Feast of St Albert the Great
He was born at Lauingen on the Danube, in Germany, and studied at Padua and Paris before entering the Dominican Order. He taught in a number of places including the University of Paris, where St Thomas Aquinas studied under him.
He was one of the greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages, coming at the beginning of the great flowering that came with the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle. He had a great interest in science and astronomy and his learning gave him the title, as a Doctor of the Church, of Doctor Universalis, the “Universal Doctor.”
In 1260 the Pope made him Bishop of Regensburg, a post that he held for three years before resigning it. He made great efforts to secure peace between people and between cities. He died at Cologne in 1280.
From Universalis today