The Lives of the Saints through 100 Masterpieces

Albert the Great

The Lives of the Saints 18 Albert the Great November 15 Born in 1207 to a noble German family, Albert entered the Dominican order at age 17. His entire life was spent within the university milieu in Padua, Cologne, and Paris as a student and, very early, as a professor. In 1260 he was named bishop of Ratisbonne; however, he soon resigned to return to his cherished studies. A renowned theologian, Albert the Great was also a philosopher, an attentive reader of Aristotle and his Arab commentators. He created Scholasticism, which was an effort to reconcile revelation with the logic inherited from Greek philosophy. He was the direct precursor of Thomas Aquinas, who was, in fact, his student. However, it was not until 1931 that he was canonized and proclaimed a doctor of the church. Tomasso da Modena (1325–1379) Saint Albert the Great Fresco in the chapter room of the former Dominican convent of San Nicola, Treviso ...