Thomas Aquinas

About Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a Dominican friar and immensely influential philosopher and theologian, is ranked by the Pantheon project as the #166 most historically important figure globally. His monumental contribution lies in synthesizing Aristotelian philosophy with Christian doctrine, most notably in his *Summa Theologiae*. This integration profoundly shaped Western thought, theology, and scholasticism for centuries, cementing his high standing in historical importance metrics.

Despite this deep, lasting influence, Aquinas's modern internet attention is notably modest relative to his historical weight. He registers approximately 1.4 million annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This places him in an "overattention" bracket of +3x compared to his historical rank, suggesting his online presence is proportionally larger than his actual influence when compared to figures whose attention scores match their HPI. Interestingly, he is viewed less than half as often as William the Conqueror (#934 importance) who garnered 3.0M views, despite Aquinas being ranked significantly higher in historical importance.

However, the trend in 2025 shows a slight cooling of immediate interest, with momentum dropping by -18% between Q1 and Q3, although the year-over-year change remains positive at +14.5%.