Thomas Aquinas

==Biography==

===Early life (1225–1244)===
Thomas Aquinas was most likely born in the family castle of [[Roccasecca]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walz |first1=Angelus |title=Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Biographical Study |date=1951 |publisher=Newman Press |page=5 |url=https://archive.org/details/saintthomasaquin0000walz/page/4/mode/2up}}</ref> near [[Aquino, Italy|Aquino]], controlled at that time by the [[Kingdom of Sicily]] (in present-day [[Lazio]], Italy), {{circa|1225}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/ |title=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy August 17, 2019 |access-date=17 August 2019 |archive-date=27 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727011537/https://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was born to the most powerful branch of the family, and his father, Landulf of Aquino, was a man of means. As a knight in the service of [[Emperor Frederick II]], Landulf of Aquino held the title ''[[Knight|miles]]''.<ref>Norman Geisler, ''Thomas Aquinas: An Evangelical Appraisal'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2003, p. 26.</ref> Thomas's mother, Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the [[Naples|Neapolitan]] Caracciolo family.{{sfn|Torrell|2005|p=3}} Landulf's brother Sinibald was [[abbot]] of [[Monte Cassino]], the oldest [[Order of St. Benedictine|Benedictine]] [[monastery]]. While the rest of the family's sons pursued military careers,{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=14}} the family intended for Thomas to follow his uncle into the abbacy;{{sfn|Stump|2003|p= 3}} this would have been a normal career path for a younger son of Southern Italian nobility.<ref name="schaff-422">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1953 |title= Thomas Aquinas |encyclopedia=The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge |publisher=Baker Book House |location= Grand Rapids, Michigan |last=Schaff |first=Philip |volume=126 |pages=422–423 |bibcode=1930Natur.126..951G |doi=10.1038/126951c0 |issue=3190|s2cid= 4140923 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

At the age of five Thomas began his early education at Monte Cassino, but after the military conflict between Emperor Frederick II and [[Pope Gregory IX]] spilt into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas enrolled at the ''[[studium generale]]'' ([[University of Naples Federico II|university]]) established by Frederick in [[Naples]].{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=1–2}} There, his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was [[Petrus de Ibernia]].{{sfn|Grabmann|1963|p=2}} It was at this university that Thomas was presumably introduced to [[Aristotle]], [[Averroes]] and [[Maimonides]], all of whom would influence his theological philosophy.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=2}} During his study at Naples, Thomas also 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.{{sfn|Hampden|1848|pp=21–22}}

[[File:Castello di Monte San Giovanni Campano 9.JPG|thumb|The Castle of [[Monte San Giovanni Campano]]]]

At the age of nineteen, Thomas resolved to join this Dominican Order. Thomas's change of heart, however, did not please his family.<ref>Collison, Diane, and Kathryn Plant. ''Fifty Major Philosophers''. 2nd ed. New York: [[Routledge]], 2006.</ref> In an attempt to prevent Theodora's interference in Thomas's choice, the Dominicans arranged to move Thomas to Rome, and from Rome, to Paris.{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=23}} However, while on his journey to Rome, per Theodora's instructions, his brothers seized him as he was drinking from a spring and took him back to his parents at the castle of [[Monte San Giovanni Campano]].{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=23}}

Thomas was held prisoner for almost one year in the family castles 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.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=2}} Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas's release, which had the effect of extending Thomas's detention.{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=24}} Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=2}}

Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him, presumably because sexual temptation might dissuade him from a life of celibacy. According to the official records for his canonization, Thomas drove her away wielding a burning log—with which he inscribed a cross onto the wall—and fell into a mystical ecstasy; two angels appeared to him as he slept and said, "Behold, we gird thee by the command of God with the girdle of chastity, which henceforth will never be imperilled. What human strength can not obtain, is now bestowed upon thee as a celestial gift." From then onwards, Thomas was given the grace of perfect chastity by Christ, a girdle he wore till the end of his life. The girdle was given to the ancient monastery of [[Vercelli]] in Piedmont, and is now at [[Chieri]], near [[Turin]].{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=25}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Marshall|first=Taylor|date=26 January 2011|title=The Miraculous Cord of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Angelic Warfare|url=https://taylormarshall.com/2011/01/miraculous-cord-of-saint-thomas-aquinas.html|access-date=22 March 2021|website=Taylor Marshall|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Saint Thomas Aquinas Diego Velázquez.jpg|right|thumb|Thomas is girded by angels with a mystical belt of purity after his proof of [[chastity]]. Painting by [[Diego Velázquez]].]]

