Gennadius fills an important place in Byzantine history. He was the last of the old school of polemical writers and one of the greatest. Unlike most of his fellows he had an intimate acquaintance with Latin theological literature, especially with St. Thomas Aquinas and other Scholastics. He was as skillful an opponent of Catholic theology as Mark of Ephesus, and a more learned one. However, his opposition to Aquinas can be overstated. Marcus Plested observes that Scholarios' "love and esteem for Thomas was to continued undimmed throughout his career" "although he would often accentuate the note of caution in later works." Despite his cautions Scholarios writes of Thomas "we love this divinely-inspired and wise man."