Albert the Great

and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a

German Dominican friar and a Catholic bishop. Contemporaries such as Roger Bacon applied the term "Magnus" to Albertus during his own lifetime, referring to his immense reputation as a scholar and philosopher. Such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Söder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church honours him as a Doctor of the Church, one of only 35 so honoured.

given well-attested evidence that he was aged over 80 on

his death in 1280; more than one source says that Albert was 87 on his death, which has led 1193 to be commonly given as the date of Albertus's birth. Albertus was probably born in Lauingen in Bavaria, since he called himself 'Albert of Lauingen', but this might simply be a family name. Albertus was probably educated principally at the University of Padua, where he received instruction in Aristotle's writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus' encounter with the Blesse Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter Holy Orders. In 1223 (or 1229) he became a member of the Dominican Order, against the wishes of his family, and studied theology at Bologna and elsewhere.  

his Summa de bono. In 1245 he went to Paris, received his

doctorate and taught for some time as a master of theology with great success. In 1260 Pope Alexander IV made him Bishop of Regensburg. In 1270 he preached the eighth Crusade in Austria. After this, he was especially known for acting as a mediator between conflicting parties. In Cologne he is not only known for being the founder of Germany's oldest university there, but also for "the big verdict" (der Große Schied) of 1258, which brought an end to the conflict between the citizens of Cologne and the Archbishop. After suffering a collapse of health in 1278, he died on November 15, 1280, in the Dominican convent in Cologne, Germany. Since November 15, 1954, his relics are in a Roman sarcophagus in the crypt of the Dominican St. Andreas Church in Cologne.

displayed his prolific habits and literally encyclopedic knowledge of topics

such as logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, alchemy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, friendship, and love. He digested, interpreted, and systematized the whole of Aristotle's works, gleaned from the Latin translations and notes of the Arabian commentators, in accordance with Church doctrine. Most modern knowledge of Aristotle was preserved and presented by Albertus.
Albertus' activity, however, was more philosophical than theological. The philosophical works, occupying the first six and the last of the twenty-one volumes, are generally divided according to the Aristotelian scheme of the sciences, and consist of interpretations and condensations of Aristotle's relative works, with supplementary discussions upon contemporary topics, and occasional divergences from the opinions of the master.
His principal theological works are a commentary in three volumes on the Books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard (Magister Sententiarum), and the Summa Theologiae in two volumes. The latter is in substance a more didactic repetition of the former.

age remarkably accurate. His industry in every department was great,

and though we find in his system many gaps which are characteristic of scholastic philosophy, his protracted study of Aristotle gave him a great power of systematic thought and exposition. An exception to this general tendency is his Latin treatise "De falconibus" (later inserted in the larger work, De Animalibus, as book 23, chapter 40), in which he displays impressive actual knowledge of
a) the differences between the birds of prey and the other kinds of birds;
b) the different kinds of falcons;
c) the way of preparing them for the hunt; and
d) the cures for sick and wounded falcons. 
His scholarly legacy justifies his contemporaries' bestowing upon him the honourable surname Doctor Universalis.