A mysterious ancient robot and the pope who made a deal with the Devil
These are not mere fragments of medieval myth — they form the strange legacy of Pope Sylvester the 2nd.
Over the centuries, the position of Catholic pope (as distinct from other Christian popes like the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch) has been occupied by an extraordinary range of personalities: saints and schemers, humanitarians and conquerors, visionaries and, at times, even crime lords.
The decisions made by these men — both virtuous and corrupt — have shaped the course of history far beyond their billions of Roman Catholic followers (with the Holy Roman Empire living on through the pope-king and 500 princes rebranded as cardinals and bishops, cheating celibate priests more interested in riches and homosexual and heterosexual hedonism and molestation than holiness).
But in the year 999, a figure unlike any before him ascended to the papacy: Gerbert of Aurillac, better known as Pope Sylvester the 2nd.
His intellect was unmatched — pushing the boundaries of mathematics, astronomy, and mechanics in an age ruled by superstition.
Under Pope Sylvester’s guidance, Europe saw glimpses of the future — an early foreshadowing of the Renaissance (lit. "rebirth") to come.
But for his contemporaries, there was something unsettling about Pope Sylvester’s genius. In a world where the line between the divine and the diabolical was thin, rumors spread that his wisdom came not from God but from a more evil source.
For centuries, scholars, historians, and church officials have asked the same stunning question: Could the leader of the Catholic Church (the oldest corporation in the world) — the most powerful man in the Christian world — have been in league with Satan (the "Adversary")?
- Dark5 Ancient Mysteries, Oct. 12, 2024; Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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