Editing Albertus Magnus (section)

==Biography==
It seems likely that Albertus Magnus was born sometime before 1200, given well-attested evidence that he was aged over 80 on his death in 1280.<ref name=":0" /> Two later sources say that Albert was about 87 on his death, which has led 1193 to be commonly given as the date of Albert's birth, but this information does not have enough evidence to be confirmed.<ref name=":0" /> Albert was probably born in Lauingen (now in [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]]), since he called himself 'Albert of Lauingen', but this might simply be a family name. Most probably his family was of ''ministerial'' class; his familial connection with (being son of the count) the Bollstädt noble family is almost certainly mere conjecture by 15th century [[Hagiography|hagiographers]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|author=Tugwell, Simon|title=Albert and Thomas|place=New York |publisher=Paulist Press|year=1988|pages= 3, 96, 97|isbn=978-08091-3022-1}}</ref>

Albert was probably educated principally at the [[University of Padua]], where he received instruction in [[Aristotle]]'s writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus' encounter with the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]], who convinced him to enter [[Holy Orders]]. In 1223 (or 1229),{{sfn|Tugwell|1988|pp=4–5}} he became a member of the [[Dominican Order]], and studied [[Christian theology|theology]] at [[Bologna]] and elsewhere. Selected to fill the position of lecturer at Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, he taught for several years there, as well as in [[Regensburg]], [[Freiburg]], [[Strasbourg]], and [[Hildesheim]]. During his first tenure as lecturer at Cologne, Albert wrote his ''Summa de bono'' after having a discussion with [[Philip the Chancellor]] concerning the transcendental properties of being.<ref name="Kovach, Francs 1980, p.X">Kovach, Francs, and Rober Shahan. Albert the Great: Commemorative Essays . Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980, p. x.</ref> In 1245, Albert became [[master of theology]] under [[Guerric of Saint-Quentin]], the first German Dominican to achieve this distinction. Following this turn of events, Albert was able to teach theology at the [[University of Paris]] as a full-time professor, holding the seat of the Chair of Theology at the College of St. James.<ref name="Kovach, Francs 1980, p.X" /> During this time [[Thomas Aquinas]] began to study under Albertus.<ref name=Kennedy>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01264a.htm Kennedy, Daniel. "St. Albertus Magnus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 Sept. 2014]</ref>

[[File:Vincenzo onofri, sant'alberto magno, 1493.JPG|thumb|right|Bust of Albertus Magnus by [[Vincenzo Onofri]], {{Circa|1493}}]]

Albert was the first to comment on virtually all of the writings of [[Aristotle]], thus making them accessible to wider academic debate. The study of Aristotle brought him to study and comment on the teachings of Muslim academics, notably [[Avicenna]] and [[Averroes]], and this would bring him into the heart of academic debate.

In 1254, Albert was made [[provincial superior|provincial]] of the Dominican Order<ref name=Kennedy /> and fulfilled the duties of the office with great care and efficiency. During his tenure, he publicly defended the Dominicans against attacks by the secular faculty of the University of Paris, commented on [[John the Evangelist]], and answered what he perceived as errors of the [[Early Islamic philosophy|Islamic philosopher]] Averroes.

In 1259, Albert took part in the General Chapter of the Dominicans at [[Valenciennes]] together with Thomas Aquinas, masters Bonushomo Britto,<ref>{{cite book |title=Histoire littéraire de la France: XIIIe siècle |volume=19 |page=103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIYNAAAAQAAJ&q=bonushomo&pg=PA103 |access-date=October 27, 2012|last1=Grange |first1=Antoine Rivet de la |last2=Clément |first2=François |last3=(Dom) |first3=Charles Clémencet |last4=Daunou |first4=Pierre Claude François |last5=Clerc |first5=Joseph Victor Le |last6=Hauréau |first6=Barthélemy |last7=Meyer |first7=Paul |year=1838 }}</ref> Florentius,<ref>Probably Florentius de Hidinio, a.k.a. Florentius Gallicus, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LIYNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA103 ''Histoire littéraire de la France: XIIIe siècle''], Volume 19, p. 104, Accessed October 27, 2012</ref> and Peter (later [[Pope Innocent V]]), establishing a ''ratio studiorum'' or program of studies for the Dominicans<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=pf4hAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA701 ''Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics''], Volume 10, p. 701. Accessed 9 June 2011</ref> that featured the study of philosophy as an innovation for those not sufficiently trained to study theology. This innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's ''[[studium provinciale]]'' at the convent of [[Santa Sabina]] in Rome, out of which would develop the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas]], the "Angelicum".<ref>[http://www.domcentral.org/study/opstudy.htm Weisheipl O.P., J. A., "The Place of Study In the Ideal of St. Dominic"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229185458/http://www.domcentral.org/study/opstudy.htm |date=2010-12-29 }}, 1960.  Accessed 19 March 2013</ref>

[[File:2004 Köln Sarkophag Albertus Magnus.JPG|thumb|Roman [[sarcophagus]] containing the relics of Albertus Magnus in the crypt of [[St. Andrew's Church, Cologne]], Germany]]

In 1260, [[Pope Alexander IV]] made him [[bishop of Regensburg]], an office from which he resigned after three years. During the exercise of his duties he enhanced his reputation for humility by refusing to ride a horse, in accord with the dictates of the Order, instead traversing his huge diocese on foot. In 1263, [[Pope Urban IV]] relieved him of the duties of bishop and asked him to preach the [[eighth Crusade]] in German-speaking countries.<ref name=Markus>[http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2014/entries/albert-great/ Führer, Markus, "Albert the Great", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)],</ref> After this, he was especially known for acting as a mediator between conflicting parties. In Cologne, he is known not only for being the founder of Germany's oldest university there, but also for "the big verdict" (der Große Schied) of 1258, which brought an end to the conflict between the citizens of Cologne and the archbishop. Among the last of his labors was the defense of the orthodoxy of his former pupil, Thomas Aquinas, whose death in 1274 grieved Albert (the story that he travelled to Paris in person to defend the teachings of Aquinas can not be confirmed).

