As I suspect many researchers in medieval history and culture have done, I sometimes ponder, if it were possible to go back in time, which famous (or infamous) medieval person I would like to meet. In my case it would be Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, c. 1195-1280). So far, however, my closest encounter with him has been through his works on natural philosophy, which I have read as part of my ongoing research into medieval (human) attitudes to (nonhuman) animals. Unlike his more famous contemporary Thomas Aquinas, Albert is not well-known outside Germany, although he certainly was in late medieval Europe. - [Author]

Language: English