TOSTADO, ALONZO

Exegete and theologian; b. Madrigal, near Ávila, Spain, 1400?; d. Bonilla de la Sierra, near Ávila, September 3, 1455. His studies completed c. 1425, he began in 1433 to teach philosophy, theology, and law in Salamanca. In 1443 Pope Eugene IV summoned him to Siena, where he was condemned for heresy, notably for a strict teaching on the forgiveness of sins. He retracted immediately and later replied to an attack on him by Cardinal Juan de torquemada, a member of the tribunal at Siena. It is doubtful that Tostado was at the Council of Basel. For three months he was a Carthusian novice at Scala Dei until John II of Castile made him royal chancellor in 1444. In 1449 Nicholas V approved him as bishop of Ávila, where he served with zeal and holiness until his death. Diligent and endowed with a prodigious memory, he wrote some 70 works in 60,000 pages—mostly exegesis of Scripture and theological treatises in Latin, but also works in Spanish on the Mass and confession. There is still confusion about a complete list of his works, many of which are in manuscripts in Salamanca and Madrid. The few instances in which he indulges in philosophy show Platonic influence. His alabaster tomb in the cathedral of Ávila is one of the most beautiful in Spain.

Bibliography: Opera omnia, ed. r. bovosius, 13 v. (Venice 1569; reprint 1728). h. hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiae catholicae, 5 v. in 6 (3d ed. Innsbruck 1903–1913) 2:918–921. Enciclopedia universal illustrada Europeo–Americana, 70 v. (Barcelona 1908–30; suppl. 1934–) 62:1581–83. e. mangenot, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant, 15 v. (Paris 1903–50; Tables générales 1951–) 1.1:921–923. s. bosi, Alfonso Tostado: Vita ed opere (Rome 1952).

[j. pÉrez de urbel]