I’m not sure why it’s so mind-boggling that people in the year 1225 (Thomas Aquinas) or 1756 (Mozart) were just as creative and intelligent as they themselves are, as modern people. They simply had different opportunities then comparable to now. And what some of them did with those opportunities are beyond anything a “modern” person can imagine doing in those same circumstances. _A lot_ of free time over winter in the 1200s for certain people. Not nearly as many distractions either.