Pope Sylvester II (950-1003), known in the world as Herbert, had a reputation as a wizard for two reasons.
Firstly, he was an unusually 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 wisdom and magic of the East, This is what the legend says.
Among the Spanish pagans, recognized masters of the magic arts, there was one person in whose house Herbert lived. This man owned a magic book, which had no equal in the field of submission of 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 cache while making love to the beautiful Saracen daughter. After that, he could only get his master drunk, steal the book and escape.
However, the magician began to pursue him and, being an expert in astrology, he was able to use the stars to find Herbert's whereabouts on land or at sea. For a while, Herbert managed to confuse him, hiding under the bridge in such a way that he touched neither the ground nor the water, and eventually the fugitive made it safely to the seashore. 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 no longer had to look back. He defeated a strong rival and now set his sights on the papal throne.
To achieve this goal, he sold his soul to the devil, and he made him a pope. Sylvester, who enjoyed using his powers for personal purposes, naturally wanted to know how long he could remain in his high office. It turned out that as long as he refrained from serving the Divine Mass in Jerusalem, he had nothing to fear. He who is warned is armed, and therefore it cost nothing to Sylvester II to issue a decree forbidding him to visit the Holy Land, after which he completely devoted himself to a luxurious and vicious life.
But whoever dines with the devil needs a long spoon. While performing the sacrament ceremony in an unfamiliar Roman church, the vicious pope suddenly felt that his strength was rapidly fading away, and realized that he was surrounded on all sides by demons. Upon learning 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 touching warnings against alliance with evil spirits. Then he ordered that his body be cut into pieces, and that after his death he was placed on a stretcher of a green tree, which was to be carried by two horses who did not know stallions, white and black. The horses had to be released, and the place where they stopped had to be made his grave. One can imagine what the feelings of those around them were when such a strange funeral procession approached the Lutheran church and when loud cries and groans were heard from the coffin. Then there was a dead silence, and Sylvester II was buried in this cathedral.
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However, it cannot be said that his spirit rested in peace, since he was doomed to lead the life of a ghost, whose groans portend death. As the last days of each next pope approached, groans were heard from his grave, and his bones rattled at the same time, loudly banging against each other. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that he was condemned to eternal torment, because surely it was God's providence that brought the horses with his remains to the holy place.
According to contemporaries, Herbert entered into a carnal union with the devil, and everywhere he was accompanied by a spirit in the guise of a shaggy black dog. It was believed that he could blind his enemies and guess the location of hidden treasures through necromancy. This was the dark side of his work.
According to tradition, he was also the first to introduce Arabic numerals in Northern and Western Europe, and he was also involved 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 Herbert studied in Cordoba, where they flourished especially.
It was a time of great mechanical discoveries, and William of Malmesbury notes that Herbert also built wonderful hydraulic machines in Rheims that, using water, performed symphonies and mesmerizing arias. This historian goes on to describe his own visit to a magical underground palace that looked like when Herbert built it, but disappeared at the slightest touch.
It was assumed that Herbert created a copper head - a teraphim. This magic head answered his questions: "yes" or "no". It was believed that with the help of a copper head he managed to climb to the papal throne (another legend says that he won the papacy by playing dice with the devil).
According to legend, the bronze head informed Herbert that if he ever read Mass in Jerusalem, the devil would seize him. Herbert canceled the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but when he read Mass at 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 his body so that it would not fall to the devil. According to another version, he was attacked by the devil while he was reading mass, and he tore him apart.
The legendary image of Herbert was used by Mikhail Bulgakov in his "Master and Margarita". Woland explains his stay in Moscow by the need to sort out Herbert's papers.