Thomas the Archdeacon ( la, Thomas Archidiaconus; it, Tommaso Arcidiacono; hr, Toma Arhiđakon; c. 1200 – 8 May 1268), also known as Thomas of Spalato ( la, Thomas Spalatensis, hu, Spalatói Tamás), was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cleric, historian and chronicler from

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

(Spalato). He is often referred to as one of the greatest sources in the historiography of Croatian lands.

Life

What is known about Thomas' life comes from his work, '' Historia Salonitana''. He speaks of his life in the third person and very briefly, in the style of medieval literature genres. Thomas was born in Split at the beginning of the 13th century. It is not known whether he was of noble or common birth, but he represented the elite Roman culture that had survived from before the Slav migration, and he had a negative view of Slavs, often mistakenly conflating them in his chronicle with the Goths.Fine (Jr), John V. A. (2006). ''When Ethnicity Did Not Matter in the Balkans: A Study of Identity in Pre-Nationalist Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia in the Medieval and Early-Modern Periods.'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. He was probably educated at the

cathedral school Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these ...

in Split. Around 1222 he was sent to study at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

. There he perfected skills (under, among others,

Accursius __NOTOC__ Accursius (in Italian ''Accursio'' or ''Accorso di Bagnolo''; c. 11821263) was a Roman jurist. He is notable for his organization of the glosses, the medieval comments on Justinian's codification of Roman law, the ''Corpus Juris Civ ...

) in law, rhetoric, gramathic and notary (''ars dictandi'' and ars ''notaria''). He saw

Saint Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

, a remarkable event which he mentioned in his work, describing the person of Saint Francis. Upon returning to his hometown of Split he advanced fast in church hierarchy. He became notary official (ca. 1227), then (1230) the archdeacon (head of the body of canons). He described Mongol siege of Split of 1242, Mongol customs and homeland, thus creating the first ethnological writings in local historiography. In 1243 a body of canons chose Thomas to be archbishop of Split, however due to his views on Church autonomy in Split, commoners rebelled against him. Fearing for his life, he never occupied that function, and in the end resigned the honor. Because of that, in his work he wrote about future archbishops with bitterness. He died in Split on May 8, 1268. Today, his grave lies in the Church of St. Francis.

Views

Thomas was a stern advocate of

medieval commune Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms) among the citizens of a town or city. These took many forms and varied widely in organization and makeup. C ...

movement in

. He wrote about Croatian nobles (and Hungarian kings in his time) in the hinterland of the city with great animosity, because they tried to crush the autonomy of the city. And conversely, he treated fairly those who respected the commune autonomy (Croatian kings, and later, Hungarian kings in the 13th century). In 1239 he organized new („latin“) administration in Split, bringing Gargane de Ascindis from

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

, as the new

Podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

. He was also an advocate of Church autonomy within the city (in accordance with official Roman Church teaching) which excluded commoners and citizens from interfering in Church business (such as the election of the archbishop).

Work

Thomas' only work is the ''Historia Salonitana'', the history of the archbishops of

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in ...

and

written in Latin. The work itself is combining three medieval history genres – ''historia'', ''chronica'' and ''memoriale''. Eventually, his work outgrows the narrow theme of archbishops, and becomes an outstanding literary achievement which encompasses the whole of the Croatian medieval period up to the 13th century. Because of Thomas' original research in the archbisphoric's archive in Split, he brings facts and news from documents today unknown to contemporary historians. His work is therefore not only of great literary value, but also of historical value for

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

n history.See

Franjo Rački Franjo Rački (25 November 1828 – 13 February 1894) was a Croatian historian, politician and writer. He compiled important collections of old Croatian diplomatic and historical documents, wrote some pioneering historical works, and was a key f ...

: Ocjena starijih izvora za hrvatsku i srbsku poviest srednjega vieka" ''Književnik'' I (1864) 358 – 388

and Stéphane Gioanni, ''The bishops of Salona (2nd–7th century) in the'' Historia Salonitana'' by Thomas the Archdeacon (13th century) : history and hagiography'', in Écrire l’histoire des évêques et des papes'', Fr. Bougard and M. Sot (edd.), Brepols, 2009, pp. 243–263

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archdeacon, Thomas The History of Split, Croatia 1200 births 1268 deaths 13th-century Roman Catholic clergy 13th-century Roman Catholics 13th-century historians History of Dalmatia 13th-century Latin writers Medieval Venetian historians Republic of Venice clergy Venetian period in the history of Croatia