Summa Theologiae

Timeline

1. 1265–1268Santa Sabina, Rome · LazioAquinas held a chair at the Dominican convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, where he began writing the first part of the Summa Theologiae in the form of teaching outlines, systematically discussing God, creation, and human nature.
2. 1268–1272University of Paris · FranceAquinas returned to the theology chair at the University of Paris, where amid debates with Averroists and others he continued the second part, developing moral theology topics such as virtue, law, and grace, making the work a prototype of a core university classroom text.
3. 1272–1274Naples · CampaniaAquinas continued the third part on Christology and the sacraments in Naples, stopping writing around the end of 1273 with the work unfinished. He fell ill and died in 1274 while traveling to the Council of Lyon, and the manuscript was preserved and transcribed by members of his order.
4. 1323–1879Papal Curia, Rome · ItalyAfter Aquinas was canonized in 1323, the Summa Theologiae gained standing within the Dominican Order and universities; an 1879 encyclical by Leo XIII established it as an authoritative model for Catholic philosophical and theological education, and the textual tradition has continued to be annotated and translated.