A saint whose doctrine 'supports' the Christian faith is to be seen for the first time in 750 years – and now we know his traumatic cause of death.
Thomas Aquinas has formed Catholic doctrine for centuries, argue for faith on the basis of reason and science, and offering five logical 'evidence' for the existence of God.
But he also transformed secular philosophy by linking morality to human nature, and influenced modern ideas about human freedom and the limits of the government agency.
He advised royalty, nobility and various 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 facial features.
Cicero Moraes, main author of the new study, said: 'We initially reconstructed the skull from photographic and structural data.
'The skull had no teeth or a jaw, so we had to project these structures based on measurements taken from CT scans of the skulls of living individuals.
“As soon as the skull was completed, we used various techniques to approach 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 facial features
Thomas Aquinas has formed Catholic doctrine for centuries, argue for faith on the basis of reason and science, and offering five logical 'evidence' for the existence of God. Boven: A view 1476 from Aquinas by Carlo Crivelli
These include the use of data collected from living donors to plot the likely thickness of soft tissue on different points of the skull and to project facial structures.
Another used technique was anatomical distortion, in which the face and skull of a living donor were virtually adjusted to match the dimensions of Aquinas, which revealed its likely appearance.
Mr. Moraes said, “In the end we combined all this data to make the basic bush and also generate a colored version, based on the iconography of the saint.”
It was, he said, a 'modest' face.
The reconstruction comes after another investigation has shown that a 'traumatic brain injury' can be blamed for the death of the philosopher.
Aquinas was invited to the second council of Lyon in 1274, where Pope Gregory X hoped to cure the 'big schism' between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
And although Aquinas left in good health, he would never arrive, with his death attributed in different ways to illness, murder or a knock to the head.
Now it seems that the cause was probably a chronic subdural hematoma, with blood gathering between the brain and the skull.
The face of Aquinas was reconstructed with the partial remains of his skull. Boven: Photo shows it in execution of the work
Photo shows the reconstructed skull of the saint, who died in 1274
The study emphasizes witness reports that claim that Aquinas hit his head on a fallen tree to the council from Naples.
The philosopher survived the fall and stopped to recover, first in Maenza – 45 miles southeast of Rome, and then in the abbey of Fossanova.
But his condition deteriorated and he died a few weeks later.
The authors write: “Most chronic subdural hematomas (CSDH) are preceded by a form of small to moderate head injuries.”
They continued: 'A critical reading of the reports of the last weeks of his life makes a strong case for CSDH.
'With the classic clinical history of a relatively small head trauma, a period of brightness and then a gradual decline as the hematoma expands in a few weeks.
'Aquinas was not sick prior to the head injury, and the violent collision with the tree on Via Latina marked the start of his downfall.
“Other reports that describe vague illness, poisoning or a kind of infectious etiology are not consistent with the existing contemporary reports.”
Aquinas also transformed secular philosophy by linking morality to human nature, and influenced modern ideas about human freedom and the limits of the government agency.
The study was published in the magazine, World Neurosurgery, by doctors Gabriel Lebeau, Abdul-Rahman Alkiswani and Paul Camarata and theologian Daniel Mauro.
Two skulls are 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 'not convincing'.
Mr. Moraes based his reconstruction on the first.
“We chose to approach the face of that in France, because we have found more historical and structural data about it than in Italy,” he said.
His co-author José Luis Lira, president of the Brazilian Academy of Hagiology, summarized the importance of Aquinas.
He said: “Aquinas is of deep importance for theology and philosophy.
'Scholastics, which reconciles Christianity with a system of rational thinking, especially that of Greek philosophy, has the essential work of Aquinas' Summa Theologica.
'This text is based on almost universality, because even the legal world uses it.
“His teachings also support the Christian faith, which is essentially what he wanted, as a priest.”
Mr. Moraes, Dr. Lira and their co-author, Thiago Baini, a forensic dentistry specialist at the Brazilian University of Uberlândia, are now planning to publish their studies in a peer-reviewed magazine.
