THE NOTED THEOLOGIAN Thomas Aquinas died in 1274, and in 1319 the Catholic Church wanted to make him a saint. There are two criteria for this most exalted of positions: either you must have been martyred, or you had to have performed at least one miracle.
Aquinas, a Dominican Friar, lived a cosy life as a scholastic philosopher, and his demise in bed was far from martyrdom. So the Church had to scour his life for a miracle.
While on his way to the Council of Lyon in 1274 he struck his head while riding a donkey, and became bedridden. The monks asked if there was anything they could do to make him more comfortable, and he replied that he could really fancy a herring.
This caused some consternation, as there were no herrings in the Mediterranean. So the monks decided to give him a sardine instead. On eating it he pronounced that it was the best herring he’d ever tasted. The sardine had turned into a herring in his mouth.
And so it was that the Miracle of the Herring enabled him to become Saint Thomas.
