Melchior Cano

1509-1560. Spanish Roman Catholic theologian. Born at Tarancon, New Castile, he entered the Dominican Order* in 1523. After a professorship in theology at Alcala, he became professor of theology at Salamanca in 1546, and in 1551 was sent by Charles V to play an active part in the deliberations of the Council of Trent.* In the following year the emperor presented him for the bishopric of the Canary Islands, but a month later he resigned. In 1553 he became rector of St. Gregory's College, Valladolid, and in 1557 he was elected provincial of the Dominican Order. The appointment was contested, and a subsequent reelection was not confirmed by Pope Paul IV because of Cano's support for the Spanish crown against the papacy. His election was subsequently ratified by Pius IV. His reputation rests on the twelve books of his De Locis Theologicis (1563), an elegantly written inquiry into the sources of theological knowledge, which helped to lay the foundations of theological methodology.