Didacus Ximenes (died 1560) was a Spanish Dominican of the sixteenth century, noted as a theologian, philosopher, and astronomer.

Biography

He took his licentiate in law at

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is t ...

, and there, before Christmas, 1543, received the habit of the

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from the hands of Dominic Soto, then prior of the Dominican convent at Salamanca. The vocation of Ximenes to the religious state seemed miraculous; for, while

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the College of Cuenca at Salamanca, the king came to esteem him so highly that he was about to honour him with judicial dignity when, all unexpectedly, Ximenes was summoned to the Dominican convent by an unknown priest of the same order, who predicted that in a short time he would give up the practice of law for the religious life in the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

. Although this prediction was received with laughter, it was soon verified. Ximenes obtained the degree of Bachelor (in the Dominican sense) in his province, and on 11 April 1559, was chosen

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to Bartholomew Carranza,

Archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, and by him sent to Segobia with special letters to the vicar and

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s of the provincial chapter gathered there, to dissuade the members of the chapter from re-electing

Melchior Cano Melchor Cano (1509? – 30 September 1560) was a Spanish Scholastic theologian. Clerical life He was born in Tarancón, New Castile, and joined the Dominican Order in Salamanca, where by 1546 he had succeeded Francisco de Vitoria to the theo ...

as provincial. His efforts, however, were fruitless.

Works

Chief among Ximenes' works are: * ''Calendarium perpetuum, sive Ordo recitandi divini officii juxta ritum Ordinis Praedicatorum'' (Salamanca, 1563; Antwerp, 1566) * ''De eruditione religiosorum'', in Spanish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ximenes, Didacus 1560 deaths Spanish Dominicans 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians Year of birth unknown University of Salamanca alumni University of Salamanca faculty