ALBERT, count of Bollstildt, usually called Albertus 3fagnus, also Albertus Teutoni cus, a man less distinguished for originality than for the extent of his acquirements and his efforts for the spread of knowledge, especially of the works and doctrines of Aristotle, was b. at Lauingen, in Swabia, in 1205, or, as some say, in 1193. After finishing his studies at Padua, he entered the order of the Dominican friars, and taught in the schools of Hildesheim, Ratisbon, and Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas became his pupil. In 1230 he repaired to Paris, where lie publicly expounded the doctrines of Aristotle, in spite of the prohibition of the church. In 1249, he became rector of the school at Cologne; and in 1254, provincial of the Dominican order in Germany. In 1260, he received from pope Alexander IV. the bishopric of Ratisbon. But in 1262, he retired to his convent at Cologne, to devote himself to literary pursuits; and here he composed a great number of works, especially commentaries on Aristotle. He had fallen into dotage some years before his death, which occurred in 1280. The fullest edition of his
works was prepared by Pierre Jammy, the Dominican (21 vols., Lyon and Leyden, 1651); but it is far from being complete. Many of the writings attributed to A. seem to be spurious; among others, that entitled De Seeretis Mulierum, which was widely circulated during the middle ages. The extensive chemical and mechanical knowledge which A. possessed, considering the age in which he lived, brought upon him the imputation of sorcery; and in German tradition he has a very ambiguous reputation. It is recorded, for instance, that in the winter of 1240, he gave a banquet in the garden of his convent, at Cologne, to William of Holland, king of the Romans; and that during the entertain ment the wintry scene was suddenly transformed into one of summer bloom and beauty. This myth rests most likely on the fact of A. having had a green-house.—The scholas tics who followed A.'s opinions took the name of Albertists.