Treatise on Sacred Doctrine (Q[1])
Paris · 1274
T
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
1225 CE–1274 CE · Roccasecca
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) was born near Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily and, against his family's wishes, joined the Dominican Order while studying at the University of Naples. He pursued his philosophical formation under Albert the Great in Paris and Cologne, then spent decades teaching at Paris and various Italian centers, producing the Summa Theologiae — the definitive scholastic synthesis of Christian theology and Aristotelian philosophy. He died at Fossanova in 1274 while traveling to the Second Council of Lyon, and was canonized in 1323.
Did you know?
His own family kidnapped him to stop him becoming a friar
When the young nobleman Thomas Aquinas joined the new Dominican order in 1244, his aristocratic family was so appalled that his brothers seized him on the road and held him under house arrest in the family castles for about a year. According to his early biographers they even sent a woman into his room to break his resolve, and he drove her out with a burning stick from the fire. Released in 1245, he went straight back to the Dominicans — and became the most influential theologian of the Middle Ages.
How we know
Thomas Aquinas 1225–1274; received the Dominican habit c.1244, was detained by his family at Roccasecca for roughly a year, and rejoined the order after his release in 1245. The seduction/firebrand episode is from his early biographers.
Life journeyclick any stop, or use ←/→Trace on the map →
✦
Stop 1 of 81225–1230Birthplace, Noble Family
RoccaseccaItaly
What they did here
Born c. 1225 at the family castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, in the Kingdom of Sicily, the youngest son of Count Landulf of Aquino.
About Roccasecca
Roccasecca, a hilltop town in southern Lazio, central Italy. Thomas Aquinas was born at the family castle there c. 1225.
In the same place & time
✦
Sages whose lives overlapped with Thomas Aquinas’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Pope Urban IV, Albert the Great, Pope Honorius IV, Bonaventure, Pope Nicholas III
The world in their lifetime
✦
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Thomas Aquinas’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Christian world
- Francis of Assisi· 1181 CE–1226 CE
- Pope Clement IV· 1190 CE–1268 CE
- Clare of Assisi· 1194 CE–1253 CE
- Pope Alexander IV· 1199 CE–1261 CE
- Pope Adrian V· 1205 CE–1276 CE
- Pope Martin IV· 1210 CE–1285 CE
- Pope Bl. Gregory X· 1210 CE–1276 CE
- Pope John XXI· 1215 CE–1277 CE
- Pope St. Celestine V· 1215 CE–1296 CE
- Pope Bl. Innocent V· 1225 CE–1276 CE
- Pope Nicholas IV· 1227 CE–1292 CE
- Pope Boniface VIII· 1230 CE–1303 CE
- Pope Bl. Benedict XI· 1240 CE–1304 CE
- Pope John XXII· 1244 CE–1334 CE
- Meister Eckhart· 1260 CE–1328 CE
- Pope Clement V· 1264 CE–1314 CE
- Gregory of Sinai· 1265 CE–1346 CE
- Duns Scotus· 1266 CE–1308 CE
- Pope Innocent IV· –1254 CE
- Pope Gregory IX· –1241 CE
- Pope Celestine IV· –1241 CE
- Pope Honorius III· –1227 CE
Jewish world
Islamic world
Buddhist world
Hindu world
Scientists
Luminaries & Explorers world
Rulers world
- Baybars· 1223 CE–1277 CE
- Tran Thai Tong· 1218 CE–1277 CE
- Ghiyas ud-Din Balban· –1287 CE
- Michael VIII Palaiologos· 1223 CE–1282 CE
- Kublai Khan (Emperor Shizu of Yuan)· 1215 CE–1294 CE
- Qalawun· 1222 CE–1290 CE
- Louis IX of France· 1214 CE–1270 CE
- Alexander Nevsky· 1221 CE–1263 CE
- Hulagu Khan· 1217 CE–1265 CE
- Al-Ashraf Khalil· –1293 CE
- Jalal ud-Din Firuz Khalji· –1296 CE
- Al-Muazzam Turanshah· 1225 CE–1250 CE
- Ramkhamhaeng the Great· –1298 CE
- Möngke Khan· 1209 CE–1259 CE
Works(13)
Prologue
Paris · 1274
Treatise on the Angels (qq[50]-64)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on The Creation (QQ[44-46])
Paris · 1274
Treatise on The Distinction of Things In General (Q[47])
Paris · 1274
Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on Man (qq[75]-102)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on The Most Holy Trinity (QQ[27-43])
Paris · 1274
Treatise on the Sacraments (qq[60]-90)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on the Work of the Six Days (qq[65]-74)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on The One God (QQ[2-26])
Paris · 1274
Treatise on the Conservation and Government of Creatures (qq[103]-119)
Paris · 1274
Treatise on The Distinction of Good And Evil (Q[48-49])
Paris · 1274