Albertus Magnus, also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and bishop renowned for his extensive knowledge and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Scholars such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Soder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages, an opinion supported by contemporaries like Roger Bacon. The Catholic Church honors him as a Doctor of the Church, one of only 34 individuals with that honor.
Albertus was born between 1193 and 1206 to the Count of Bollstadt in Lauingen, Bavaria. During his lifetime, contemporaries such as Roger Bacon applied the term “Magnus” to him, reflecting his immense reputation as a scholar and philosopher.
Albertus was educated primarily at Padua, where he studied Aristotle's writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia describes an encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter Holy Orders. In 1223 (or 1221), he joined the Dominican Order against his family's wishes and studied theology at Bologna and other locations. He was selected to be a lecturer in Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, and taught there, as well as in Regensburg, Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Hildesheim. In 1245, he went to Paris, received his doctorate, and taught as a master of theology. During this time, Thomas Aquinas began studying under Albertus.
Albertus was the first to comment on nearly all of Aristotle's writings, making them accessible to broader academic discussion. His study of Aristotle led him to explore the works of Muslim scholars, notably Avicenna and Averroes, placing him at the heart of academic debate. He was ahead of his time in his attitude towards science.
Two aspects of his attitude toward science are notable:
In 1254, Albertus was appointed provincial of the Dominican Order, a role he fulfilled with great care and efficiency. During his tenure, he defended the Dominicans against attacks from the secular and regular faculty of the University of Paris, commented on St. John, and addressed perceived errors of the philosopher Averroes.
In 1260, Pope Alexander IV appointed him Bishop of Regensburg, a position he resigned after three years. Known for his humility, he refused to ride a horse, walking across his large diocese instead, earning him the affectionate nickname “boots the bishop” from his parishioners.
After his bishopric, Albertus spent the remainder of his life in retirement in various Dominican houses but frequently preached throughout southern Germany. In 1270, he preached the eighth Crusade in Austria and acted as a mediator between conflicting parties, including resolving the conflict between the citizens of Cologne and the archbishop. One of his last labors was defending the orthodoxy of his former pupil, Thomas Aquinas, whose death in 1274 deeply affected Albertus (though it is not confirmed that he traveled to Paris to defend Aquinas' teachings).
Albertus Magnus died on November 15, 1280, in Cologne, Germany, following a health collapse in 1278. Since November 15, 1954, his relics have been housed in a Roman sarcophagus in the crypt of the Dominican St. Andreas Church in Cologne.
Albertus is frequently mentioned by Dante, who placed him with his pupil Thomas Aquinas among the great lovers of wisdom in the Heaven of the Sun in his *Divine Comedy*. Albertus is also mentioned in Mary Shelley's *Frankenstein* as an influence on Victor Frankenstein.
Albertus was beatified in 1622 and canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. He is the patron saint of the sciences, and his feast day is celebrated on November 15. According to Joan Carroll Cruz, his body is incorrupt.
Albertus' writings, collected in 1899, spanned thirty-eight volumes, showcasing his prolific and encyclopedic knowledge across topics such as logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, chemistry, zoology, physiology, and phrenology. He interpreted and systematized the works of Aristotle, preserving and presenting most of the modern knowledge of Aristotle.
Albertus' philosophical works are divided according to the Aristotelian scheme of the sciences, including interpretations and condensations of Aristotle's works, with discussions on contemporary topics. His principal theological works include a commentary on the *Books of the Sentences* of Peter Lombard and the *Summa Theologiae*.
Albertus' knowledge of physical science was considerable and remarkably accurate for his time. His treatise “De falconibus,” later included in *De Animalibus*, demonstrates his knowledge of birds of prey, their preparation for hunting, and cures for sick and wounded falcons. His scholarly legacy earned him the honorary title “Doctor Universalis.”
While many later stories linked him with alchemy and magic, his authentic writings had little to say about these subjects. Pseudo-Albertine works related to alchemy, such as *Metals and Materials* and *Theatrum Chemicum*, were falsely attributed to him to enhance their prestige. Although he experimented with photosensitive chemicals and believed in the occult properties of stones, evidence of his personal alchemical experiments is scant.
Legend has it that Albertus discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it to Thomas Aquinas, but this is unlikely as Thomas died before Albertus. Albertus was deeply interested in astrology, incorporating it into his philosophical system and viewing it as a way to understand celestial influences and align with Christian precepts. His astrological beliefs are detailed in the *Speculum astronomiae*.
Albertus is known for his commentary on the musical practice of his time, primarily found in his commentary on Aristotle's *Poetics*. He rejected the idea of “music of the spheres,” arguing that astronomical bodies cannot generate sound. His work on musical proportions and the subjective effects of plainchant on the human soul is of particular interest to 20th-century music theorists.
The iconography of Strasbourg Cathedral's late 13th-century portal was inspired by Albertus Magnus' writings. He is said to have created a mechanical automaton in the form of a brass head that could answer questions, a feat also attributed to Roger Bacon.
Numerous schools and institutions are named after Albertus Magnus, including:
The plant species *Alberta magna* and the asteroid *20006 Albertus Magnus* are named in his honor. Soren Kierkegaard mentioned Albertus Magnus in *The Concept of Anxiety*, and he was cited by William F. Buckley as an ideal President figure.
The typeface Albertus is named after him, and he appears in works by Mary Shelley, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Terry Pratchett. Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s novel *A Canticle for Leibowitz* features a monastic order named after Albertus Magnus, dedicated to preserving scientific knowledge after a nuclear war.
A scholastic philosopher of the Middle Ages, of great learning, but who had among the vulgar the reputation of being a magician.
He was born at Lauingen, Swabia, in 1205, of an illustrious family, his subtitle being that of Count of Bollstadt. He studied at Padua, and in 1223 entered the Order of the Dominicans. In 1249 he became head-master of the school at Cologne. In 1260 Pope Alexander VI conferred upon him the bishopric of Ratisbon. In 1262 he resigned the episcopate and returned to Cologne, and, devoting himself to philosophic pursuits for the remainder of his life, died there in 1280. His writings were very voluminous, the edition published at Lyons, in 1651, amounting to twenty-one large folio volumes.
Albertus Magnus has been connected with the Operative Freemasonry of the Middle Ages because he has been supposed by many to have been the real inventor of the German Gothic style of architecture.
Heideloff, in his *Bauhhutte des Mittelalters*, says that “he recalled into life the symbolic language of the ancients, which had so long lain dormant, and adapted it to suit architectural forms.” The Freemasons were said to have accepted his instructions, with a system of symbols which was secretly communicated only to the members of their own body, and served even as a medium of intercommunication. He is asserted to have designed the plan for the construction of the cathedral of Cologne, and to have altered the Constitution of the Freemasons, and to have given to them a new set of laws.