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Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics (scholastics, or schoolmen) of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context. It originated as an outgrowth of, and a departure from, Christian monastic schools.^[1]

Not so much a philosophy or a theology as a method of learning, scholasticism places a strong emphasis on dialectical reasoning to extend knowledge by inference, and to resolve contradictions. Scholastic thought is also known for rigorous conceptual analysis and the careful drawing of distinctions. In the classroom and in writing, it often takes the form of explicit disputation: a topic drawn from the tradition is broached in the form of a question, opponents' responses are given, a counterproposal is argued and opponent's arguments rebutted. Because of its emphasis on rigorous dialectical method, scholasticism was eventually applied to many other fields of study.

As a program, scholasticism began as an attempt at harmonization on the part of medieval Christian thinkers: to harmonize the various authorities of their own tradition, and to reconcile Christian theology with classical and late antiquity philosophy, especially that of Aristotle but also of Neoplatonism.^[2] (See also Christian apologetics.)

The main figures of scholasticism historically are Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas. Thomas Aquinas's masterwork, the Summa Theologica, is often seen as the highest fruit of Scholasticism. Important work in the scholastic tradition has been carried on, however, well past Aquinas' time, for instance by Francisco Suárez and Molina, and also among Lutheran and Reformed thinkers.

Etymology[link]

The terms "scholastic" and "scholasticism" derive from the Latin word scholasticus (Greek: σχολαστικός),^[3] which means "that [which] belongs to the school." The "scholastics" were, roughly, "schoolmen."

History[link]

Early Scholasticism[link]

The first significant renewal of learning in the West came with the Carolingian Renaissance of the Early Middle Ages. Charlemagne, advised by Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York, attracted the scholars of England and Ireland, and by decree in AD 787 established schools in every abbey in his empire. These schools, from which the name scholasticism is derived, became centers of medieval learning.

During this period, knowledge of the Greek language had vanished in the west except in Ireland, where it was widely dispersed in the monastic schools.^[4] Irish scholars had a considerable presence in the Frankish court, where they were renowned for their learning.^[5] Among them was Johannes Scotus Eriugena, (815–877) one of the founders of scholasticism.^[6] Eriugena was the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period, and an outstanding philosopher in terms of originality.^[5] He had considerable familiarity with the Greek language, and translated many works into Latin, affording access to the Cappadocian Fathers and the Greek theological tradition.^[5]

The other three founders of scholasticism were the 11th-century scholars Peter Abelard, Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury and Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury.^[6] Anselm is sometimes misleadingly called the "Father of scholasticism," owing to the prominence accorded to reason in his theology. Rather than establish a position by appeal to authority, he used argument to demonstrate why what he believed on authority must be so.

The period also saw the beginning of the 'discovery' of many Greek works which had been lost to the Latin West. As early as the 10th century, scholars in Spain had begun to gather translated texts, and in the latter half of that century began transmitting them to the rest of Europe.^[7] After the Reconquista of the 12th century, Spain opened even further for Christian scholars, who were now able to work in 'friendly' religious territory.^[8] As these Europeans encountered Islamic philosophy, they opened a wealth of Arab knowledge of mathematics and astronomy.^{[9][Full citation needed]}

At the same time Anselm of Laon systematised the production of the gloss on Scripture, followed by the rise to prominence of dialectic (the middle subject of the medieval trivium) in the work of Abelard, and the production by Peter Lombard of a collection of Sentences or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities.

High Scholasticism[link]

The 13th and early 14th centuries are generally seen as the high period of scholasticism. The early 13th century witnessed the culmination of the recovery of Greek philosophy. Schools of translation grew up in Italy and Sicily, and eventually in the rest of Europe. Scholars such as Adelard of Bath travelled to Sicily and the Arab world, translating works on astronomy and mathematics, including the first complete translation of Euclid's Elements.^[10] Powerful Norman kings gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts as a sign of their prestige.^[11] William of Moerbeke's translations and editions of Greek philosophical texts in the middle half of the thirteenth century helped in forming a clearer picture of Greek philosophy, and particularly of Aristotle, than was given by the Arabic versions on which they had previously relied, and which had distorted or obscured the relation between Platonic and Aristotelian systems of philosophy.^{[12][Full citation needed]} His work formed the basis of the major commentaries that followed.

