Báñez, Domingo

Domingo Báñez, once spiritual advisor to St Teresa of Avila, was a prominent Spanish theologian. In his commentaries on the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, he challenged an essentialist reading of Aquinas, and insisted that esse (being) was an act. He is best known for his opposition to Molina's attempt to reconcile human free choice with divine foreknowledge, providence and grace. He also wrote on logic, and commented on Aristotle's On Generation and Corruption. Báñez studied at Salamanca, where he entered the Dominican Order in 1546. He held a series of teaching and administrative posts in Avila, Alcalá, Valladolid and Toro. In 1577 he returned to the University of Salamanca where he taught theology until he retired in 1600.