Hindu-Arabic numerals in Europe
Numerales indoarábigos en Europa
- Date
- 976 · confidence high
- Place
- Monastery of Albelda, La Rioja (Codex Vigilanus); Toledo
- Credited to
- Scribes of al-Andalus / Gerbert of Aurillac / Fibonacci
- People
- 👤 Silvestre II938–1003
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
The nine Hindu-Arabic numerals first appear in the West in the Codex Vigilanus (976); Gerbert used them on the abacus, and Fibonacci popularised them in 1202. They replaced Roman numerals in calculation.
Their adoption was slow: Florence banned their use in accounting in 1299 for fear of forgery.
What it led to
- mercantile arithmetic, Italian abacus schools and accounting
- European astronomy and quantitative mathematics
- universal decimal notation
Built on
- Zero as a number (India)628
- Algebra and algorithm (al-Khwarizmi)c. 820
- Brahmi and Indian Gupta numerals
- Algebra and algorithm (al-Khwarizmi)
Made possible
- Zero and positional notation in Europe (Fibonacci)1202
- Double-entry bookkeeping1340
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- Zero and positional notation in Europe (Fibonacci)
- Alfonsine astronomical tables