The universities developed in the large cities of Europe during this period, and rival clerical orders within the church began to battle for political and intellectual control over these centers of educational life. The two main orders founded in this period were the Franciscans and the Dominicans. The Franciscans were founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209. Their leader in the middle of the century was Bonaventure, a traditionalist who defended the theology of Augustine and the philosophy of Plato, incorporating only a little of Aristotle in with the more neoplatonist elements. Following Anselm, Bonaventure supposed that reason can only discover truth when philosophy is illuminated by religious faith. Other important Franciscan scholastics were Duns Scotus, Peter Auriol and William of Ockham.

By contrast, the Dominican order, a teaching order founded by St Dominic in 1215, to propagate and defend Christian doctrine, placed more emphasis on the use of reason and made extensive use of the new Aristotelian sources derived from the East, and Moorish Spain. The great representatives of Dominican thinking in this period were Albertus Magnus and (especially) Thomas Aquinas, whose artful synthesis of Greek rationalism and Christian doctrine eventually came to define Catholic philosophy. Aquinas placed more emphasis on reason and argumentation, and was one of the first to use the new translation of Aristotle's metaphysical and epistemological writing. This was a significant departure from the Neoplatonic and Augustinian thinking that had dominated much of early scholasticism. Aquinas showed how it was possible to incorporate much of the philosophy of Aristotle without falling into the "errors" of the Commentator Averroes.

Late Scholasticism[link]

Lutheran Scholasticism[link]

Neo-Scholasticism[link]

The revival and development from the second half of the 19th century of medieval scholastic philosophy, sometimes called neo-Thomism.

Post-Thomistic Scholasticism[link]

Academic Scholasticism went into decline in the 1970s when the Thomistic revival that had been spearheaded by Jacques Maritain, Étienne Gilson, and others came to an end. Partly, this was because Thomism had ceased to be a living philosophy engaging the questions of the day, and had become a quest to understand the historical Aquinas, and also because after the Second Vatican Council, other theological schools came to the fore. Still, those who had learned Scholastic philosophy continued to have unresolved questions about how the insights of the medieval synthesis could be applied to contemporary problems. This conversation departed from the academic environment and entered internet discussion groups such as Aquinas,^[13] Christian Philosophy,^[14] and Thomism,^[15] and websites such as Open Philosophy,^[16] where it continues today.

Analytical Scholasticism[link]

A renewed interest in the "scholastic" way of doing philosophy has recently awoken in the confines of the analytic philosophy. Attempts emerged to combine elements of scholastic and analytic methodology in pursuit of a contemporary philosophical synthesis. Proponents of various incarnations of this approach include Anthony Kenny, Józef Maria Bocheński, Peter King^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Thomas Williams^{[disambiguation needed ]} or David Oderberg. As a pioneer part of this movement can be seen Analytical Thomism.

Scholastic method[link]

The scholastics would choose a book by a renowned scholar, auctor (author), as a subject for investigation. By reading it thoroughly and critically, the disciples learned to appreciate the theories of the author. Other documents related to the book would be referenced, such as Church councils, papal letters and anything else written on the subject, be it ancient or contemporary. The points of disagreement and contention between multiple sources would be written down in individual sentences or snippets of text, known as sententiae.

Once the sources and points of disagreement had been laid out through a series of dialectics, the two sides of an argument would be made whole so that they would be found to be in agreement and not contradictory. (Of course, sometimes opinions would be totally rejected, or new positions proposed.) This was done in two ways.

The first was through philological analysis. Words were examined and argued to have multiple meanings. It was also considered that the auctor might have intended a certain word to mean something different. Ambiguity could be used to find common ground between two otherwise contradictory statements.

