TEODORICO (DIETRICH) of APOLDA. - Dominican theologian, b. at Apolda in Thuringia in 1228, d. about 1297. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1240 at Erfurt. He wrote (about 1290) a Vita s. Dominici.
Quétif-Echard (v. BIBLICA) and others distinguish him from Teodorico di Turingia, author of a historically well-founded Vita s. Elisabeth; differences of style are indeed observable. For the present, the problem of the origin of the two works cannot be settled. Evidence not to be overlooked in favor of identity of authorship includes the sameness of name, Order, time of composition, the complaints about poor eyesight, as well as the concern to possess and indicate reliable sources, and finally the construction of the second prologue of the Vita s. Dominici and of the Vita s. Elisabeth.
The spirituality of the Dominican Order stands out in the Vita s. Dominici as genuinely Christocentric, with the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.