St. Albertus Magnus
c. 1193-1280
German Natural Scientist, Philosopher, and Theologian
Although surpassed in philosophy and theology by his humble student, Thomas Aquinas, and perhaps also in natural science by his jealous rival, Roger Bacon, his contemporaries generally recognized Albert von Bollstädt as the greatest mind of the thirteenth century, expert in all known branches of knowledge. Even during his lifetime he was called "Albert the Great" in English, "Albert der Grosse" in German, and "Albertus Magnus" in Latin. Known as the "Universal Doctor" by virtue of the broad scope of his learning, he was canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 1931 and proclaimed the patron saint of natural scientists in 1941.
Born in Lauingen, Swabia, Germany, the oldest son of the Count of Bollstädt, probably in 1193, but perhaps in 1200 or 1206, he is sometimes called Albert von Lauingen because of his birthplace. After early schooling worthy of a young nobleman, his family sent him to the University of Padua, Italy. He joined the Dominican Order in 1223 in Padua, attracted by the lessons of the master general of that order, Jordan of Saxony. He may have continued his studies in Bologna, Italy, before returning to Germany to teach in the monasteries of Hildesheim, Freiburg im Breisgau, Regensburg, Strassburg, and, starting in 1243, Cologne.
One of his students in Cologne was Thomas Aquinas, who arrived probably in 1244. The two became lifelong friends. When Albert was called to the Convent of St. Jacques at the University of Paris in 1245, Thomas followed him in order to remain his student. About this time he wrote a commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences, the major theological textbook of the twelfth century. He received his doctorate of theology in Paris in 1245, taught there for three years, then returned to Cologne in 1248. Again Thomas followed him.
Albert intended to spend the rest of his life quietly as a scholar and teacher in Cologne, but he suffered a few interruptions. He was appointed provincial general of his order in 1254, and served until he was able to resign in 1257. Pope Alexander IV named him Bishop of Regensburg in 1259. Albert was installed to that office in 1260, but resigned as soon as Alexander died in 1261. From 1263 to 1264, Pope Urban IV commanded him to travel throughout Germany to promote a new Crusade that never came to pass. In 1274, he obeyed the summons of Pope Gregory X to the Second Council of Lyon, France. Finally, in 1277, sick and elderly, he forced himself to go to Paris to protest vigorously against Bishop Étienne Tempier's attempt to condemn some of the propositions of Thomas Aquinas.
Albert became aware of the works of Aristotle in Paris in 1245. At that time, Aristotelian philosophy and science were just beginning to become known in the West, and not without controversy. Aristotle's ideas were transmitted from the Arabic and Greek worlds to the Latin West in large part through the commentaries of the twelfth-century Muslim philosopher and physician Averroës (Ibn Rushd; 1126-1198), whose interpretations, as well as Aristotle's own pre-Christian paganism, were often at odds with Roman Catholic doctrine. The teachings of Aristotle on natural science were banned in Paris between 1210 and 1234. Albert approached Aristotle critically, refuted both the Averroist views and the pagan elements, and thus made Aristotle more palatable to Christian thinkers. He eventually wrote commentaries on all of Aristotle's known works. He and Thomas Aquinas were the two founders of Christian Aristotelianism in medieval scholastic thought.
Albert's most useful contribution to science was as a botanist. His observations, descriptions, and classifications of many kinds of plants were studied as recently as the nineteenth century. He discovered the flow of sap in trees, practiced grafting, and correlated levels of light and heat with rates of plant growth. Many historians consider his botanical treatise De vegetabilibus et plantis to be his major work.
Among Albert's writings are commentaries on the Psalms, the prophets, and the Gospels; Summa theologiae, which prefigured that of Thomas Aquinas; seven books each on logic, the biological sciences, the physical sciences, and psychology; one book each on ethics, politics, metaphysics, and cosmology; a commentary on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite; and several volumes of theological treatises and sermons.
Page from Albertus Magnus's De Natura Rerum. (Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis. Reproduced with permission.)This is the complete article, containing 715 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