The second was through logical analysis, which relied on the rules of formal logic to show that contradictions did not exist but were subjective to the reader.

Scholastic instruction[link]

Scholastic schools had two methods of teaching. The first was the lectio: a teacher would read a text, expounding on certain words and ideas, but no questions were permitted; it was a simple reading of a text: instructors explained, and students listened in silence.

The second was the disputatio, which goes right to the heart of scholasticism. There were two types of disputationes: the first was the "ordinary" type, whereby the questions (quaestiones) to be disputed were announced beforehand; the second was the quodlibetal, whereby the students proposed a question to the teacher without prior preparation. The teacher advanced a response, citing authoritative texts to prove his position. Students then rebutted the response, and the quodlibetal went back and forth. Someone took notes on what was said, allowing the teacher to summarise all arguments and present his final position the following day, riposting all rebuttals.

See also[link]

• Actus primus
• Aristotelianism
• Medieval philosophy
• History of science in the Middle Ages
• List of scholastic philosophers
• Neo-Scholasticism
• Recovery of Aristotle
• Renaissance of the 12th century
• Scotism
• Thomism
• Nominalism

References[link]

Primary sources[link]

• Hyman, J.; and Walsh, J. J., eds. (1973). Philosophy in the Middle Ages. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. ISBN 0-915144-05-0. 
• Schoedinger, Andrew B., ed. (1996). Readings in Medieval Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509293-7. 

Secondary sources[link]

• Clagett, Marshall (1982). "William of Moerbeke: Translator of Archimedes". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 126, No. 5) 126 (5): 356–366. JSTOR 986212. 
• Gallatin, Harlie Kay (2001). "Medieval Intellectual Life and Christianity". http://users.sbuniv.edu/~hgallatin/ht34632e18.html#res. 
• Gracia, J. G. and Noone, T. B., eds., (2003) A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages. London: Blackwell, ISBN 0-631-21672-3
• McGrade, A. S., ed., (2003) The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Lindberg, David C. (1978). Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-48232-4. 
• Maurer, Armand A. (1982). Medieval Philosophy (2nd ed.). Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 0-88844-704-3. 
• Toman, Rolf (2007). The Art of Gothic: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting. photography by Achim Bednorz. Tandem Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-8331-4676-3. 

External links[link]

• Scholasticon by Jacob Schmutz
• Medieval Philosophy Electronic Resources
• Instituto Teológico São Tomás de Aquino
• "Scholasticism". In Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
• Scholasticism Joseph Rickaby, (1908), 121 pp. (also at googlebooks)
• Scholasticism in The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Yahoo! directory category: Scholasticism
• Living Scholasticism: discussion groups, and chat
• The genius of the scholastics and the orbit of Aristotle, article on the influence of scholasticism on later thought
• Medieval Philosophy, Universities and the Church by James Hannam
• (German) ALCUIN - Regensburger Infothek der Scholastik - Huge database with information on biography, text chronology, editions.

St Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas depicted in stained glass
Born	Thomas Aquinas 1225 Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	7 March 1274 Fossanova, Kingdom of Sicily
Occupation	Priest, Philosopher, Theologian
Nationality	Italian
Genres	Scholasticism, Thomism
Subjects	Metaphysics, Logic, Theology, Mind, Epistemology, Ethics, Politics
Notable work(s)	Summa Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles
Influences Aristotle, Averroes, Avicenna, Albertus Magnus, Paul the Apostle, Boethius, Eriugena, Anselm, Maimonides, Augustine of Hippo, John of Damascus
Influenced Giles of Rome, Godfrey of Fontaines, Hooker, Locke, Dante, Leibniz, Martain, Gilson, Anscombe, Donoso Cortés, Eckhart, Chesterton, Joyce, Kenny, Pope Pius XII, Carvalho, Walker Percy; See also Thomism, Roman Catholic theology, Mortimer J. Adler, Cornelio Fabro, Fulton J. Sheen, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange

Thomas Aquinas, O.P. ( /əˈkwaɪnəs/ ə-KWY-nəs; 1225 – 7 March 1274), also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Roman Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus ([the] Angelic Doctor), Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis.^[1] "Aquinas" is not a surname, but is a Latin demonym for a resident of Aquino, his place of birth. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of Thomism. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived as a reaction against, or as an agreement with, his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.

