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.
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