Cano, Melchior (1509-1560)

Spanish theologian. A Dominican friar at Salamanca from 1523, he taught at Valladolid from 1533, and in 1543 became the first professor of theology at Alcalá. He came to prominence when he defended Philip II of Spain in his political conflict with Pope Paul IV.

His doctrine of marriage - that the priestly blessing was the essential form of the sacrament - was controversial. His principal theological work was his De locis theologicis (1563).