Having finished his course of three years in the latter of these two studies, Maldonado would have devoted himself to jurisprudence with a view to the exalted offices of the magistracy; but, persuaded by one of his fellow-students, though to the disgust of those upon whom he was dependent, he turned his attention to theology - a choice of which he never repented.
Having studied the sacred sciences for four years, and passed through the examination and exercises of the doctorate, he taught philosophy, theology, and Greek for some time in the University of Salamanca.
His health beginning to fail, a year of rest followed, during which (1570) he gave missions in Poitou, where Calvinism was prevalent, and he was so successful that the people of Poitiers petitioned for a Jesuit College.
In consequence of rivalries on the part of the professors of the university, the pope assigned him to teach theology at Toulouse, but this was prevented by the Calvinists, who blocked the roads leading thither and he withdrew to Bourges to write his "Commentary on the Gospels".
Nobles, magistrates, doctors of the Sorbonne, college professors prelates, religious, and even Huguenot preachers went to hear him, engaging their places in advance, and sometimes arriving three hours before the beginning of the lecture.
This was untrue, as he held only that the doctrine was not as yet an article of faith, but that one might properly take a vow to defend it; Pierre de Gondi, Bishop of Paris, decided in his favour (January, 1575).
Being an excellent theologian, well grounded, at Salamanca, in Latin and Greek, having also learned Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic, and Arabic in Paris, and knowing all that was then known of ancient history, the Fathers and the false interpretations of the heretics, Maldonado became, according to the opinion of Kuhn, superior to most exegetes of his time, and inferior to none.
"[1] Apocryphal are: Manuscripts, exegetical and theological, attributed to Maldonado, are preserved in many libraries of France (especially the National), Switzerland, Italy, and Spain; many of them are copies made by his pupils.