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Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican theologian, was born Thomas d'Aquino, the son of a baron, in his family's castle at Roccasecca, central Italy, in 1224 or 1225. At about the age of five, Thomas was placed by his parents in the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino. His uncle had been abbot of the monastery, and his family had similar ambitions for Thomas. When Monte Cassino became the scene of a battle between papal and imperial troops, however, Thomas withdrew and enrolled at the University of Naples in November of 1239, where he stayed until April of 1244. There he came into contact with members of the Dominican order and, against the opposition of his family, became a Dominican friar in late April of 1244. Shortly after, in May of 1244, his family intervened forcibly, having him abducted and detained thereafter at Roccasecca. His mother tried to persuade Thomas for more than a year to give up his membership in the Dominican order. Failing to persuade him, Thomas was allowed to return to his order in July or August of 1245. He then went north to study for his novitiate till 1248, after which he came under the guidance of St. Albert the Great at Cologne until the Fall of 1252, during which time (1250/51) he was ordained a priest. From the Fall of 1252 to the Spring of1259, Thomas taught at the Dominican house of studies in Paris. It was during this time that he lectured on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Between March 3 and June 17 of 1256, he was incepted as a master of theology, and was regent master in theology at Paris until 1259, during which time he began his Summa contra gentiles. 1259 found Aquinas leaving Paris for Naples, where he stayed until the Fall of 1261 as head of the Dominican house of studies. From September of that same year to September of 1265, Aquinas was at Orvieto as a lector, where he completed the Summa contra gentiles. After a time at Rome in 1265 and Viterbo in 1267 (his great work, the Summa theologiae was begun in 1266), he took up his second Parisian regency from January of 1269 to 1272. This was followed by his assignment to Naples in 1272 as regent of theology. December 6, 1273 saw the cessation of his writing, after a mystical experience, coupled with a physical and mental breakdown from years of overwork. While going north to attend the Council of Lyon, Thomas injured his head, fell ill and died in the Cistercian abbey of Fossanova on March 7, 1274.The sculpture of St. Thomas Aquinas, pictured above, was fashioned by Father Bednar. If you would like more information concerning it, please contact the Maritain Center at Notre Dame.
Biographies, Books and Essays
D. J. Kennedy's article from the Catholic Encyclopedia (supplied by the Maritain Center) has an excellent survey of Thomism and an equally good description of Thomas's life, works, method and influence.
Here is the ever useful "Companion to the Summa" by Father Walter Farrell.
Here is another biography of St. Thomas taken from the Ninth Edition, Volume II of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1878).
Several of G. K. Chesterton's works, including the one concerning St. Thomas Aquinas, can be found here.
An essay by Father Aumann entitled "Thomistic Evaluation of Love and Charity". Use the "index" link at the bottom of this essay to view other writings by Father Aumann, as well as the home page of the American Central Province of the Dominican Friars.
Brother Michael has put together a very extensive piece detailing the life, writings and influence of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Here is Joseph Rickaby's book entitled "Scholasticism" published in 1908. As he states in his preface: "It used to be assumed that Philosophy lay in a trance for more than a thousand years, from St. Augustine to Francis Bacon. Now it is coming to be admitted that the labours of the Schoolmen within that period do count for something in the history of human thought. This Primer is an outline sketch of those labours, by one who believes in their value."
A page of several links entitled "January 28, The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas". Among these links is found a very useful bibliography of all things Thomistic taken from Fr. Thomas O'Meara's book St. Thomas Aquinas: Theologian
An account of the life and writings of Thomas Aquinas as found in the "Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy."
A short biography of Thomas Aquinas by Brother John Raymond.
Another short biography of Thomas Aquinas.
An article entitled "Friendship according to St. Thomas Aquinas".
Translations
The Aquinas Translation Project is a web-based project which seeks to provide the scholarly and religious communities with translations of St. Thomas Aquinas's works not readily available in English. At present, they are translating Thomas's Commentary on the Psalms.A mirror of this site can be found here.
The Summa Theologiaein English, or French.
The Maritain Centre has provided us with an invaluable translation of the Summa Contra Gentiles. They also have a lovely collection of readings for philosophers and catholics -- well worth visiting.
Dr. Robert Pasnau's Homepage contains not only some papers concerning Aquinas's thought, but also partial translations of his works. Dr. Pasnau has also begun a project of putting Aquinas's LATIN texts on the web. See his "Aquinas Latinus" page for details. He would be very glad for any support that you might have to give to what is a very worthy project. You will also find details there concerning sources whence the BUSA CD of Aquinas's latin works may be obtained.
Thérèse Bonin has made available an extremely comprehensive listing of the works of Thomas Aquinas in english, as well as references to those available on the Internet. Many thanks, Thérèse, for this great effort.
