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5.0
The first half of this biography of Gerbert of Aurllac covers a very brief period in the centuries-long transmission of Islamic science to the Latin west through al-Andalus. The narrow breadth allows the author to delve deeply into the details of a monastic scholar's daily labors, which can be quite fascinating. The wider history suffers somewhat: for instance Michael Scot -- who worked two centuries later at the Toledo School of Translators and helped bring the works of Avicenna and Averroes into Latin -- appears in these pages only to denounce Gerbert as a necromancer in league with the devil.
The second half of the book focuses on Gerbert's political career, wading adroitly through the interminable, Game-of-Thrones-like intrigues of the Holy Roman Empire during the Ottonian dynasty, his tenure as Sylvester II, and ending on the dark notes of Europe's religious unification and the start of the Crusades.
Brown argues that Gerbert's labors as an educator proved far more significant to the history of Europe than his ascendance to the Holy See. Even if her claims about his influence on Latin education are modestly exaggerated and his work converting the last corners of Europe somewhat slighted, it would be hard to disagree. Gerbet's story serves largely as a frame for medieval Europe's political institutions at the turn of the first millennium, and his rise through church and court adds a good deal of depth to the picture.
The second half of the book focuses on Gerbert's political career, wading adroitly through the interminable, Game-of-Thrones-like intrigues of the Holy Roman Empire during the Ottonian dynasty, his tenure as Sylvester II, and ending on the dark notes of Europe's religious unification and the start of the Crusades.
Brown argues that Gerbert's labors as an educator proved far more significant to the history of Europe than his ascendance to the Holy See. Even if her claims about his influence on Latin education are modestly exaggerated and his work converting the last corners of Europe somewhat slighted, it would be hard to disagree. Gerbet's story serves largely as a frame for medieval Europe's political institutions at the turn of the first millennium, and his rise through church and court adds a good deal of depth to the picture.
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