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originally posted by: seaswine
Dang! Had to have sold his soul at the crossroads for those skills.
Absolutely insane!
originally posted by: seaswine
a reply to: SeaWorthy
The folklore behind selling your soul at the crossroads is a long and retold story for about 100yrs now.
Who knows.. Maybe there is some truth to it.
An extensive legend of a supposed devilish pact was focused on the character of Pope Sylvester II (946–1003), a prominent and skilled scholar and scientist in his lifetime, who had studied mathematics and astrology in the then Muslim-occupied cities of Córdoba and Seville.
According to the legend, spread by William of Malmesbury and Cardinal Beno, Sylvester II had also learned sorcery, using a book of spells stolen from an Arab philosopher.
[7] He had a pact with a female demon called Meridiana, who had appeared after he had been rejected by his earthly love, and with whose help he managed to ascend to the papal throne (another legend tells that he won the papacy by playing dice with the devil).[8]