Albert was a scientist, philosopher, astrologer, theologian, spiritual writer, ecumenist, and diplomat. Under the auspices of Humbert of Romans, Albert molded the curriculum of studies for all Dominican students, introduced Aristotle to the classroom and probed the work of [[Neoplatonists]], such as [[Plotinus]]. Indeed, it was the thirty years of work done by Aquinas and himself that allowed for the inclusion of Aristotelian study in the curriculum of Dominican schools.

After suffering declining health in 1278, he died on 15 November 1280 in the Dominican convent in Cologne, Germany. His relics are located in a Roman sarcophagus in the [[crypt]] of the Dominican [[St. Andrew's Church, Cologne|St. Andrew's Church]] in Cologne.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de/st_andreas_koeln/albertusMagnus/ |title=Zeittafel |publisher=Gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de |access-date=2013-08-09 |archive-date=May 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521042851/http://gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de/st_andreas_koeln/albertusMagnus/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> His body was claimed to be [[Incorruptibility|incorrupt]] during an exhumation three years after his death. However, a later exhumation in 1483 found that only a [[skeleton]] remained.<ref name="Cruz 1977">{{cite book |title=The Incorruptibles: A Study of the Incorruption of the Bodies of Various Catholic Saints and Beati |last=Carroll Cruz |first=Joan |publisher=TAN Books |location=[[Charlotte, NC]] |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-89555-066-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/incorruptiblesst00cruz }}</ref>

Albert was [[beatified]] in 1622. He was [[canonized]] and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 16 December 1931 by [[Pope Pius XI]]<ref name=Markus /><ref>Füllenbach, Elias H.: The Canonization of Albert the Great in 1931, in: Fra trionfi e sconfitte. "Politica della santità" dell'Ordine dei predicatori, ed. by Viliam S. Doci and Gianni Festa, Rome 2021 (Dissertationes Historicae, vol. 39), p. 131-147. [https://www.academia.edu/80171214/The_canonization_of_Albert_the_Great_in_1931 Article]</ref> and the patron saint of natural scientists in 1941. St. Albert's [[feast day]] is November 15.

Among the first biographical sources, there were [[Heinrich von Herford]]<ref>Enrico di Herford, [[August Potthast]] (editor), ''Liber de rebus memorabilioribus sive chronicon Henrici de Hervordia''. Göttingen 1859</ref> and [[Luis of Valladolid]]<sub>[[w:es:Luis de Valladolid|es]]</sub><ref>Luigi di Valladolid, ''Tabula Alberti Magni'', in «Catalogus codicum hagiographicorum Bibl. Regia Bruxellensis», 1.2, Bruxelles, 1889. As quoted in {{cite book|author=Giordana Carucci|author2=Prof.ssa Luisa Valente|author3=Dott. Massimiliano Lenzi|url=https://www.academia.edu/39054616/La_ricezione_della_metafisica_del_flusso_avicenniana_nel_Super_Dionysium_De_divinis_nominibus_di_Alberto_Magno?email_work_card=title&li=0|title=La ricezione della metafisica del flusso avicenniana nel Super Dionysium De divinis nominibus di Alberto Magno|website=|language=it|page=9|format=PDF|year=2018|publisher=[[Sapienza University of Rome]] - Department of Letters and Philosophy}} ([[Academia.edu]])</ref><ref>Luis de Valladolid, ''Historia de vita et doctrina Alberti Magni'', in ''Subsidia hagiographica'' 1(1889): 96–105 ([https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Luis+de+Valladolid.%E2%80%9CTabula+Alberti+Magni+aliorumque+scriptorum+ordinis+Praedicatorum.%E2%80%9D+Archivum+Fratrum+Praedicatorum+1(1931):+243%E2%80%9350. Google Scholar]). As quoted in {{cite journal|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20527358/|PMID=20527358|author=David J. Collins|doi=10.1086/652532|journal=Renaissance Quarterly|volume=63|issue=1|date=Spring 2010|pp=1-44|title=Albertus, Magnus or Magus? Magic, Natural Philosophy, and Religious Reform in the Late Middle Ages|publisher=Cambridge University Press|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250410123906/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/renaissance-quarterly/article/abs/albertus-magnus-or-magus-magic-natural-philosophy-and-religious-reform-in-the-late-middle-ages/91F5C2E9E8EE0BC872A34E8E459F8C00|archive-date=April 10, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> and, in modern times, the study by James A. Weisheipl (1980), who reconstructs the life and works of Albertus Magnus taking into account all previous biographies and places his date of birth around 1200.<ref>James a. Weisheipl, ''[https://it.scribd.com/document/812430363/James-a-Weisheipl-Thomas-d-Aquino-and-Albert-His-Teacher-1980-Pontifical-Institute-of-Mediaeval-Studies-Libgen-li Thomas d'Aquino and Albert His Teacher]'', [[Étienne Gilson]] series (n°. 2), [[Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies]], Toronto 1980. {{OCLC|878247846}}</ref>