By 1244, seeing that all 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]].{{sfn|Hampden|1848|pp=27–28}}

===Paris, Cologne, Albert Magnus, and first Paris regency (1245–1259)===
In 1245, Thomas was sent to study at the Faculty of the Arts at the [[University of Paris]], where he most likely met Dominican scholar [[Albertus Magnus]],{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=2}} then the holder of the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James in Paris.{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=33}} When Albertus was sent by his superiors to teach at the new ''studium generale'' at Cologne in 1248,{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=2}} Thomas followed him, declining [[Pope Innocent IV]]'s offer to appoint him abbot of Monte Cassino as a Dominican.{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=3}} Albertus then appointed the reluctant Thomas ''magister studentium''.<ref name="schaff-422" /> Because Thomas was quiet and did not speak much, some of his fellow students thought he was slow. But Albertus prophetically exclaimed: "You call him the dumb ox [''bos mutus''], but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world".{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=3}}

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'').{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=xvi}} In 1252, he returned to Paris to study for a master's degree in theology. He lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon becoming a ''baccalaureus Sententiarum'' (bachelor of the ''Sentences''){{sfn|Davies|1993|p=5}} he 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 master's writings, he wrote ''De ente et essentia'' (''On Being and Essence'') for his fellow Dominicans in Paris.{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=3}}

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 order]]s, which had come under attack by [[William of Saint-Amour]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=On Evil |url=https://archive.org/details/onevil00aqui |url-access=limited |last1=Aquinas |first1=Thomas |last2=Regan |first2=Richard J. |last3=Davies |first3=Brian |publisher=Oxford University Press US |year=2003 |isbn=0-19-509183-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/onevil00aqui/page/n23 5]}}</ref> During his tenure from 1256 to 1259, Thomas wrote numerous works, including: ''[[Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate]]'' (''Disputed Questions on Truth''), a collection of twenty-nine disputed questions on aspects of faith and the human condition{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=4}} prepared for the public university debates he presided over during [[Lent]] and [[Advent]];{{sfn|Davies|2004|pp=3–4}} ''Quaestiones quodlibetales'' (''Quodlibetal Questions''), a collection of his responses to questions ''[[Quodlibeta|de quodlibet]]'' posed to him by the academic audience;{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=4}} 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 Roman philosopher [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]].{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=xvii}} By the end of his regency, Thomas was working on one of his most famous works, ''[[Summa contra Gentiles]]''.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=4}}

===Naples, Orvieto, Rome (1259–1268)===
In 1259, Thomas completed his first regency at the ''[[studium generale]]'' and left Paris so that others in his order could gain this teaching experience. He returned to Naples where he was appointed as general preacher by the provincial chapter of 29 September 1260. In September 1261 he was called to [[Orvieto]] as conventual lector, where he was responsible for the pastoral formation of the friars unable to attend a ''studium generale''. In Orvieto, Thomas completed his ''[[Summa contra Gentiles]]'', wrote the ''Catena aurea'' (''The Golden Chain''),{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=4}} and produced works for [[Pope Urban IV]] such as the liturgy for the newly created [[feast of Corpus Christi]] and the ''[[Contra Errores Graecorum|Contra errores graecorum]]'' (''Against the Errors of the Greeks'').{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=4}} Some of the hymns that Thomas wrote for the feast of Corpus Christi are still sung today, such as the ''[[Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium|Pange lingua]]'' (whose final two verses are the famous ''[[Tantum ergo]]''), and ''[[Panis angelicus]]''. Modern scholarship has confirmed that Thomas was indeed the author of these texts, a point that some had contested.{{sfn|Torrell|2005|pp=129–132}}

In February 1265, the newly elected [[Pope Clement IV]] summoned Thomas to Rome to serve as papal theologian. This same year, he was ordered by the Dominican Chapter of Agnani<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/a65.html |title=Acta Capituli Provincialis OP Anagnie 1265 |website= corpusthomisticum.org}}</ref> to teach at the ''[[Medieval university|studium]]'' ''conventuale'' at the Roman [[convent]] of [[Santa Sabina]], founded in 1222.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/MN5081ucmf_3 |title=Compendium historiae Ordinis Praedicatorum [microform] |last=Walz |first=Angelus |date=4 December 1930 |publisher=Romae : Herder |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The ''studium'' at Santa Sabina now became an experiment for the Dominicans, the Order's first ''studium provinciale'', an intermediate school between the ''studium conventuale'' and the ''studium generale''. Prior to this time, the Roman Province had offered no specialized education of any sort, no arts, no philosophy; only simple convent schools, with their basic courses in theology for resident friars, were functioning in Tuscany and the meridionale during the first several decades of the order's life. The new ''studium provinciale'' at Santa Sabina was to be a more advanced school for the province.{{sfn|Mulchahey|1998|p=279}} [[Bartholomew of Lucca|Tolomeo da Lucca]], an associate and early biographer of Thomas, tells us that at the Santa Sabina ''studium'' Thomas taught the full range of philosophical subjects, both moral and natural.<ref>{{cite book| chapter-url= http://www.third-millennium-library.com/PDF/Authors/Gregorovius/history-of-rome-city_5_2.pdf | first= Ferdinand | last= Gregorovius|quote= Tenuit studium Rome, quasi totam Philosophiam, sive Moralem, sive Naturalem exposuit| chapter= Ptolomaei Lucensis historia ecclesiastica nova, xxii, c. 24| title= History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages| volume= V| number= Part II, 617, Note 2 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111005105213/http://www.third-millennium-library.com/PDF/Authors/Gregorovius/history-of-rome-city_5_2.pdf| archive-date=5 October 2011}}</ref>