Here is Professor Campbell's translation of De Principiis Naturae (On the Principles of Nature).
Information that I have collected concerning how to obtain hard copies of Thomas's works.
Here are very good translations of De Ente et Essentia (On Being and Essence) and De Aeternitate Mundi (On The Eternity of the World).
For those of you who can read Spanish, here are the Infancy Gospels from St Thomas's Catena Aurea.
Aquinas's Catena Aurea is also available in partial translation (Matthew and Mark).
Medieval Sourcebook: Aquinas on Unnatural Sex.
Aquinas Sites
Visit the Thomas Instituut Homepage. In their own words: "The Thomas Instituut te Utrecht is a co-operative group of theologians, philosophers and historians from several universities and institutes in the Netherlands, specialised in the study of the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). The Thomas Instituut has been an official research institute of the Catholic Theological University at Utrecht since 1996." This site is filled with much information concerning Thomas, links, information concerning the Instituut, texts, and a forum for discussion concerning all things Thomistic.
Visit The Thomistic Philosophy Home Page, maintained by Joseph Magee, Ph.D, a graduate of the Center for Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas. He has lots of useful information and links, as well as several links to Aquinas's works on the web.
The Home Page for the Pontificia Università San Tommaso d'Aquino, the "Angelicum", in Rome, Italy.
Aquinas information as found at "Björn's Guide to Philosophy".
Visit the home page for The Centre for Thomistic Studies in Sydney, Australia. As their page states, "The Centre for Thomistic Studies Inc. offers year-round courses on Catholic Church teachings, based on the philosophy and theology of the "Angelic Doctor," Saint Thomas Aquinas. CTS was founded in 1985 for the purpose of providing a sound and profound education in philosophy and kindred subjects for the people of Sydney, and Australia in general, continuing the work begun by the late Dr. A.M. Woodbury, S.M., Ph. D., S.T.D., a Marist priest and a leading Australian proponent of Thomism."
For those of you who can read Spanish, visit La Sociedad Internacional Tomás de Aquino. Their site states: "La Sociedad Internacional Tomás de Aquinoes una asociación cultural autónoma, que intenta promover un diálogo fecundo entre el pensamiento de Santo Tomás y la cultura de nuestro tiempo. La SITA se constituye como entidad única, en Roma, Via Panisperna 261; con secciones locales en diversos países del mundo. Para cumplir sus fines la SITA se propone principalmente las siguientes actividades: a) Promover la constitución de grupos locales de estudio para tratar los problemas de teología, filosofía y de las ciencias del hombre y de la naturaleza, junto con sus relaciones interdisciplinares. b) Organizar seminarios, cursos, encuentros y congresos nacionales, y editar estudios de acuerdo con la naturaleza y fines de la Sociedad. c) Colaborar con otros centros que favorezcan la investigación del pensamiento tomista y el diálogo con la cultura moderna."
Visit and chat with a fellow Thomist, Hugh McDonald.
Related Sites
Here is an interesting site for medievalists, as well as "The Internet Medieval Sourcebook", which has many medieval texts in translation available.
De fide orthodoxa,a work of theology important to Aquinas's thought, can be found here in translation.
Check out Aquinas's handwriting!
If you would like to acquire the complete works of St. Albert the Great, visit Albert Magnus CD Publishers. Their site states: "The 18,000 page, 2.6 gigabyte omni-scienced corpus (complete works) of Albert the Great, patron of scientists, have now been digitized and made available on CD-ROM. The electronic edition provides the omniscienced Latin texts as they appear in the earliest known complete edition of Albert Magnus, that of 1641 in Lyon, France. The CD is available from Albertus Magnus CD Publishers, c/o Albert Pinto, 7166 Marshall Rd. First Fl. Rear - Upper Darby, PA 19082 U.S.A
The 60-Second Aquinas Lesson provided by Lux Veritatis.
The Home Page for Thomas Aquinas College.
Here is the site of The Society for Aristotelian Studies, where, as they state, "Peripatetics of all ages and abilities will be gathering together to converse about the first things. These pages will serve to inform you about the Society and its activities, as well as to direct you to other worthwhile places."
Philosophy Sites
Visit a very "Comprehensive Guide to Philosophy on the Internet."
Catholic Sites
The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
THE 1997 CATHOLIC INTERNET DIRECTORY.
EWTN, Global Catholic Network.
Ignatius Press, a publisher of fine Catholic books.
An extensive list of various resources for all things Catholic.
If you have any comments or contributions to the above information, please e-mail me.
Last modified April 12, 2001.
Stephen Loughlin's Home Page/stephen.loughlin@desales.edu
Stephen's PGP Public Key and Info.
