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{{short description|Christian saint}}
{{distinguish|text=his contemporary, [[Nicholas of Tolentino]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Thomas of Tolentino
|image=
|imagesize=
|caption=
|honorific prefix=Saint|honorific suffix=OFM|titles=[[Christian martyr|Martyr]]
|birth_date= {{circa|lk=no|1255}}
|birth_place= [[Tolentino]], [[March of Ancona|Ancona]], [[Papal States]]
|death_date=8 April 1321
|death_place=[[Thane]], [[Delhi Sultanate]]
|feast_day=9 April
|beatified_date= [[Pre-congregation]]; confirmed 1809 and 1894
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=
|issues=
|suppressed_date=
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]
|major_shrine= [[Tolentino]], Italy; [[Shenzhen]], [[Quanzhou]], China
}}
'''Thomas of Tolentino''', OFM ({{langx|it|Tommaso di}}<ref name=Vatican/> or ''{{lang|it|da Tolentino}}'';<ref name=Nardi/> {{circa|lk=no|1255}}{{nbsp}}{{ndash}} 8 April 1321) was an Italian [[Order of Friars Minor|Franciscan]] missionary who was [[Christian martyrdom|martyred]] with his three companions in [[Thane]], [[Delhi Sultanate|India]], for [[Islam and blasphemy|blaspheming Muhammad]]. His [[relics]] were removed to [[Quanzhou]], China, and [[Tolentino]], Italy, by [[Odoric of Pordenone]]. Venerated as a saint, his [[saint's day|feast day]] falls on 9 April.

{{anchor|Biography|History}}

==Life==
Thomas was born in [[Tolentino]]<ref name=CatholicOrg>{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2310 |contribution=Bl. Thomas of Tolentino |title=Catholic Online }}.</ref> in the [[March of Ancona]]<ref name=Habig/> within the [[Papal States]] around 1250 to 1260.<ref name=Nardi>{{citation |last=Nardi |first=Elisabetta |contribution-url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90671 |contribution=Beato Tommaso da Tolentino |title=Santi Beati e Testimoni |accessdate=9 November 2016 }}. {{in lang|it}}</ref> Becoming a [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] early in life, he developed a reputation for his strict adherence to its [[Rule of the Franciscan Order|rule]], particularly concerning his [[vow of poverty]].<ref name=Habig/> A fellow of St{{nbsp}}[[Nicholas of Tolentino]]<ref name=Nardi/> and one of [[Angelo da Clareno]]'s [[Spiritual Franciscans]],{{sfn|Butler}} Thomas was jailed twice for his excessive condemnation of luxury.<ref name=Nardi/>

After being released through the intervention of [[Raymond Godefroy]], a new [[Minister General (Franciscan)|minister general]] who sympathized with the Spiritualists, Thomas traveled with [[Angelo da Clareno]], [[Marco da Montelupone]], [[Pietro da Macerata]], and [[Angelo da Tolentino]]<ref name=Nardi/> to [[Christian mission|mission]] in [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia|Lesser Armenia]] in 1289. In 1291, its [[King Haython II]] directed him to return to the courts of [[Papal Court|Rome]], [[Kingdom of France|Paris]], and [[Kingdom of England|London]] to seek help against his [[Islam|Muslim]] foes.<ref name=Habig/> His efforts to raise a new [[crusades|crusade]] were unsuccessful and he returned east,{{sfn|Butler}} departing a second time to gather more missionaries. Returning with twelve companions in 1302,<ref name=Nardi/> he worked in Armenia and [[Persia]]. He debated Armenian Christians he considered heretics at [[Sis (ancient city)|Sis]] in 1305<ref name=Habig/> and participated in the [[Council of Sis]] that notionally reunited the [[Armenian Church|Armenian]] and Roman Catholic churches in 1307.<ref name=Nardi/> While in Persia, two letters dated 1305 and 1306 arrived from [[John of Montecorvino]], the Franciscan missionary to [[Yuan Empire|China]], and Thomas again traveled to Europe, delivering the correspondence to Rome in 1307. While there, he addressed a public [[Papal consistory|consistory]] of the pope and cardinals, praising John's work in China and asking for assistance in developing his mission.<ref name=Habig/> He also discussed the matter with [[Pope Clement V|Clement V]] at [[Poitiers]] in 1308, after which an ecclesiastical hierarchy was established for the Roman Catholics in China.<ref name=Nardi/> The pontiff named John as [[archbishop of Beijing|Archbishop of Khanbaliq]] (now within modern [[Beijing]]) and seven Franciscan bishops and many friars were sent to join him. Only three of the bishops and a few friars, however, successfully completed the journey. Thomas seems to have then travelled a fourth time to Armenia and Persia.<ref name=Habig/>

