The Italian philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1224-1274) was one of the foremost minds of medieval scholasticism. He is recognized as the leading theological authority within the Roman Catholic Church.

The central question facing Christian thinkers in the 13th century was the attitude to be taken toward Aristotle and the use to be made of his thought by theologians committed to a Christian view of the nature of God, man, and the universe. By the middle of the century the writings of Aristotle, for the most part unknown in the Latin West until the end of the 12th century, were readily available in Latin translation and were being taught in the arts faculties at universities in England, France, and Italy. In combination with the writings of Averroës, which were used to interpret Aristotle, this new intellectual material provided the early 13th century with the...