Thomas is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood.^[2] The works for which he is best-known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. As one of the 33 Doctors of the Church, he is considered the Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. Pope Benedict XV declared: "This (Dominican) Order ... acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools."^[3]

Biography[link]

Dominican (1225–1244)[link]

Thomas was born in Roccasecca c. January 28, 1225, according to some authors in the castle of his father, the Count Landulf of Aquino, placed in Roccasecca, in the same Contea di Aquino (Kingdom of Sicily, in the present-day: Italy, in the Lazio, province). Thomas was of Langobardic origin by his father and through his mother, Theodora Countess of Theate, he was related to the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman emperors.^{[4][not in citation given]} Landulf's brother Sinibald was abbot of the original Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. While the rest of the family's sons pursued military careers,^[5] the family intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into the abbacy;^[6] this would have been a normal career path for a younger son of southern Italian nobility.^[4]

At the age of five, Thomas began his early education at Monte Cassino but after the military conflict that broke out between the Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas enrolled at the studium generale (university) recently established by Frederick in Naples.^[7] It was here that Thomas was probably introduced to Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of whom would influence his theological philosophy.^[8] It was also during his study at Naples that Thomas came under the influence of John of St. Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples, who was part of the active effort by the Dominican order to recruit devout followers.^[9] Here his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was Petrus de Ibernia.^[10]

The Castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano

At age nineteen, Thomas resolved to join the Dominican Order. Thomas's change of heart did not please his family, who had expected him to become a Benedictine monk.^[11] In an attempt to prevent Theodora's interference in Thomas's choice, the Dominicans arranged for Thomas to be removed to Rome, and from Rome, sent to Paris.^[12] On his way to Rome, his brothers, per Theodora's instructions, seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him back to his parents at the castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano.^[12] He was held for two years in the family homes at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca in an attempt to prevent him from assuming the Dominican habit and to push him into renouncing his new aspiration.^[8] Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas's release, extending the detention,^[13] a detention which Thomas spent tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order.^[8] Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers hired a prostitute to seduce him, but he drove her away, wielding a burning stick. According to legend, that night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate.^[14] By 1244, seeing that all of her attempts to dissuade Thomas had failed, Theodora sought to save the family's dignity, arranging for Thomas to escape at night through his window. In her mind, a secret escape from detention was less damaging than an open surrender to the Dominicans. Thomas was sent first to Naples and then to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen, the Master General of the Dominican Order.^[15]

Paris, Cologne, Albert Magnus, and first Paris regency (1245–1259)[link]

In 1245, Thomas was sent to study at the University of Paris' Faculty of Arts where he most likely met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus,^[16] then the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James in Paris.^[17] When Albertus was sent by his superiors to teach at the new studium generale at Cologne in 1248,^[16] Thomas followed him, declining Pope Innocent IV's offer to appoint him abbot of Monte Cassino as a Dominican.^[6] Albertus then appointed the reluctant Thomas magister studentium.^[4] When Thomas failed his first theological disputation, Albertus prophetically exclaimed: "We call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world."^[6]

Thomas taught in Cologne as an apprentice professor (baccalaureus biblicus), instructing students on the books of the Old Testament and writing Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram (Literal Commentary on Isaiah), Postilla super Ieremiam (Commentary on Jeremiah) and Postilla super Threnos (Commentary on Lamentations).^[18] Then in 1252 he returned to Paris to study for the master's degree in theology. He lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon becoming a baccalaureus Sententiarum (bachelor of the Sentences)^[19] devoted his final three years of study to commenting on Peter Lombard's Sentences. In the first of his four theological syntheses, Thomas composed a massive commentary on the Sentences entitled Scriptum super libros Sententiarium (Commentary on the Sentences). Aside from his masters writings, he wrote De ente et essentia (On Being and Essence) for his fellow Dominicans in Paris.^[6]

