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Saint Albert the Great (1206-1280) is the patron saint of natural, chemical and exact sciences and Universal Doctor of the Catholic Church. He is recognized for his extensive encyclopedic work - hence his epithet of Great or Great -, for his notable work as a translator and commentator on Aristotle and for being the teacher of the scholastic Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Albert Bollstaedt was born in 1206 in Lauingen (Swabia, Germany), into a county family vassal of Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen. The young nobleman will soon go to the University of Padua to study in the liberal arts, where he will also be ordained a friar of the order of preachers. He will go to the University of Paris to complete his training as a doctor in Theology -1245- and will hold the chair of foreigners at the Saint-Jacques studio.
In the European universities of the mid-13th century, apart from the commentary on the books of the sentences of Peter Lombard and Dionysius Aeropagita, as well as the use of the scholastic method - lectio and disputatio -, the Aristotelian current began to penetrate strongly. of thought and the study of natural sciences.
It is this Aristotelian fervor, shared with Roger Bacon, that will make Alberto begin to write his Encyclopedia or Summa of science, philosophy (Physics and Metaphysics) and Theology, as well as his first translations and commentaries.
He is recognized as a chemist, philosopher, writer, entomologist, botanist, geographer, theologian. Polymath of medieval culture. He has influences from Avicenna, Aristotle, Al Farabi Maimonides and Plotinus.
He is the creator of Christian scholasticism, since, following the routes traced by the Iranian Al Gazzali, author of The Resurgence of the Religious Sciences, and Maimonides, he instructed his disciple, Thomas Aquinas, in the confrontation of Aristotelian theories with religion. Christian. The Catholic Church distinguishes him as one of the 37 Doctors of the Church. He was canonized in 1931 by Pius XI.
He was defined in his time as close, human, strong, endearing, direct, sincere and bold.
He had extensive knowledge in what would later be called chemistry, highlighted by the discovery of arsenic in 1250.
In his Treatise on Alchemy he prepares the nitric acid to which he gives the names first water or philosophical water, in the first degree of perfection. The second water was a type of aqua regia intended to dissolve gold.
By treating certain mercurial compounds with this water he obtains third water, which he called the mother of the water of life that reduces all bodies to the first matter.
Finally, the fourth water, which was obtained by distilling, was previously germinated for four days in horse manure. It was called vinegar of the philosophers, mineral water, celestial dew, holy water and it was the most miraculous of all.
Alberto Magno admitted the existence of "magic plants" such as calendula, nettle, caledonia, mint, knapweed, mistletoe, sage, verbena, celery, rose. The truly magical plant was the opium poppy, capable of serving as a universal panacea with analgesic, sedative, narcotic and aphrodisiac virtues.
He added to these his own comments and experiments and in his opinion experimentation consisted of observing, describing and classifying.
Alberto's works were collected in 1899 in 38 volumes. These showed his prolific habits and his encyclopedic knowledge of subjects such as logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, alchemy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, friendship and love.
He interpreted and systematized all of Aristotle's works, extracted from the Latin translations and notes of Arab commentators, in accordance with the doctrine of the Church. Most of Aristotle's modern knowledge was preserved and presented by Albert.
His principal theological works are a three-volume commentary on the work The Sentences of Peter Lombard (Magister Sententiarum ) and the two-volume Summa Theologiae.
His books on topics such as botany, zoology and minerals included information from ancient sources, but also results from his own empirical research.
Much of Alberto's empirical contributions to the natural sciences have been superseded, but his general approach to science may be surprisingly modern. For example, in De Mineralibus (Book II, Treatise II, Chapter 1) Albert states: "For [the task] of natural science is not simply to accept what we are told, but to investigate the causes of natural things."
He was deeply interested in astronomy. Throughout the Middle Ages – astrology was widely accepted by scientists and intellectuals who held the view that life on earth is effectively a microcosm within the macrocosm.
Albert argued that understanding the heavenly influences that affect us could help us live our lives more in accordance with Christian precepts. In geography and astronomy he explained and argued that the earth is spherical.
Most of his written musical observations are found in his commentary on Aristotle's Poetics. He wrote extensively about proportions in music, and about the three different subjective levels at which plainchant could work on the human soul: purging the impure; illumination leading to contemplation; and nutrition through contemplation.
Of particular interest to 20th-century music theorists is the attention he paid to silence as an integral part of music.
A phrase: "Having great knowledge does not hinder humility and poverty." To understand human or moral goodness, the individual must first recognize what it means to be good and do good deeds. This procedure reflects Alberto's concerns with Neoplatonic theories of the good.
Alberto dedicated De Bono's last treatise to a theory of justice and natural law. He places God as the pinnacle of justice and natural law. God legislates and divine authority is supreme. Until his time, it was the only work specifically devoted to natural law written by a theologian or philosopher.
Alberto mentions friendship in his work, De Bono, as well as presenting his ideals and morals of friendship at the beginning of Tractatus II. He later published Super Ethica.
Albert comments on Aristotle's view of friendship with a quote from Cicero, who writes: "Friendship is nothing other than the harmony between the divine and the human, with good will and love."
Alberto agrees with this comment, but also adds in harmony or agreement. He describes various levels of goodness; the useful (utile), the pleasant (delectabile) and the authentic or unqualified good (honestum).
Then, in turn, there are three levels of friendship based on each of those levels, namely, friendship based on utility (amicitia utilis), friendship based on pleasure (amicitia delectabilis) and friendship based on kindness. without reservations (amicitia honesti; amicitia quae fundatur super honestum).
