Revealed after 750 years: Face of saint whose teachings 'underpin the Christian faith' - after study shows his traumatic cause of death
A saint whose teachings 'underpin the Christian faith' can be seen for the first time in 750 years – and now we know his traumatic cause of death.
Thomas Aquinas shaped Catholic doctrine for centuries, arguing for faith based on reason and science, and offering five logical 'proofs' for the existence of god.
But he also transformed secular philosophy by linking morality to human nature, and influenced modern ideas about human liberty and the limits of government authority.
He advised royalty, nobility, and several popes, and was called 'the most influential thinker of the medieval period' by The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy.
Now the face of Aquinas, the patron saint of education, can be seen for the first time in 750 years, after scientists used his skull to rebuild his features.
Cicero Moraes, lead author of the new study, said: 'We initially reconstructed the skull from photographic and structural data.
'The skull did not have teeth or a jaw, so we had to project these structures based on measurements taken from CT scans of the skulls of living individuals.
'Once the skull was complete, we used several techniques to approximate the face.'
Now the face of Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of education, can be seen for the first time in 750 years, after scientists used his skull to rebuild his features
Thomas Aquinas shaped Catholic doctrine for centuries, arguing for faith based on reason and science, and offering five logical 'proofs' for the existence of god. Above: A 1476 depiction of Aquinas by Carlo Crivelli
These included using data gathered from living donors to plot the likely thickness of soft tissue at different points of the skull, and to project facial structures.
Another technique used was anatomical deformation, whereby the face and skull of a living donor was virtually adjusted to match Aquinas' dimensions, revealing his likely appearance.
Mr Moraes said: 'In the end, we combined all this data to create the basic bust and also generate a coloured version, based on the iconography of the saint.'
It was, he said, a 'humble' face.
The reconstruction comes after another study revealed that a 'traumatic brain injury' may be to blame for the philosopher's death.
Aquinas was invited to the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, where Pope Gregory X hoped to heal the 'Great Schism' between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
And though Aquinas set off in good health, he would never arrive, with his death variously attributed to illness, assassination, or a knock to the head.
Now it seems the cause was most likely a chronic subdural hematoma, whereby blood collects between the brain and the skull.
Aquinas's face was reconstructed with the partial remains of his skull. Above: Photo shows the work in progress
Photo shows the reconstructed skull of the saint, who died in 1274
The study highlights witness accounts claiming that Aquinas hit his head on a fallen tree en-route to the council from Naples.
The philosopher survived the fall, and stopped to recuperate, first at Maenza – 45 miles southeast of Rome, and then at the Abbey of Fossanova.
But his condition worsened, and he died some weeks later.
The authors write: 'Most chronic subdural hematomas (cSDH) are preceded by some form of minor to moderate head injury.'
They continued: 'A critical reading of the accounts of the last weeks of his life makes a strong case for cSDH.
'With the classic clinical history of a relatively minor head trauma, a period of lucidity, and then a gradual decline as the hematoma expands over several weeks.
'Aquinas was not ill prior to the head injury, and the violent collision with the tree on the Via Latina marked the beginning of his demise.
'Other accounts describing vague illness, poisoning, or some sort of infectious etiology are not consistent with the extant contemporary accounts.'
Aquinas also transformed secular philosophy by linking morality to human nature, and influenced modern ideas about human liberty and the limits of government authority
The study was published in the journal, World Neurosurgery, by doctors Gabriel LeBeau, Abdul-Rahman Alkiswani and Paul Camarata, and theologist Daniel Mauro.
Two skulls have been attributed to Aquinas, one kept in Toulouse, France, and another in Priverno, Italy.
LeBeau, Alkiswani, Camarata, and Mauro examined photos of the latter, and found it 'inconclusive'.
Mr Moraes based his reconstruction on the former.
'We chose to approximate the face of the one in France, because we found more historical and structural data about it than the one in Italy,' he said.
His co-author José Luis Lira, president of the Brazilian Academy of Hagiology, summarised the importance of Aquinas.
He said: 'Aquinas is of profound importance to theology and philosophy.
'Scholasticism, which reconciles Christianity with a system of rational thought, especially that of Greek philosophy, has as its essential work Aquinas' Summa Theologica.
'This text assumes an almost universality, since even the legal world uses it.
'His teachings also underpin the Christian faith, which is essentially what he desired, as a priest.'
Mr Moraes, Dr Lira and their co-author, Thiago Beaini, a forensic dentistry specialist at Brazil's University of Uberlândia, now plan to publish their study in a peer-reviewed journal.