In the spring of 1256, Thomas was appointed regent master in theology at Paris and one of his first works upon assuming this office was Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem (Against Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion), defending the mendicant orders which had come under attack by William of Saint-Amour.^[20] During his tenure from 1256 to 1259, Thomas wrote numerous works, including: Questiones disputatae de veritate (Disputed Questions on Truth), a collection of twenty-nine disputed questions on aspects of faith and the human condition^[21] prepared for the public university debates he presided over on Lent and Advent;^[22] Quaestiones quodlibetales (Quodlibetal Questions), a collection of his responses to questions posed to him by the academic audience;^[21] and both Expositio super librum Boethii De trinitate (Commentary on Boethius's De trinitate) and Expositio super librum Boethii De hebdomadibus (Commentary on Boethius's De hebdomadibus), commentaries on the works of 6th century philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius.^[23] By the end of his regency, Thomas was working on one of his most famous works, Summa contra Gentiles.^[24]

Saint Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas by Fra Bartolomeo
Doctor of the Church
Born	c. 1225 Aquino, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	7 March 1274 Fossanova Abbey, Kingdom of Sicily
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Lutheranism
Canonized	July 18,1323, Avignon, France by Pope John XXII
Major shrine	Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse, France
Feast	28 January (new), 7 March (old)
Attributes	The Summa Theologica, a model church, the Sun
Patronage	Academics; against storms; against lightning; apologists; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; book sellers; Catholic academies, schools, and universities; chastity; Falerna, Italy; learning; pencil makers; philosophers; publishers; scholars; students; theologians.[25]

Naples, Orvieto, Rome, and Santa Sabina (1259–1269)[link]

Around 1259, Thomas returned to Naples where he lived until he arrived in Orvieto around September 1261. In Orvieto, he was appointed conventual lector, in charge of the education of friars unable to attend a studium generale. During his stay in Orvieto, Thomas completed his Summa contra Gentiles, and wrote the Catena Aurea (The Golden Chain).^[26] He also wrote the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi and produced works for Pope Urban IV concerning Greek Orthodox theology, e.g. Contra errores graecorum (Against the Errors of the Greeks).^[24] In 1265 he was ordered by the Dominican Chapter of Agnani to establish a studium for the Order in Rome at the priory of Santa Sabina.^[27][28] He remained there from 1265 until he was called back to Paris in 1268.^[29] It was in Rome that Thomas began his most famous work, Summa Theologica,^[26] and wrote a variety of other works like his unfinished Compendium Theologiae and Responsio ad fr. Ioannem Vercellensem de articulis 108 sumptis ex opere Petri de Tarentasia (Reply to Brother John of Vercelli Regarding 108 Articles Drawn from the Work of Peter of Tarentaise).^[23] In his position as head of the studium, conducted a series of important disputations on the power of God, which he compiled into his De potentia.^[29]

The quarrelsome second Paris regency (1269–1272)[link]