While at the Santa Sabina ''studium provinciale'', Thomas began his most famous work, the ''[[Summa Theologica|Summa Theologiae]]'',{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=4}} which he conceived specifically suited to beginner students: "Because a doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but to him pertains also to instruct beginners. As the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 3:1–2, ''as to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat'', our proposed intention in this work is to convey those things that pertain to the Christian religion in a way that is fitting to the instruction of beginners."<ref>''Summa theologiae'', I, 1, prooemium: "Quia Catholicae veritatis doctor non-solum provectos debet instruere, sed ad eum pertinet etiam incipientes erudire, secundum illud apostoli I ad Corinth. III, tanquam parvulis in Christo, lac vobis potum dedi, non-escam; propositum nostrae intentionis in hoc opere est, ea quae ad Christianam religionem pertinent, eo modo tradere, secundum quod congruit ad eruditionem incipientium."</ref> While there he also 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'').{{sfn|Stump|2003|p=xvii}}

In his position as head of the ''studium'', Thomas conducted a series of important disputations on the power of God, which he compiled into his ''De potentia''.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=5}} Nicholas Brunacci [1240–1322] was among Thomas's students at the Santa Sabina ''studium provinciale'' and later at the Paris ''studium generale''. In November 1268, he was with Thomas and his associate and secretary [[Reginald of Piperno]] as they left Viterbo on their way to Paris to begin the academic year.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.brunacci.it/s--tommaso.html |title=Brunacci.it – Le famiglie Brunacci |website= brunacci.it}}</ref> Another student of Thomas's at the Santa Sabina ''studium provinciale'' was [[Beatification|Blessed]] Tommasello da Perugia.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92060 |title=Beato Tommasello da Perugia su santiebeati.it |website=Santiebeati.it}}</ref>

Thomas remained at the ''studium'' at Santa Sabina from 1265 until he was called back to Paris in 1268 for a second teaching regency.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=5}} With his departure for Paris in 1268 and the passage of time, the pedagogical activities of the ''studium provinciale'' at Santa Sabina were divided between two campuses. A new [[convent]] of the Order at the Church of [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]] began in 1255 as a community for women converts but grew rapidly in size and importance after being given over to the Dominicans friars in 1275.<ref name="auto" /> In 1288, the theology component of the provincial curriculum for the education of the friars was relocated from the Santa Sabina ''studium provinciale'' to the ''studium conventuale'' at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which was redesignated as a ''studium particularis theologiae''.{{sfn|Mulchahey|1998|p=323}} This ''studium'' was transformed in the 16th century into the College of Saint Thomas ({{lang-la|Collegium Divi Thomæ}}). In the 20th century, the college was relocated to the convent of [[Santi Domenico e Sisto|Saints Dominic and Sixtus]] and was transformed into the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']].

===Quarrelsome second Paris regency (1269–1272)===
[[File:Benozzo Gozzoli - Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas - WGA10334.jpg|thumb|''Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas'', {{lang|la|Doctor Communis}}, between Plato and Aristotle, [[Benozzo Gozzoli]], 1471. [[Louvre]], Paris.]]

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 errors, Thomas wrote two works, one of them being ''De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas'' (''On the Unity of Intellect, against the Averroists'') in which he reprimands Averroism as incompatible with Christian doctrine.{{sfn|Stump|2003|pp=10–11}} During his second regency, he finished the second part of the ''Summa'' and wrote ''De virtutibus'' and ''De aeternitate mundi, contra murmurantes'' (''On the Eternity of the World, against Grumblers''),{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=5}} the latter of which dealt with controversial Averroist and Aristotelian ''beginninglessness'' of the world.{{sfn|Stump|2003|pp=11–12}}

{{See also|Eternity of the world}}

Disputes with some important [[Franciscans]] 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, most likely counting him as one of the "blind leaders of the blind". [[Eleonore Stump]] says, "It has also been persuasively argued that Thomas Aquinas's ''De aeternitate mundi'' was directed in particular against his Franciscan colleague in theology, [[John Pecham]]."{{sfn|Stump|2003|pp=11–12}}

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.<ref>{{cite book| author= Thomas Aquinas| title= Reader| pages= 9–11}}</ref> On 10 December 1270, the Bishop of Paris, [[Étienne Tempier]], issued an edict condemning thirteen Aristotelian and Averroistic propositions as heretical and excommunicating anyone who continued to support them.<ref>McInerney, ''Against the Averroists'', p. 10.</ref> 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''), and ''De spe'' (''On Hope'').<ref>{{cite book| author= Thomas Aquinas| title= Reader| page= 11}}</ref>

===Late career and cessation of writing (1272–1274)===
[[File:Saint Patrick Church (Columbus, Ohio) - stained glass, St. Thomas Aquinas, detail.jpg|thumb|An icon of the crucifixion speaking to Thomas Aquinas is depicted on this stained glass window in [[Saint Patrick Church (Columbus, Ohio)]].]]

