

Pope Sylvester was known not only as a religious and political figure, but also as a prominent scientist of his time. He created a unique hydraulic unit, reintroduced the abacus to Europe and created a description of the astrolabe.

Due to his success in the field of metal processing, some ill-wishers even suspected him of witchcraft and connections with the devil. He was credited with possessing an Arabic book of spells and a bronze oracle in the form of a head, which could answer either “yes” or “no” to questions asked. It was also believed that Herbert entered into an agreement with the demoness Meridiana, who helped him take the papal throne (according to another version, he won the papal title with dice from the devil). According to the agreement, if Sylvester had a chance to celebrate mass in Jerusalem, the devil would come for him. For this reason, the pope canceled the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. However, after Sylvester celebrated mass in the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem, he became very ill. Before his death, the pope allegedly asked the cardinals to cut his body into pieces and scatter it around the city.

Herbert of Aurillac, Pope Sylvester II (c. 945, near Aurillac, Auvergne - May 12, 1003, Rome) - medieval scientist and church leader. Abbot Bobbio (982), Archbishop of Reims (991), Archbishop of Ravenna (998), Pope of Rome (999-1003). He spent three years (from 967) in Northern Spain, where he became acquainted with Arabic science and studied the quadrivium. Later he studied logic in Reims; from 972 he taught at the cathedral school in Reims. The program he introduced for school teaching of logic included analysis of Porphyry’s “Introduction to the Categories” (“Isagog”) (based on translations by Maria Victorina and Boethius), Aristotle’s treatises “Categories”, “On Interpretation” and “ Topeka", as well as Boethius' commentary on Topeka; the writings of Boethius were an innovation. An example of a school interpretation of a logical statement is contained in his essay “On the Reasonable and on the Use of Reason” (De rationali et de ratione uti); Special attention is paid to the definition and classification of knowledge.

Herbert was one of the first to undertake efforts to transfer knowledge from the Arabs to the medieval Latin world. Several mathematical works are attributed to him, including the widespread textbook “Rules of Counting on the Abacus” (Regula de abaco computi), as well as a presentation of the simplest geometric propositions (fragments of Euclid’s “Elements”) and the rules of land surveying. They were made teaching aids in astronomy, which made it possible to demonstrate the structure of the heavens, the location of the celestial equator and ecliptic, constellations and planetary orbits. He built a sundial in Magdeburg and described the use of the astrolabe (“Liber de astrolabio”). He apparently made several organs as well as a monochord for the study of music theory.

Literature:

Picavet F. Gerbert, un pape philosophe d "apres l"histoire et d"apres la legende. P., 1897;

Fliche A. Un precurseur de l'humanisme au X-e siecle, le moin Gerbert (pape Silvestre II). P., 1943;

Darlington 0. G. Geibert, the Teacher. - American Historical Revue, 52 (1947), p. 456-467;

Chamberlin E. R. Pope Silvester II. 999-1003. - History Today, 19(1969), p. 115-12L