Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. (also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino; c. 1225 β 7 March 1274) was an Italian Catholic priest in the Dominican Orer, a philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Universalis and Doctor Communis. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology.