What was Thomas Aquinas like in real life? We often live with shrivelled-up versions of ourselves and others, pigeonholing each other under always more narrow stereotypes and labels. Periodically it is good to stand back, dismantle the pigeonholes and take an uncluttered, fresh look. That can lead to surprising discoveries. Buried in Pope Francis’ interview to the Civiltà Cattolica last month was the revelation of a staggeringly detailed off-the-cuff knowledge of the discography of classical music going back decades, complicating the image of simplicity and poverty we have got used to since his election earlier this year. Thomas has suffered in analogous ways by being pilloried as a dry-as-dust “scholastic”, peddling endless lifeless syllogisms, vainly trying to p