Versillo de Sexto Tono

Soto, Pedro de
Theologian; b. Córdoba, Spain, 1500; d. Trent, Italy, April 22, 1563. He was born of noble parents, and as a youth displayed superior intelligence and a remarkable memory. He entered the Order of Friars Preachers and made his profession in 1519 at St. Stephen's Priory, Salamanca, Spain.
During his student days he made an assiduous study of sacred doctrine, showing a special interest in patrology and in a study of the councils of the Church.

In 1542 Charles V of Spain selected him for his adviser and confessor. This association was severed six years later because of a disagreement on the interims, the three provisional arrangements for the adjustment of religious differences between the Catholics and Protestants of Germany. During his service to the emperor, De Soto and another Dominican, Gabriel de Guzmans, were credited by Paul III as being highly successful in arranging a peace between Charles V and Francis I of France.

The association with the emperor also introduced De Soto to the reality of Lutheranism, and he became enthusiastic over the project of preaching in the areas greatly influenced by Lutheranism. With the help of his friend Cardinal Otto Truchses of Augsburg, he succeeded in restoring the chair of theology at the University of Dillingen. De Soto himself occupied the chair (1549–53). During his tenure as professor of theology he stressed the teachings of St. augustine and St. thomas aquinas.

In 1554 De Soto and a fellow Dominican, Juan de Villagracia, were sent to England at the request of Philip II in the hope that they would be instrumental in effecting the return of the faith to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Far from meeting with success, they were forced to flee England upon the death of Queen Mary in 1558.