There is a gap until 1320, during which Thomas may have labored in India or China.{{sfn|Butler}} In 1320, Thomas left from [[Hormuz, Iran|Hormuz]] with his fellow Franciscans Bl. [[James of Padua]] and [[Peter of Siena (died 1321)|Peter of Siena]], the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[Jordan of Severac]], and the layman [[Demetrio da Tifliz]].<ref name=Nardi/> A [[Georgians|Georgian]] or [[Armenians|Armenian]], Demetrius was proficient at languages and served as the group's interpreter.<ref name=Habig/> A storm forced the party to land at [[Thane]]{{sfn|Butler}} on [[Salsette Island]]<ref name=Nardi/> near [[Mumbai]] in [[India]],<ref name=Habig/> en route and were greeted by local Christians of the [[Church of the East]].<ref name=Nardi/>{{efn|Another account exists which claims they had arrived at [[Diu, India|Diu]] intending to missionize at [[Columbum]] and had travelled to Thane on foot.<ref name=Cunha174/>}} Jordan left them to preach at [[Bharuch]], reaching [[Nala Sopara|Sopara]] (see [[Sopara|Sopara in history]]) before he heard Demetrius and the Franciscans had been arrested.<ref name=Cunha174>{{harvp|Cunha|1876|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xOPlusO8qcAC&pg=PA174 174]}}.</ref> The family with whom they were staying had fallen into a quarrel and the husband had beaten his wife. When she went to the [[qadi]] to report this abuse, she had mentioned the four clerics as witnesses and they were called before him. Thomas, James, and Demetrius had gone to the court while Peter remained behind to look after their things. Having begun a discussion of religion, the qadi had asked them their opinion of [[Muhammad]] and Thomas replied bluntly that he was "the [[son of perdition]] and had his place in [[Christian Hell|Hell]] with the [[Devil]] his father". At this, the Muslims around the court called for their death for [[blasphemy]].<ref name=Cunha176>{{harvp|Cunha|1876|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xOPlusO8qcAC&pg=PA176 176]}}.</ref> Some accounts claim they were [[scourged]] and [[torture]]d before their execution{{sfn|Butler}} by [[Decapitation|beheading]] on 8 April 1321.<ref name=Habig/>{{efn|Some sources mistakenly list the date as 9 April<ref name=Nardi/> or the year as 1322.<ref name=CatholicOrg/>}} Peter was killed three days later.<ref name=Habig/>

==Legacy==
The local Christians may have buried Thomas and his companions<ref name=Cunha176/>, but [[Jordanus Catalani]], arriving too late to save them, removed their bodies to the church at Supera with the help of a [[Republic of Genoa|Genovese]] youth.<ref name=Cunha174/> In 1323<ref name=Habig/> or 1326,{{sfn|Butler}} [[Odoric of Pordenone]] passed through the region. Having learned about Thomas and his companions, he took their [[relics]] with him to [[Quanzhou]] in [[Fujian]]. Thomas's [[skull]] he took with him to [[Khanbaliq]] and thence back to Europe, where he bestowed it on the Franciscan chapter in Tolentino<ref name=Habig/> in 1330.<ref name=CatholicSaints/> It was later moved to [[Tolentino Cathedral|the town's cathedral]]<ref name=Habig/> by a [[Pisa]]n merchant in the late 14th century, who erected a chapel there in the martyr's honor with the approval of [[Pope Boniface IX|Boniface IX]]. It is now kept in the central cathedral in a silver bust.<ref name=Nardi/>

Thomas and his companions have been unofficially reckoned [[beatification|beatified]] since the 14th century.<ref name=Habig/> Jordan claimed to have [[miracle|miraculously]] healed the [[dysentery]] of his Genovese companion with one of Thomas's teeth.<ref name=Cunha174/> Thomas's cult was approved by [[Pope Pius VII|Pius VII]] in 1809 and again by [[Pope Leo XIII|Leo XIII]] in 1894.<ref name=CatholicSaints>{{citation |title=Catholic Saints |contribution-url=http://catholicsaints.info/blessed-thomas-of-tolentino/ |contribution=Blessed Thomas of Tolentino |date=9 March 2014 }}.</ref> He is venerated as a [[list of saints|saint]],<ref name=Vatican/> sometimes together with his companions<ref name=Habig>{{harvp|Habig|1979|loc="Thomas of Tolentino"}}.</ref> as the '''Four{{nbsp}}Martyrs{{nbsp}}of{{nbsp}}Thane''', on 9 April.<ref name=Vatican>{{citation |contribution=9 Aprile: S. Tommaso di Tolentino |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_academies/cult-martyrum/martiri/009.html |title=Martirologio |location=Vatican City |publisher=Holy See |accessdate=9 November 2016 }}. {{in lang|it}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Saint Thomas (disambiguation)|Other saints Thomas]]

==Notes==
{{Noteslist}}

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaqWAEry-wkC&pg=PA68 |contribution=Bd Thomas of Tolentino |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OaqWAEry-wkC&pg=PA68 68] |title=Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OaqWAEry-wkC |editor2=Peter Doyle |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=Alban |display-editors=1 |date=c. 1756 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9780860122531 |ref={{harvid|Butler}} }}.
* {{citation |last=Cunha |first=J. Gerson da |title=Notes on the History and Antiquities of Chaul and Bassein |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xOPlusO8qcAC |location=Bombay |date=1876 |isbn=9788120608450 }}.
* {{citation |last=Habig |first=Marion Alphonse |title=The Franciscan Book of Saints |date=1979 |publisher=Franciscan Herald Press }}, cited in {{citation |contribution-url=http://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/thomas-of-tolentino-and-companions.html |contribution=Thomas of Tolentino and Companions |title=Roman Catholic Saints |accessdate=9 November 2016 }}.



{{authority control}}

[[Category:1250s births]]
[[Category:1321 deaths]]
[[Category:Italian Franciscans]]
[[Category:Christian martyrs of the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Italian Roman Catholic missionaries]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Armenia]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Turkey]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Iran]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in India]]
[[Category:People executed for blasphemy]]
[[Category:Italian beatified people]]
[[Category:Franciscan beatified people]]
[[Category:Italian saints]]
[[Category:Franciscan saints]]
[[Category:Franciscan missionaries]]
[[Category:14th-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:14th-century Roman Catholic clergy]]
[[Category:People executed by decapitation]]

Thomas of Tolentino - Revision history

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