ERASMUS of MONTECASSINO. - Theologian who lived in the 13th century. He received his initial theological training at Montecassino; the predominantly experimental approach of the Cassinese school, initiated by Constantine the African, soon led him to adopt a more rational method compared to those commonly in use at the time. This tendency matured further at the Studium of Naples, where he was called to the chair of theology in 1240, and he likely remained there until the death of Frederick II (1250).
In the Neapolitan environment, which was open to currents more inclined toward Aristotelianism, E. developed a certain independence of thought, even in relation to William of Auxerre, though he still shows himself to be a follower of the latter in his treatises. It is now common opinion that E. had relations in Naples with St. Thomas Aquinas, who had been sent by the abbot of Montecassino to attend that university in those very years. It is even more likely that they knew each other earlier at Montecassino, where the first scientific contacts between the two figures date back to that period. Some theological treatises and a few sermons by E. remain unpublished in Cassinese manuscripts.