SOURCE: "The Concept of Social Hierarchy in the Writings of St. Thomas Aquinas," The Historian, Vol. XII, No. 1, Autumn, 1950, pp. 28-54.

In the following essay, Archibald examines Aquinas's theories concerning the proper structure of society and the importance of hierarchy, status, and privilege.

I

St. Thomas Aquinas, who since the century of his birth has been a major influence in the world of theology, philosophy, and social theory, has acquired a new importance in recent decades. The Church, within which he labored, has long honored him as one of its few supreme philosophers. Less than fifty years after his death he was canonized. At the Council of Trent his Summa Theologica lay open on the altar beside the Scriptures, and Pope has vied with Pope in pointing to his writings as guideposts of Christian thought and action. Innocent VI (1352-1362) declared of St. Thomas:

His doctrine above all...