Thomas Aquinas

===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}}