Albertus Magnus (ca. 1206 – 1280)

St. Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great) was born in Lauingen Germany in about 1206. He was the eldest son of the Count of Bollstädt. He studied at the young university of Padua in Italy. In 1223 he joined the order of St. Dominic. He had taught theology at Hildesheim, Freiburg, Ratisbon, Strassburg and Cologne before being gaining the doctoral degree in 1245 from the University of Paris. In 1248 he returned to Cologne and became the Regent of the Studium Generale (the forerunner of the University of Cologne). In 1254 he was elected Provincial of the Dominicans in Germany. In 1260 he was appointed Bishop of Regensburg. In 1262 he retired from the position of Bishop and became once again a teacher in Cologne. He was beatified by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 and canonized in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. He was declared the patron saint of natural scientists in 1941 by Pope Pius XII. His feast day is celebrated on November 15. He is entombed in the Church of St. Andreas in Cologne.

One of his pupils, whose reputation was to become greater that that of his master was St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas came to Cologne to study with Albert in 1245. He accompanied Albert to Paris in 1245 and returned with him to Cologne in 1248. The death of his pupil, Thomas in 1274, with whom Albert had stayed in close contact, was a severe blow to the aging professor. In 1277 he was able provide one last service to his student as a movement developed attempting to condemn Thomas' writings, which some considered to be to positive to a pagan such as Aristotle. (Thomas had learned to appreciate Aristotle from his teacher Albert.) On that occasion the 70 plus year old Albert traveled once again to Paris and defended Thomas with much of his old vigor.

The preserved writings of St. Albert comprise about 40 volumes and include works on theology, biology, metaphysics, mineralogy, logic, physical sciences, psychology, morals and politics, and many of his sermons.

Albert Magnus (Albert von Bollstädt) wurde 1193 in Lauingen geboren und starb am 15.11.1280 in Köln. Er gehörte seit 1223 dem Dominikanerorden an, lehrte in Köln, Hildesheim, Freiburg, Straßburg und Regensburg, auch an der Universität von Paris. Er wurde 1260 Bischof von Regensburg, kehrte aber 1262 nach Köln zurück. Albertus Magnus gilt als einer der vielseitigsten Gelehrten des Mittelalters, durch seine Kommentare hat er die Werke des Aristoteles dem christlichen Abendland zugänglich gemacht. Er besaß für seine Zeit ungewöhnliche naturwissenschaftliche Kenntnisse. Wegen seiner umfassenden Gelehrsamkeit wird er "doctor universalis" genannt. Albertus Magnus wurde 1931 zum Heiligen und Kirchenlehrer erhoben.