The Final Days: How Did Thomas Aquinas Die and What Really Happened?

Thomas Aquinas was a giant. I don't just mean his intellect—though, honestly, the Summa Theologica is basically the Everest of Western philosophy—but the man was physically massive. People called him the "Dumb Ox" because he was quiet and huge, yet he shaped the way we think about God, law, and reason for seven hundred years. But then, at the height of his influence, he just... stopped. He died young, only 49 or 50, under circumstances that feel more like a medieval mystery novel than a dry hagiography. If you've ever wondered how did Thomas Aquinas die, the answer isn't a simple "old age." It involves a direct order from a Pope, a literal headache, a donkey, and a final meal of herrings that sounds like something out of a fever dream.

He was on the road. That’s the first thing to realize. He wasn't tucked away in a cozy library in Paris or Naples. In late 1273, Pope Gregory X summoned him to the Second Council of Lyon. This was a big deal—a massive attempt to heal the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. Aquinas was the heavy hitter, the intellectual enforcer the Pope needed. Despite feeling physically spent, he set out on foot and by mule from Naples in the dead of winter. It was a brutal trip for a man of his size and declining health.

The Mystical Silence and the Journey North

Something broke in Thomas before he even left. On December 6, 1273, while celebrating Mass, he had a profound mystical experience. We don't know exactly what he saw—he never wrote it down—but he told his long-time secretary, Reginald of Piperno, that "all I have written is straw compared to what has now been revealed to me." He stopped writing entirely. He left the Summa unfinished. This shift from hyper-prolific scholar to silent monk is one of the most jarring pivots in history.

He was weak. His legs were heavy. As he traveled north toward Lyon, he wasn't just tired; he was fundamentally changed. Some historians, like Jean-Pierre Torrell, suggest he might have suffered a physical breakdown, perhaps a stroke or a severe cardiovascular event triggered by his lifestyle of intense study and constant travel.

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The Accident Near Maenza

The beginning of the end happened on the road. While traveling near Maenza, Thomas struck his head against a low-hanging branch of a fallen tree. It wasn't a light tap. For a man already suffering from exhaustion and potentially high blood pressure, this head injury was catastrophic. He didn't die instantly, but he was dazed and visibly worsening.

He was taken to the Castle of Maenza, the residence of his niece, Francesca d'Aquino. He stayed there for several days, but he knew he was dying. He didn't want to die in a secular castle. He wanted to be in a monastery. He asked to be moved to the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova, which was nearby. Legend says he walked the last few miles supported by monks, a dying giant searching for a place to meet his Creator.

The Final Days at Fossanova

Once he reached Fossanova, the monks treated him like the living saint they believed him to be. They even gave up their own rooms for him. It’s here that the story of his death gets a bit surreal. Thomas, usually a man of extreme self-discipline, developed a very specific craving: fresh herrings. Now, they were in the middle of Italy. Fresh herrings weren't exactly a local staple. Miraculously (according to the records of his canonization), a basket of fresh herrings arrived at the gates, which he ate.

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His health continued to spiral. He spent his final days dictating a commentary on the Song of Songs, because apparently, Thomas Aquinas couldn't stop being a scholar even on his deathbed. He received the Viaticum (his last Communion) prostrate on the floor, weeping. On March 7, 1274, the "Angelic Doctor" passed away.

Was There Foul Play?

You’ll occasionally hear rumors of poisoning. Dante Alighieri famously hinted in the Divine Comedy that Thomas was murdered on the orders of Charles of Anjou, the King of Sicily. The theory was that Charles feared Thomas would reveal damaging information at the Council of Lyon.

• The Dante Theory: Dante wrote that Charles "sent to heaven" Thomas by means of poison.
• The Medical Reality: Most modern scholars, including those at the Leonine Commission, dismiss this. There was zero evidence of poisoning at the time.
• The Verdict: It’s much more likely he died from a combination of chronic ill health, the head trauma from the tree branch, and the sheer physical toll of the journey.

Why the Manner of His Death Matters

The way Thomas died—silent and unfinished—adds a layer of humility to his massive body of work. He didn't die with a pen in his hand finishing a perfect syllogism. He died as a pilgrim who realized that all his books, as brilliant as they were, couldn't capture the full reality of what he believed.

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His body didn't even get to rest in peace. The monks at Fossanova were so afraid of losing his relics that they reportedly decapitated the corpse and boiled the flesh off the bones to preserve them before the Pope could claim the body. It’s a grisly, bizarre end for a man who spent his life writing about the dignity of the human soul and the resurrection of the body. Eventually, his remains were moved to Toulouse, France, where they stay today at the Church of the Jacobins.

What We Can Learn from 1274

So, how did Thomas Aquinas die? He died of a brain injury exacerbated by exhaustion, likely complicated by a stroke, following a life of intense intellectual labor.

If you’re looking to dive deeper into the reality of the Middle Ages or the life of Aquinas, here are a few things you should actually do:

1. Read the "Unfinished" Part: Check out the Supplementum of the Summa Theologica. It was finished by his followers using his earlier writings because he refused to write another word after his "straw" revelation.
2. Visit Fossanova: If you're ever in Italy, the Abbey of Fossanova is still there. You can see the room where he died. It’s remarkably preserved and gives a visceral sense of the scale of the man versus the simplicity of the monks.
3. Check the Sources: Look for The Friar of Naples by Jean-Pierre Torrell. It is widely considered the gold standard for a factual, non-mythologized biography of Aquinas.
4. Examine the Hagiography: Compare the official canonization records with Dante’s political poetry. It’s a fascinating look at how "fake news" and political spin worked in the 1300s.

Thomas Aquinas's death wasn't a tragedy of a life cut short; it was the completion of a man who decided that, after writing millions of words, the most important things are the ones you can't actually say.