Page:The North Star (1904).djvu/348

Before his accession to the throne he had been instrumental in settling difficulties among Cardinal Franco, Crescentius II, Governor of Rome, and Pope John XV. So successful was the young prince in establishing the security of the Pope’s authority, that when John XV died, Otho was allowed to exercise considerable influence in choosing his successor. Otho gave the preference to his cousin, Bruno, a very talented young German nobleman, who had taken orders. Bruno was elected, and took the name of Gregory V, and was the first German to occupy the Papal throne. He reigned but three years; and his successor was the learned Gerbert, who was the first French Pope. This was the great Sylvester II, a man so skilled in the arts and so in advance of his age in scientific research as to be considered as indebted to some unearthly power for his unusual knowledge. To the masses he was known as the “Magician;” while to those in a higher sphere, his strict life and his demand for a strong discipline in church government, made him at once an object of honor and fear. It was the distinction of the young German emperor to influence the elevation to the papacy of his cousin, Gregory V, and of his tutor, Sylvester II, to whom he was devotedly attached. In his zeal for the spread of Christianity, Pope Sylvester II found an earnest supporter in Stephen I of Hungary. This monarch was known as “Saint Stephen,” and for his earnest work was given the title for himself and his