Thomas Aquinas — "The natural order among men is that women should be subject to men."
The natural order among men is that women should be subject to men.
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More from Thomas Aquinas
"The act of generation is natural to man."
"The purpose of marriage is the procreation of children."
"The intellect is the highest power of the soul."
"The proper good of a thing is its perfection."
"The virtue of chastity is a part of temperance."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote asserts that male authority over women is not a social invention but an inherent feature of nature's design. Men are positioned to lead and govern; women's role is subordinate by natural arrangement, not as penalty. It grounds gender hierarchy in biology and reason rather than custom, presenting unequal power between the sexes as simply how the world is properly ordered, independent of cultural preference or individual circumstance.
Relevance to Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas drew heavily from Aristotle, who classified women as biologically lesser. Writing as a Dominican friar, Aquinas built this into his theology by distinguishing 'natural subjection' (pre-Fall, divinely designed) from 'servile subjection' (punishment). His Summa Theologica formalized gender hierarchy as rational and God-ordained, directly shaping centuries of Church doctrine on marriage, women's exclusion from clergy, and their limited standing in moral and civic deliberation.
The era
Thirteenth-century Europe operated under rigid feudal and ecclesiastical hierarchies where women were barred from universities, guilds, and political authority. The Church governed social norms absolutely. This era saw scholastics reintegrating Aristotle into Christian theology, lending ancient Greek patriarchal assumptions the weight of both revealed religion and systematic reason, making gender subordination appear not merely traditional but philosophically and divinely necessary.
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