Albert the Great Biography

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Dictionary of Literary Biography on Albert the Great

Albert of Lauingen (also known as Albert of Bollstadt or Albert of Cologne) acquired the title Magnus (the Great) from his contemporaries even before his death. By 1280 he had long since entered the company of the major thinkers of the thirteenth century with his writings, his learned counsel, and his role as educator. By one of his most outspokenly critical contemporaries, Roger Bacon, Albert was identified as "the most noted of Christian scholars" and considered an authority on the same level as Aristotle, Avicenna, and Averroës. In 1931 Pope Pius XI, in his canonization address, placed Albert among the most prominent intellectuals ever to have dedicated themselves to Christian thought. In 1941, by decree of Pope Pius XII, Albert was designated the patron saint of natural scientists. The philosopher most responsible for creating the first Christian scientific agenda for the Latin West, Albert was long in receiving "beatific" recognition. With the waning, since the Middle Ages, of the importance of religion in scientific activity, Albert had come to symbolize the role a dedicated religious thinker could play in rendering the beliefs and morals of Christianity significant for science.

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