TOLEDO, FRANCISCO de. – Jesuit cardinal and theologian, born at Cordova on 4 October 1532, died at Rome on 14 September 1596.
He studied philosophy at Valenza and theology at Salamanca, where he obtained his doctorate and a chair of philosophy; in 1558 he entered the Society of Jesus; in 1559 he went to Rome as lecturer in philosophy (1559–63), and then in theology (1563–69) at the Collegio Romano, where he was the first to teach the doctrine of predestination post praevisa merita; in 1569 he became theologian of the S. Penitentiary (for 24 years) and apostolic preacher; in 1593 he was elected cardinal. If, on the one hand, he brought fame to the Society, on the other he created very serious difficulties for it, freeing himself from the dependence of his Superiors through a secret papal dispensation and supporting the Spanish revisionist current against the superior general C. Acquaviva. He rendered great services to the Holy See both through his diplomatic missions in Poland to Sigismund II (1572), in Germany and Belgium (1580), where he received Baio’s recantation, and through his good offices with Henry IV of France.
Besides sermons, letters, opinions, and brief treatises, which remained in manuscript, he published extensive commentaries on various works of Aristotle: dialectics (Rome 1561), logic (there 1572), physics (Venice 1573), On the Soul (there 1574). The works better remembered and cited are: In Summam theologiae 1. Thomae (4 vols., posthumous, Rome 1869, edited by Fr. G. Paria); In sacrum Joannis Evangelium commentarium (there 1592); In prima 12 capita... Evangelii secundum Lucam (there 1600, posthumous, edited by M. Vázquez). He enjoyed the reputation of being one of the foremost theologians, together with Fr. Suárez, Vázquez, and Molina.