PETER THOMAS (Peter of Thomas), Saint. - Carmelite, b. at Le Breil (Périgord, France) ca. 1305, d. at Famagusta (Cyprus) on 6 Jan. 1366. Master of theology in Paris in 1349, then regent of the Carmelite Studium of Avignon, in 1345 procurator general of the Order. He began under Innocent VI his diplomatic career, spent in the service of pontifical activity for the union of Europe against the Muslim threat.
To this end he represented the Holy See in the negotiations with Queen Joanna of Naples (1353), with Venice and Genoa (1353), with Louis of Hungary and Stephen of Serbia (1355), with Louis of Hungary and Venice (1356). In 1357 he negotiated with the Byzantine emperor John Palaiologos the union of the Church of the East, in 1359 he was pontifical legate in the expedition sent to the aid of that Emperor. Bishop of Parti in 1354, transferred in 1359 to Corone in Morea, he became in 1363 archbishop of Crete and then Latin patriarch of Constantinople.
He worked for the success of the enterprise in Asia Minor and for the defense of the Aegean; having conquered Adalia he organized Catholic worship there. He labored intensely for the conversion of the Serbian people and for the extirpation of heresy in Crete and Cyprus. Here he formed a friendship with King Peter I and his chancellor, Philippe de Mézières, and together they conceived the idea of a new Crusade, soliciting the help of the West. The Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban V in 1363, and P. succeeded, in 1364, Cardinal Tallegrand in the office of legate. In his new office he labored intensely to maintain peace among the Christian powers. In the meantime he administered the city of Bologna, where he was one of the founding masters of the Faculty of Theology (1364). Once the Crusade had begun with the attack and conquest of Alexandria (1365), P. took part in it courageously, and was among the few who opposed the abandonment of the city. He was immediately venerated as a saint; Paul V in 1609 and Urban VIII in 1628 confirmed his cult. Feast in the Carmelite Order on 29 Jan.
Bibliography2 workstwo contemporaries wrote his life: Philippe de Mézières, ed. in Acta SS. Ianuarii, II, Antwerp 1643, pp. 990-95, and separately, ibid. 1666,
BIBL.: two contemporaries wrote his life: Philippe de Mézières, ed. in Acta SS. Ianuarii, II, Antwerp 1643, pp. 990-95, and separately, ibid. 1666, and G. Cammesson O. F. M., in Spaculum Carmelitanum, II, ibid. 1680, pp. 171-195. Among modern works: cf. N. Jorga, Philippe de Mézières 1317-1405 et la Croisade au XIVe siècle, Paris 1896; Aziz Suryal Atiya, The Crusade in the later middle ages, London 1938.
Smet, Gioacchino. “Pietro Tommaso (Pietro di Thomas), santo.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, col. 1459. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952. https://azioneromana.com/article/pietro-tommaso-pietro-di-thomas-santo.
MLA
Smet, Gioacchino. “Pietro Tommaso (Pietro di Thomas), santo.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IX, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1952, col. 1459. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/pietro-tommaso-pietro-di-thomas-santo.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec9_pietro_tommaso_pietro_di_thoma,
author = {Smet, Gioacchino},
title = {Pietro Tommaso (Pietro di Thomas), santo},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IX},
pages = {1459},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1952},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/pietro-tommaso-pietro-di-thomas-santo}
}
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