Who is Thomas Aquinas from Historical and Philosophical Foundations of Education: A Biographical Introduction and what is their importance?

Thomas Aquinas is the name of a famous Italian monk who promoted scholastic theology. Thomas Aquinas lived from 1225-1274 during a time when the pope had supreme power over the church and much influence over Europe as well. Bishops and priests ran parishes at local levels and schools that taught liberal arts to a small male population but ignored the illiterate majority of people. The Roman Catholic Church built influence and power in the Middle Ages based on Plato's notion of hierarchy or ranking of ideas and people. Aquinas was one of the best minds of the Middle Ages. Some priests lived among the people and others called monks lived in secluded monasteries run by religious orders like Benedictines. Aquinas was born to well-educated parents who sent him at age 5 to a Benedictine monastic school at Monte Cassino in 1231.