Saint Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was a monk and scholar who is generally regarded as perhaps the most important intellectual of the medieval period.
Here are some reasons I think he may well have been autistic.
- He was incredibly reticent in speaking, and people often thought he was stupid, to the point he got the nickname “the Dumb Ox”.
- At one point, only his tutor, Albertus Magnus, realised how bright he was, saying “You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.”
- He wasn’t ambitious – he refused promotions to prestigious jobs (e.g. abbot) to focus on reading and studying.
- He could be really stubborn. At one point, his family held him prisoner for a year to persuade him to leave the Dominicans; he refused. This only ended when his mother arranged for him to escape.
- He was notoriously gullible. The story is told that some of his fellow monks once called him over to the window because they said there was a pig flying in the sky. Thomas looked hard for it, and when they mocked him replied “I would rather believe that a pig could fly than that my brothers would lie to me.” Autistic mic drop.
- He devised and wrote up a load of proofs for God’s existence, all of which rely on intellectual sleight of hand, and none of which are remotely likely to convince a neurotypical person.
Autistic sidenotes
I don’t really agree with the whole patron saint thing, but I think it’s great having Christians we look to in the past who have things in common with us.
I know it’s impossible and probably unwise to diagnose historical characters with neurological conditions, especially when I am neither a historian nor a neurologist.
And I don’t actually agree with Thomas Aquinas about a lot of things either, but that doesn’t stop me feeling a deal of sympathy for him.
For another candidate for patron saint of autism, see Saint Thorlak of Iceland.
John Allister
John Allister is the vicar of St Jude’s Church in Nottingham, England.
He is autistic, and has degrees in Theology and Experimental & Theoretical Physics.