TOSTADO, ALONSO, - Theologian, exegete and bishop, b. at Madrigal (Castile) ca. 1400, d. at Bonilla de la Sierra (Avila) on 3 September 1455.
Rector of the college of St. Bartholomew (1436) and of Salamanca, he taught there simultaneously philosophy, theology and law. Because of certain bold theses, especially on the nature and remissibility of sin, T. was summoned to defend himself before Eugene IV, who was then residing at Siena (1443). The examining Commission (Cardinals Torquemada, Capranica and Orsini) inclined toward condemnation, from which he nevertheless escaped by his skilful answers and prompt submission. Nicholas V, at the request of King John II, in 1449 named him bishop of Avila (whence the name Abulensis), and in six years of wise government he acquired a reputation for sanctity. His exegetical-theological activity, both before and after his episcopate, became proverbial (escribe mas que el Tostado), so that on his tomb was placed the inscription: « Hic stupor est mundi, qui scibile discutit omne ».
His works in 13 vols. (Venice 1501-1503, and reprinted there in 16 [1596], 22 [1616] and 27 vols. [1723]), consist for the most part of long commentaries on nearly all the books of the Old Testament, on Mt. and on Hebr., in which, after a careful literal explanation, he accumulates, around verses of dogmatic value, numerous, subtle and sometimes ingenious scholastic discussions. In the last volume of the published works are found the opuscules: Defensorium trium propositionum (defending the propositions censured at Siena); Paradoxa (on the Eucharist, the Immaculate Conception, of which he is a decided defender, the Incarnate Word, the Redemption, the Angels, vocal prayer). Numerous are the unpublished works, of which manuscripts are preserved at Salamanca and at Madrid (cf. Bosi, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 52-54), and many are those lost.