the new abbot, Guglielmo, was elected. Guglielmo sent Gerard to "Bologna" to study grammar, music, philosophy and law. Gerard mentioned his stay in Gaul, where he read Plato, suggesting that the original version of the Long Life or its source referred to his studies in Burgundy instead of Bologna. Gerard returned to the San Giorgo Monastery five years later. His Long Life writes that Gerard was made abbot although he had been opposed to his election. No information about his activities as abbot was preserved in the sources, implying that he actually never held that office. Gerard left for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. According to his Long Life, he wanted to follow the example of Saint Jerome. Modern historians say that internal strifes (armed conflicts between the Orseolos and their opponents) compelled him to leave the town around 1018 or 1021. A storm forced him to seek refuge in a Benedictine monastery on an island near Istria. In the monastery, he met one Rasina. Historian György Györffy associates Rasina with Radla, a close companion of Adalbert of Prague; László Mezey writes that Rasina was the abbot of the Saint Martin Monastery in Lošinj. Rasina persuaded Gerard to accompany him to Hungary, saying that "nowhere else in the world could one find today a more suitable place to win souls for the Lord". The conversion of the Hungarians had started in the 970s, but it accelerated only around 1000. The systematic organization of the Church began during the reign of the first king of Hungary, Stephen I of Hungary, who was crowned on the first day the new millennium. Royal tutor and hermit Gerard and Rasina visited Zadar, Knin and Senj before reaching Pécs in Hungary. Gerard met Maurus, bishop of Pécs, and Anastasius, Abbot of Pécsvárad, in Pécs. The two prelates wanted to persuade Gerard to stay in Hungary, stating that "God's will" had brought him to the country. After Gerard gave sermons in their presence, Maurus and Anastasius stated that he was a "master of the word", declaring that such a cleric had never visited Hungary. Maurus and Anastasius convinced Gerard, who wanted to continue his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to meet King Stephen I in Székesfehérvár. During their meeting, the king emphasized that his realm was the most suitable place for Gerard "to serve God", promising that he would authorize Gerard to preach anywhere in