Thomas Illyricus
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Thomas Illyricus (1484/5–1528/9) was a Dalmatian Franciscan theologian, hermit, pilgrim and itinerant preacher who spent most of his life in southern France. He is known for the purported discovery of the venerated image of Our Lady of Arcachon. He gained a substantial following for his prophetic preaching and advocacy of church reform. He later wrote two early critiques of Martin Luther.
Thomas was born in 1484 or 1485 in the town of Vrana in Dalmatia.[2] The nickname Illyricus implies that he was a Slav.[3] While still a child, he moved with his family to Osimo in the March of Ancona in Italy.[2][4] He spent his early life in the fields, herding goats.[5] Nothing is known of his education, although he was fluent in Latin and claimed to have been a professor of theology.[6] He eventually joined the Observant Franciscans in the province of Ancona.[7] In 1510, at the age of twenty-five, he became a priest and an itinerant preacher.[5][7] He initially preached in the villages of Ancona and later in other cities in Italy, such as Genoa, Parma, Rimini and Pesaro.[5]
In 1515, Thomas preached in the Republic of Ragusa.[5] The Ragusan authorities financed his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, from which he returned in May 1516.[2][5] In 1518, he went as a pilgrim to the Magdalene's basilica in Saint-Maximin and undertook his first pilgrimage on the way of Saint James to Spain.[2] He then went on a preaching tour of southern France, visiting the cities of Aix, Grenoble, Toulouse, Nérac, Montauban, Cahors, Villefranche, Condom and Foix.[5] He also visited Geneva in the Holy Roman Empire.[8] In 1520, he attended the Franciscan general chapter in Bordeaux.[2] He made a second trip to the shrine of Saint James and upon his return founded a hermitage at La Teste-de-Buch near Arcachon.[5] He allegedly discovered the damaged statue of Our Lady of Arcachon washed ashore and built a wooden chapel for it.[9] From 1520 to 1525, he preached throughout southern France.[2][4] He especially frequented the cities of Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lyon. He became renowned for his asceticism and uprightness.[7]
In 1525, Thomas retired to the friary of Sainte-Marie de Carnolès near Menton in the Principality of Monaco, where he became close to the ruling Grimaldi family.[2] In 1527, Pope Clement VII named him grand inquisitor in the Duchy of Savoy to root out Lutheranism and Waldensianism.[4][7] He continued to occasionally preach in cities like Nice.[5] He died in Menton in 1528 or 1529 on the road from the oratory to the cloisters.[10] Miracles were reported at the spot where he died.[2]
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