Gerbert of Aurillac (Sylvester II) Isagoge geometriae (Introduction to Geometry) Northern Austria (S

Gerbert of Aurillac (Sylvester II) Isagoge geometriae (Introduction to Geometry) Northern Austria (Saint Lambrecht?), mid-12th c., with late 15th- or early 16th-c. humanist annotations University of Pennsylvania, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection, LJS 194 Gerbert of Aurillac (ca. 945–1003) was the first Frenchman elected to the papacy; he reigned as Sylvester II for the final four years of his life. His renown, however, stems from his prowess as a mathematician and pedagogue. Among his achievements were the reintroduction of the abacus and armillary sphere to Western Europe, via the Islamic civilization of Al-Andalus.