Introduction

Abstract

Abstract We have three main sources for our knowledge of Aquinas’s life. The first is the text of his canonization process (Naples 1319). Then there are two early biographies. One is by William Tocco, who knew Aquinas personally. The other is by Bernard Gui, whose account depends partly on that of Tocco, but may also incorporate independent and reliable information. Putting these documents together allows us to form a generally credible outline of Aquinas’s career. But they also leave us with many unanswered, and probably unanswerable, questions. Hence we find that the three most recent biographies of Aquinas differ significantly on a number of issues. They do so, for example, even when it comes to the year of Aquinas’s birth, which can arguably be placed anywhere from 1224 to 1226.