Thomas of Mancasola

Thomas of Mancasola, or Thomas of Mancasol[1] (fl. 1328), was a Dominican cleric[2] in the Chagatai Khanate who became bishop of Samarkand.[3]

Prior to his appointment Thomas had served as a cleric in Mongol-ruled Turkestan. The region, in Thomas's time ruled by Eljigidey khan, allowed local Christians significant freedom to worship, and Thomas obtained a commendation from Eljigidey for the trip to Rome that saw him granted the bishopric of Samarkand.[4]

Thomas is known from the Mirabilia of Friar Jordanus, which describes him as bishop of "Semiscat"; this place was positively identified as Samarkand during the nineteenth century.[5][6] Thomas, according to the Mirabilia, accompanied Jordanus on a journey to take the pall, an ecclesiastical vestment, to John de Cora, the newly appointed archbishop of Sultaniyah in Persia.[7] Thomas's bishopric, along with that of Jordanus, fell within the province of this new metropolitan.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Moffett, Samuel H. (1998). A History of Christianity in Asia. Orbis. ISBN 1-57075-162-5.
  2. ↑ Dickens, Mark (2000). "The Church of the East: The Rest of the Story.". Fides et Historia: Journal of the Conference on Faith and History. 32 (2): 107–125.
  3. ↑ Beazley, Charles Raymond (1949). The Dawn of Modern Geography: From the middle of the thirteenth to the early years of the fifteenth century (c.A.D. 1260-1420). P. Smith. p. 221.
  4. ↑ Polo, Marco (1942). Travels of Marco Polo. Plain Label Books. p. 788. ISBN 1-60303-300-9.
  5. ↑ Yule, Henry (1866). Cathay and the way thither; a collection of medieval notices of China. Hakluyt Society. p. 192.
  6. ↑ "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 6: 92. 1873.
  7. ↑ "Jordanus". Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. 1911.
  8. ↑ Gerson da Cunha, J. (1993). Notes on the history and antiquities of Chaul and Bassein. Asian Educational Services. pp. 172–3. ISBN 81-206-0845-3.
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