The Early Cult of Thomas Aquinas in Southern Italy

M. Michèle Mulchahey, Leonard E. Boyle Professor of Manuscript Studies, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

Often depicted as an iconic symbol of the Dominican intellectual achievement, Thomas Aquinas may not strike many as a charismatic saint. But in life Aquinas was much loved, in death much mourned by his friends and students, and his tomb at the abbey of Fossanova soon became the focal point of an active local cult. This talk explores the lesser-known side of the “Angelic Doctor,” the saint whose relics were working miracles among the simple folk of southern Italy even as his order was shaping his image as a new Doctor of the Church.