Päpstlicher als der Papst? Papstbriefe um das Jahr 1000.

Being rather a sketch than an extensive study, this contribution is dedicated to the question of authorship in papal letters from the decades before and after the year 1000. As is well known, Gerbertus of Aurillac did not refrain from stylising letters issued in his name even after he had become Pope Silvester II. Yet it is not self-evident whether this extraordinary presence in tradition is merely due to Gerbertus's personality, whose intellectual skills and passions doubtlessly outranged those of his immediate predecessors and successors, or in some degree, overexposed' by the existence of his relatively large letter collection. Hence, the extant letters of the Roman pontiffs John XV, Gregory V, Silvester II, John XVIII, Benedict VIII, and Benedict IX are analysed for possible evidence of stylistic authorship. Leaving solemn privileges and synodal decrees out of consideration, this sketch essentially confirms the outstanding role of Gerbertus-Silvester in the production of papal letters in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]