Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle—whom he called "the Philosopher"—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity." [Wikipedia] "Soon enough, the forces of faith and reason were at one another's throats, and it would take the patience of a philosopher-saint [Thomas Aquinas]--in this case, one steeped in the teachings of Averroes and his school--to craft a truce between those who upheld the traditional church teachings and the new generations of early modern scientists, as shaped by the Arabs." [Lyons: House of Wisdom, p. 185] "Before joining the Dominicans, Thomas studied at Frederick II's University of Naples, where he first encountered natural philosophy in an environment shaped by the works of the Arab and Jewish thinkers favored by the emperor." [Lyons: House of Wisdom, p. 190] Before he arrived on the Parisian scene, he had the benefit of an education shaped by Frederick II's Andalusian-like culture in southern Italy, where he had been able to read a Latin translation of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, reputedly a favorite of Frederick's." [Menocal: Ornament of the World, p. 214] "Is the main staple of theology during the Middle Ages." [Wikipedia: Timeline of Middle Ages]