Germany 1200-1280
Albert Magnus is perhaps the foremost example of a religious scientist. He explored so many topics he had no specific area of focus, writing on such diverse topics as rhetoric, math and logic to astronomy, theology, and politics.
In short, however Albert’s work is best summarized by saying he wanted to explain everything. He did not have a specific discipline but worked to bring together all the knowledge of the time together. His aim was to explain the various scientific disciplines to be widely understood (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018). Many of his works were based on Aristotle, but when that was lacking, he created his own work, and even when basing his information off that of Aristotle, he was always making something new, shifting ideas and reformulating them to be more easily understood.
Albert was the preeminent natural scientist of his age, using faith and reason together. The truth could not be in conflict with itself, as it would be if faith and reason were mutually exclusive. Rather, ordinarily everything is explainable by both, though a few things may require faith. He created commentaries on a plethora of works, notably the Bible and the foremost theological textbook of the time, Peter Lombard’s Sentences, as well as examining and commentating on all the available works of Aristotle (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018). There were severe issues involved given the breadth of Aristotle’s work and the fact copies were often lacking, so Albert made do with what he could (The Book of Minerals). Simply commenting on Aristotle’s work was quite an undertaking as the subjects ranged from Physics, and Meteorology, to The Soul, Life and Death, and the Movement of Animals. Albert spent a great deal of time honing the specific ordering, starting with Physics and finally rounding out the collection of work with Animals. That being said, his collection of works under Natural Sciences also include entries not backed by actual Aristotelian works. Interestingly, Albert was quite ready to create a new piece of work if there was an apparent gap, thus such titles as The Book of Minerals, which covered the subject of geology and why different gemstones have differing properties (The Book of Minerals). Albert was unable to locate the ancient text, but since he was already ‘rewriting’ them, after a fashion, he delved into the subject.
While the science appears quite incomplete to the modern eye, at the time, science was a much more philosophical undertaking. Instead of numbers and measurements ruling everything, the qualitative data, the purpose of things was attempted to be understood. For example, when attempting to approach metals and gems, the question was what are the essential properties that make up that thing, and what are the accidental properties. Essential properties are the qualities that have to be present for the thing to be classified as what it is, while accidental properties are variable depending on the subject, like a person’s eye color. (The Book of Minerals xxxiii). At the time, of course, the kind of science we know today was not present, but science was more akin to philosophy, perhaps something somewhat akin to theoretical physics today.
Despite his fame, much of the information about Albert Magnus’s life is uncertain. He was born in Swabia, Germany in a noble family, around about 1200 AD, plus or minus about six years. (1) The nobility of his family, actual date of birth, and a myriad of other details, such as essentially his entire childhood, are extremely uncertain, likely due to his fame. (1)
The first sure detail is that he joined the Dominican order, though again the date is an issue. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica it was in 1223, but an expert who translated one of Albert’s books on geology found it more likely the date was 1226.
By 1245, his life was well underway, as his star pupil Thomas Aquinas arrived in Paris
Albert joined the Dominican order in 1223, and by 1245 had gone to Paris to study at the Dominican convent of Saint-Jacques. While at Saint-Jacques he commenced his teaching career, lecturing on the Bible and Sentences, the main theological textbook of the time, for two years apiece (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018). Even during his life, he was recognized as a great authority on various topics, and was sent to Cologne to advance learning by establishing the first Dominican ‘general studies’ school (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018). While acting as head of the school, he wrote and taught as he wished.
However, from 1254 to 1264 he had other duties. In 1254 he was made head of the German section of the Dominicans, holding the office for three years, still maintaining his writing and research. He decided to resign in 1257 so he could return to Cologne and then the Pope, Alexander the IV, appointed him Bishop of Regensburg. With the death of the Pope in 1261, Albert resigned his office, but was once again called by the Pope to serve Christendom. For 1263 and 1264 he assisted Urban IV by rallying support for the Crusades in Germany. After lecturing at a couple of other cities, he finally returned to Cologne. (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018)
Of course, even this did not last. In 1274, he was off to the second Council of Lyons. Once there, he assisted in choosing the German monarch (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018). Then a few years later, in 1277, he journeyed to Paris to Albert uphold Thomas Aquinas’ reputation and to explain their position on various points of Aristotle that were held in question (Encyclopedia Britannica 2018).
Albert Magnus’ extensive writing and enormous influence extends far beyond his own time, all the way to the present day, with such fervor as to be almost impossible to categorize. His work extended as far as the time would allow, most notably in the natural sciences perhaps, but astounding in every field. Not only was he a dedicated researcher, he was a prolific writer dedicated to explaining Aristotle’s thought processes and the world as a whole in simple enough terms for all to understand.
Works Referenced
- St. Albertus Magnus https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Albertus-Magnus
- Albert Magnus: The Book of Minerals https://archive.org/details/308059821ALBERTUSMAGNUSTheBookOfMinerals
Further Reading
- The Mediaeval Mind: A History of the Development of Thought and Emotion in the Middle Ages - Vol. 2 https://www.questia.com/read/9357714/the-mediaeval-mind-a-history-of-the-development-of
- Great Dominicans: Albertus Magnus https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/great-dominicans-albertus-magnus
- Albert the Great https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/albert-great/
No comments:
Post a Comment