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.{{sfn|Davies|2004|p=5}} He took his time at Naples to work on the third part of the ''Summa'' while giving lectures on various religious topics. He also preached to the people of Naples every day in Lent of 1273. These [[s:Ninety-nine Homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas Upon the Epistles and Gospels for Forty-nine Sundays of the Christian Year|sermons]] on the Commandments, the Creed, the Our Father, and Hail Mary were very popular.<ref>{{cite book| first= James |last= Weisheipl| title= Friar Thomas D'Aquino: His Life, Thought, and Work| publisher=Doubleday| year= 1974| page= 319}}</ref>

Thomas has been traditionally ascribed with the ability to [[Levitation (paranormal)|levitate]]. For example, [[G. K. Chesterton]] wrote that "His experiences included well-attested cases of levitation in ecstasy; and the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, comforting him with the welcome news that he would never be a Bishop."<ref>{{cite journal| first= G. K. |last= Chesterton| author-link= G. K. Chesterton| url= http://chesterton.org/gkc/theologian/aquinas.htm |title= Essay on St. Thomas Aquinas| journal= [[The Spectator]]| date= 27 February 1932| via= chesterton.org}}</ref>

It is traditionally held that on one occasion, in 1273, at the Dominican convent of Naples in the chapel of [[Saint Nicholas]],<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/Sermons/Nicholas_Essay.pdf| title= A Tale of Two Wonderworkers: St. Nicholas of Myra in the Writings and Life of St. Thomas Aquinas| first= Peter A.| last= Kwasniewski| publisher= International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family Gaming, Austria| via= desales.edu| access-date= 19 March 2016| archive-date= 19 November 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181119214628/http://www4.desales.edu/~philtheo/loughlin/ATP/Sermons/Nicholas_Essay.pdf| url-status= dead}}</ref> after [[Matins]], Thomas lingered and was seen by the [[sacristan]] Domenic of Caserta to be levitating in prayer with tears before an icon of the crucified Christ. Christ said to Thomas, "You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward would you have for your labor?" Thomas responded, "Nothing but you, Lord."{{sfnm |1a1=de Tocco |1a2=Le Brun-Gouanvic |1y=1996|1p= |2a1=Kennedy |2y=1912}}

On 6 December 1273, another mystical experience took place. While Thomas was celebrating Mass, he experienced an unusually long ecstasy.{{sfn|Kennedy|1912}} 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"{{sfn|Davies|1993|p=9}} (''mihi videtur ut palea'').<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Development and Meaning of Twentieth-century Existentialism |last=McBride |first=William Leon |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=1997 |isbn=0-8153-2491-X |page=131}}</ref> As a result, the ''Summa Theologica'' would remain uncompleted.{{sfn|Murray |2013|p=27|loc=Ch. 10}} What exactly triggered Thomas's change in behaviour is believed by some to have been some kind of supernatural experience of God.<ref name=SEP2 /> After taking to his bed, however, he did recover some strength.{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=7}}

In 1054, the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] had occurred between the [[Catholic Church]] in the West, and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. Looking to find a way to reunite the two, [[Pope Gregory X]] convened the [[Second Council of Lyon]] to be held on 1 May 1274 and summoned Thomas to attend.{{sfn|Nichols|2002|p=18}} At the meeting, Thomas's work for Pope Urban IV concerning the Greeks, ''Contra errores graecorum'', was to be presented.{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=46}}

On his way to the council, riding on a donkey along the [[Appian Way]],{{sfn|Nichols|2002|p=18}} 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.{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=7}} After resting for a while, he set out again but stopped at the [[Cistercian]] [[Fossanova Abbey]] after again falling ill.{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=8}} The monks nursed him for several days,<ref>Thomas Aquinas, ''Reader'', p. 12.</ref> and as he received his [[last rites]] he prayed: "I have written and taught much about this very holy Body, and about the other sacraments in the faith of Christ, and about the Holy Roman Church, to whose correction I expose and submit everything I have written."{{sfn|Torrell|2005|p=292}} He died on 7 March 1274{{sfn|Healy|2003|p=8}} while giving commentary on the [[Song of Songs]].{{sfn|Hampden|1848|p=47}}