TOLEDO, FRANCISCO de. - Jesuit cardinal and theologian, b. at Cordova on 4 Oct. 1532, d. at Rome on 14 Sept. 1596.

He studied philosophy at Valencia and theology at Salamanca, where he obtained the degree of doctor 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), then in theology (1563-69) at the Roman College, where he was the first to teach the doctrine of predestination post praevisa merita; in 1569 he became theologian of the Sacred 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, by withdrawing from dependence on his Superiors through a secret dispensation from the Pope and by supporting the Spanish revisionist current against the general C. Acquaviva. He rendered great services to the Holy See both in his diplomatic missions in Poland to Sigismund II (1572), in Germany and in Belgium (1580), where he received the abjuration of Baius, and through his good offices with Henry IV of France.

Besides sermons, letters, opinions and short treatises, which remained in manuscript, he published extensive commentaries on various works of Aristotle: dialectics (Rome 1561), logic (ibid. 1572), physics (Venice 1573), on the soul (ibid. 1574). 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 (ibid. 1592); In prima 12 capita... Evangelii secundum Lucam (ibid. 1600, posthumous, edited by M. Vázquez). He enjoyed the reputation of one of the foremost theologians, along with Fr. Suárez, Vázquez and Molina.

Bibliography12 works

BIBL.: Sommervogel, VIII, 64-82; Hurter, III, 247-56; A. Astrain, Hist. de la C. de J. en la asistencia de España, II, Madrid 1905, pp. 64-65; III, ibid. 1909, pp. 599-604; S. Tromp, Disputat. 1. R. Bellarmini de praedestinatione, in Gregorianum, 14 (1933), pp. 333-44 (on the opinion of T.); F. Stegmüller, T. et Cajetan, in Rev. Thom., 39 (1935), pp. 358-71; various authors, in Arch. theol. granadino, 3 (1940), dedicated to T.; F. Cereceda, En el IV centenario del nacimiento del p. F. T., in Estud. ecclesiast., 13 (1944), pp. 90-108; J. Grisar, Die Universität Löwen zur Zeit der Gesandschaft des P. F. T. (1580), in Miscell. hist. A. de Mayer, II, Louvain 1946, pp. 941-68; J. M. Bover, La acción del Espíritu Santo en la Encarnación... segun el card. Toledo, in Arch. teol. granadino, 9 (1946), pp. 60-113; id., Seis sermones sobre Isaias, 11, 1-5, del card. F. T., ibid., pp. 161-235; J. Ledesma, Doctrina Toleti de appetitu visionis beatificae, Manila 1949.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec12_toledo_francisco_de, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Toledo, francisco de}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {196--198}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/toledo-francisco-de} }

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Toledo, Francisco de

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