In 1268 the Dominican Order assigned Thomas to be regent master at the University of Paris for a second time, a position he held until the spring of 1272. Part of the reason for this sudden reassignment appears to have arisen from the rise of "Averroism" or "radical Aristotelianism" in the universities. In response to these perceived evils, Thomas wrote two works, one of them being De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas (On the Unity of Intellect, against the Averroists) in which he blasts Averroism as incompatible with Christian doctrine.^[30] During his second regency, he finished the second part of the Summa and wrote De virtutibus and De aeternitate mundi,^[29] the latter of which dealt with controversial Averroist and Aristotelian beginninglessness of the world.^[31] Disputes with some important Franciscans such as Bonaventure and John Peckham conspired to make his second regency much more difficult and troubled than the first. A year before Thomas re-assumed the regency at the 1266–67 Paris disputations, Franciscan master William of Baglione accused Thomas of encouraging Averroists, calling him the "blind leader of the blind". Thomas called these individuals the murmurantes (Grumblers).^[31] In reality, Thomas was deeply disturbed by the spread of Averroism and was angered when he discovered Siger of Brabant teaching Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle to Parisian students.^[32] On 10 December 1270, the bishop of Paris, Etienne Tempier, issued an edict condemning thirteen Aristotlelian and Averroistic propositions as heretical and excommunicating anyone who continued to support them.^[33] Many in the ecclesiastical community, the so-called Augustinians, were fearful that this introduction of Aristotelianism and the more extreme Averroism might somehow contaminate the purity of the Christian faith. In what appears to be an attempt to counteract the growing fear of Aristotelian thought, Thomas conducted a series of disputations between 1270 and 1272: De virtutibus in communi (On Virtues in General), De virtutibus cardinalibus (On Cardinal Virtues), De spe (On Hope).^[34]

Final days and "Straw" (1272–1274)[link]

In 1272 Thomas took leave from the University of Paris when the Dominicans from his home province called upon him to establish a studium generale wherever he liked and staff it as he pleased. He chose to establish the institution in Naples, and moved there to take his post as regent master.^[29] He took his time at Naples to work on the third part of the Summa while giving lectures on various religious topics. On 6 December 1273 Thomas was celebrating the Mass of St. Nicholas when, according to some, he heard Christ speak to him. Christ asked him what he desired, being pleased with his meritorious life. Thomas replied "Only you Lord. Only you."^[35] After this exchange something happened, but Thomas never spoke of it or wrote it down. Because of what he saw, he abandoned his routine and refused to dictate to his socius Reginald of Piperno. When Reginald begged him to get back to work, Thomas replied: "Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me."^[36] (mihi videtur ut palea).^[37] What exactly triggered Thomas's change in behavior is believed by Catholics to have been some kind of supernatural experience of God.^[38] After taking to his bed, he did recover some strength.^[39]

Looking to find a way to reunite the Eastern Orthodox churches with the Catholic Church (the Eastern Orthodox were excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church, and vice versa, in A.D. 1054 over doctrinal disputes) Pope Gregory X convened the Second Council of Lyon to be held on 1 May 1274 and summoned Thomas to attend.^[40] At the meeting, Thomas's work for Pope Urban IV concerning the Greeks, Contra errores graecorum, was to be presented.^[41] On his way to the Council, riding on a donkey along the Appian Way,^[40] he struck his head on the branch of a fallen tree and became seriously ill again. He was then quickly escorted to Monte Cassino to convalesce.^[39] After resting for a while, he set out again, but stopped at the Cistercian Fossanova Abbey after again falling ill.^[42] The monks nursed him for several days, and as he received his last rites he prayed: "I receive Thee, ransom of my soul. For love of Thee have I studied and kept vigil, toiled, preached and taught..."^[43] He died on 7 March 1274^[42] while giving commentary on the Song of Songs.^[44]

Condemnation of 1277[link]

In 1277, the same bishop of France, Etienne Tempier, who had issued the condemnation of 1270 issued another, more extensive condemnation. One aim of this condemnation was to clarify that God's absolute power transcended any principles of logic that Aristotle or Averroes might place on it.^[45] More specifically, it contained a list of 219 propositions that the bishop had determined to violate the omnipotence of God, and included in this list were twenty Thomistic propositions. Their inclusion badly damaged Thomas's reputation for many years.^[46]

In The Divine Comedy, Dante sees the glorified spirit of Thomas in the Heaven of the Sun with the other great exemplars of religious wisdom.^[47] Dante asserts that Thomas died by poisoning, on the order of Charles of Anjou;^[48] Villani (ix. 218) cites this belief, and the Anonimo Fiorentino describes the crime and its motive. But the historian Ludovico Antonio Muratori reproduces the account made by one of Thomas's friends, and this version of the story gives no hint of foul play.^[49]