Dionysius the Areopagite: Sun, Paradiso 10   The other bright lights in Thomas' circle are: Gratian, a Benedictine monk renowned for his contribution to canon law; Peter Lombard, a theologian and bishop who gathered writings of Church authorities into a popular textbook (Sentences); Dionysius the Areopagite, a biblical convert (Acts 17:34) to whom the Middle Ages mistakenly attributed authorship of influential works of Christian Neoplatonism, including one on angels (On the Celestial Hierarchy); the Christian historian Paulus Orosius; Isidore of Seville, author of a widely consulted encyclopedic work (Etymologies); the Venerable Bede, who wrote the Ecclesiastical History of England; and Richard of St. Victor, a twelfth-century mystic known for his biblical commentaries.