 Silva, after marrying as a very young man, began his religious life in the Hieronymite monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, where he spent about ten years.Desirous of joining the Franciscans, he abandoned that life and went to Ubeda, Spain, where he was received into the Order in 1452, entering as a lay brother.He chose to seek Holy Orders after a few years, and was ordained in 1459.