Aquinas's father plans his religious career

1215

The Count of Aquino sent his young son Thomas, destined for the abbey of Monte Cassino, to begin his education there under Benedictine tutelage. The boy would eventually run away to join the new Dominicans, to his family's horror and later pride. His brothers kidnapped him and held him prisoner for a year in a family castle, trying without success to shake his vocation.