John of St. Thomas

1589-1644. Dominican scholar. Portuguese and named from his devotion to Thomas Aquinas, he read arts and theology at Coimbra, continuing at Louvain, where he studied under a Dominican and entered the order. In 1620 he began lecturing in theology, at Piacenza and Madrid, then held the chair at Alcalá, simultaneously being a qualificator of the Supreme Council of the Spanish Inquisition. Confessor and adviser to Philip IV, he refused on insufficient evidence to condemn Louvain professors brought before him. Cursus theologicus was his chief work (1637-67), a commentary on Aquinas's Summa Theologica, the first four volumes of which were published during his lifetime. Cursus philosophicus (1631) also followed Thomist forms, and the Compendium (1640) on doctrine was published in seven Spanish editions and several languages.