Didacus Ximenes (died 1560) was a Spanish Dominican of the sixteenth century, noted as a theologian, philosopher, and astronomer. He took his licentiate in law at

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

, and there, before Christmas, 1543, received the habit of the Friars Preachers from the hands of Dominic Soto, then

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of the Dominican convent at Salamanca. The vocation of Ximenes to the religious state seemed miraculous; for, while rector 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 (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

. 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 socius to Bartholomew Carranza,

Archbishop of Toledo The Archdiocese of Toledo () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Spain.

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

definitor {{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight ...

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. Cano's most important theological work was his posthumously published ''De locis theologicis'' (Salamanca, 1563), a major contribution to the New Scholasticism of ...

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 Academic staff of the University of Salamanca