It was March 7, 1274. In the Cistercian abbey at Fossanova, a fifty-year old man had just slipped from this life to the next. His influence on earth, however, would outlive him—it impacts the Catholic Church even today. He was a theologian. He was a philosopher. His name was Thomas Aquinas.

From a young age Thomas began studying theology and philosophy, disciplines which he would pursue for the rest of his life. Born in 1224 or 1225 A.D., during the latter half of the Middle Ages, he belonged to a family of nobility with a high social status and spent the first four years of his life in his family’s castle of Roccasecca. His parents sent him to the monastery at Monte Cassino at age five to prepare him for a vocation in the Catholic Church. Because he excelled in his studies, Thomas’ parents sent him to Naples at about age fourteen. Significantly, the young Thomas first encountered Aristotle’s newly revived works while studying in Naples. These works influenced him strongly throughout his academic career.

At about age nineteen (around 1243) Thomas joined the Dominican Order, much to the chagrin of his family. This order required its members—whom it called friars—to live in extreme poverty. Unable to accept his decision, Thomas’s family tried fervently to break his resolve to become a Dominican friar. His brothers, soldiers of the Imperial Army, even seized him on his way to Rome and brought him back to his family who imprisoned him in a castle for one or two years. But Thomas refused to give in to them, and he even continued his studies in prison. Finally his family released him, and at approximately age twenty he took the vows of a Dominican friar and traveled first to Paris and then, around 1248, to Cologne to study under Albert the Great.

After studying under Albert the Great for several years—an experience which strengthened Thomas’s interest in Aristotle—Thomas departed from Cologne in 1252 and returned to Paris to earn his master’s degree. He had difficulty doing so, however, because of a controversy regarding the mendicant orders (orders, such as the Dominicans, that required their members to live in poverty, accepting alms for their livelihood). Secular scholars were opposing the fact that the university reserved three positions of authority for the mendicant orders. Eventually Pope Alexander IV and St. Louis IX of France settled the quarrel, and Thomas received his master’s in theology. He began teaching at the university in 1257 and continued for two years, occupying a chair there until about 1259.

For the next fifteen years of his life, Thomas journeyed throughout Europe, lecturing, debating, preaching, and writing. In 1261 he became a lecturer at a Dominican school in Orvieto, Italy, where the papal court was residing due to tensions between the pope and the emperor. During his time in Orvieto, Thomas built a friendship with Pope Urban IV, for whom he performed several tasks during the following years. The Dominican Order also called on him at times, and his assignments led him to various locations, including Anagni, Rome, and Viterbo. Probably around 1265 he began writing his famous Summa Theologiae while teaching in Rome. He began this work as a comprehensive explanation of Catholic Theology for beginning students, and it became his greatest work. Finally he returned to Paris in 1269 in order to settle a dispute regarding Christians using Aristotle’s works. Three years later, in 1272, the Dominican provincial chapter in Florence ordered Thomas to establish a studium generale—a university—at the location of his choice. He chose Naples. Then, early in the year 1274, Pope Gregory X summoned Aquinas to a council in Lyons, Italy. Despite his poor health, Thomas set out for Lyons in February of that year, but on the way he became very ill and died on March 7, 1274 A.D. in the monastery at Fossanova.

About fifty years after Thomas’s death, in 1323, Pope John XXII canonized him, and Thomas’s philosophy and theology continue to impact the Catholic Chruch today. From him the Catholic Church received the idea that the sacraments actually impart grace. For example, he believed baptism actually cleansed from sin and was therefore necessary for salvation, despite verses such as Romans 10:9-10 which does not mention baptism as a requirement for salvation. His belief about baptism persists among Catholics today. Thomas also integrated many of Aristotle’s ideas into Christian philosophy. For instance, Thomas’s five famous proofs for the existence of God (such as the argument that God is the necessary First Mover) found their roots in Aristotelian thought. Aristotle had become popular during the Middle Ages, so Thomas’ work to reconcile Aristotelian thought and Christian thought created extreme criticism from Bible scholars. Popular opinion won the controversy instead of solid theology.

Despite his influential accomplishments, at the end of his life, Thomas did not feel he had done anything of great significance. Shortly before he died, he ceased writing his unfinished Summa Theologiae. According to the account he gave a friend, he had seen a vision, and claimed, “All that I have written seems like chaff to me in comparison with the things that I have seen and that have been shown to me.” (qtd. in ______) Nevertheless, his works endure to this day, and he is remembered by many as one of the great Catholic philosophers.

Sources:

"Thomas Aquinas." University of Tennessee at Martin. 10 Oct. 2003

Magee, Joseph Ph.D."Saint Thomas Aquinas." 10 Oct. 2003

Eric Luijten. "Thomas Aquinas: his life and works." 10 Oct. 2003

"Summa Theologica." New Advent. 10 Oct. 2003

Ralph McInerny. "Saint Thomas Aquinas." Stanford University. 10 Oct. 2003

Audio Tapes: St. Thomas Aquinas. Knowledge Products. Carmichael & Carmichel, Inc.