Saint Albertus Magnus

(c. 1200 - 1280)

Albertus Magnus abandoned his studies in Padua to join the Order of the Preachers in the 1220s and later taught Scripture in Cologne. In the 1240s, Albertus was sent to study theology at the University of Paris. He returned to Cologne around 1248, the year construction began on the Cologne Cathedral; one legend purports that Albertus contributed to its design. He taught Thomas Aquinas, and was in 1941 declared the patron saint of those who work in the natural sciences, which he wrote about extensively, along with the works of Aristotle.