Albertus Magnus
ALBERTUS MAGNUS, Saint. (Born: Lauingen, Swabia, Germany, 1193; Died: Cologne, Germany, 15 November 1280)
Albertus was one of
the most famous authors of the High Middle Ages. He was born to a wealthy
and powerful family, which provided him with a good Classical eduction.
He studied liberal arts at Padua, where he came under the influence of
Joranus of Saxony [?–1236], Master General of the Dominican Order.
Against his family wishes, Albert vowed to a life of poverty and entered
the Order, eventually being ordained a priest. Around 1241, he was sent
to the University of Paris where he quickly rose to the post of Master
of Theology. His devotion and knowledge soon lead to his appointment to
establish in Cologne a studium generale. This education center was to
occupy and consume Albertus for the remainder of his life; among his illustrious
students were Thomas Aquinas [1227–1274], Thomas of Cantimpr´e
[1201–after 1280] and Ulrich of Strassburg and Giles [?–1278].
In 1260 the Pope appointed Albertus Bishop of Regensburg, a post he resigned
in 1262. The remainder of his long life was devoted to preaching, teaching
and writing, primarily at Cologne. He was the most influential medieval
educator of the Aristotelian philosphies, and through his position as
provost at Cologne, he introduced Greek teachings to the curriculum—a
practice soon copied at other education centers. Albertus Magnus was canonized
in 1931 by Pope Pius XI, who declared him Saint to all those who cultivate
the natural sciences.
Albertus Magnus set as his life’s work to place all of Aristotle’s
extant writings into a coherent system and to reconcile the Greek philosophies
with those of the Christian world. To attain this outcome, he scoured
the libraries of every monastery he visited for any writings of the Ancients.
In this quest he was rewarded with the discovery of several ancient works
thought lost. These he had copied under his own eyes, thus preserving
them for the future when they might not otherwise have survived. However,
Albert’s diligence did not locate any copy of what he thought was
Aristotle’s Lapidary, and what is now known to be a pseudo–Aristotelian
work. He was therefore forced to write his own work dealing with minerals.
The result is of remarkable interest as it shows not only what the state
of mineralogy was in the 13th century, but what Albert thought the science
should be.
The De Mineralibus [=Book of Minerals] is a reflection of the knowledge
of minerals in the 13th century structured in the framework of ancient
Greek doctrine. Following basic Aristotelian philosophy and guided only
by the few lines devoted to mineral substances in Aristotle’s Meteorologica,
Albertus draws heavily upon his own observations and less so on other
medieval and classical sources to describe minerals.
Various duties of his religious Order caused him to take frequent trips
throughout the territories of France, Germany and Italy. Along the literally
thousands of miles traveled on foot by Albertus, he had many encounters
with mines, miners and minerals. These impressions he retained in his
memory until they were later recorded in this work. Consequently, when
reading Albertus’ words, there is no doubt as to the authority of
his citations. One can only regret that the scope of the project was so
great as to preclude observations of many phenomena.
The De Mineralibus is divided into five books, dealing with stones (Books
I–II), metals (Books III–
IV), “intermediates” (Book V), which are neither stones nor
metals, but have characteristics of both. In books, I, III and V the author
follows classical philosophy by discussing minerals based upon their causes.
This refers to the four causes distinguished by Aristotle as material
(the matter from which minerals are made), efficient (the process by which
minerals are made), formal (the form which minerals take, assumed by Albertus
to be based on biological propagation), and final (the reason the mineral
exists). In books, II, IV and V Albertus completes his plan by individually
naming stones, metals, and “intermediates,” and describing
each in considerable detail. This type of catalog, alphabetically arranged
on the name of the stone was popular in medieval herbals and lapidaries
and is a tradition that dates back at least to Pliny. Yet Albertus’
De Mineralibus is not a simple lapidary. Even though its background is
based in medieval thought, with many errors, the structure of the text
is recognizable in modern textbooks (i.e., the introduction of general
principles giving the origin, and physical properties of minerals, followed
by descriptions of individual minerals including appearance, place of
occurrence, uses, etc.). With Albertus Magnus’ mineralogy, the study
of minerals begins to emerge from its embryonic period into a full fledged
science. The tradition of magical and curative powers in gems still permeates
the text, but one feels the author fighting the superstitions of the ancient
beliefs, and seeing the world in a new, more skeptical and practical view
