Thomas Illyricus

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.

[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.

[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] Thomas's works are mostly in Latin,[7] though he also published a collection of French prayers and songs, Devotes oraisons en françois avec une chanson d'amour divin, in Paris in 1528.

"[16] According to Luc Rucaut, Crouzet "seems to ascribe much potency to the preaching of a man whose influence he argues could be felt more than two generations after his death.

"[17] For Crouzet, the "first contours" of the story culminating in the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre can be seen in the arrival in Condom of Thomas Illyricus on a donkey on 27 October 1518.

[4] It was written in response to Luther's To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520), but, owing to difficulty finding funding, was not published until 1523 at Turin.

[4][7] It contains a quadruple dedication to Pope Adrian VI, Duke Charles III of Savoy, Cardinal John of Lorraine and the people of Lyon.

[5] His approach was analytical and his arguments based on the Bible and the church fathers, which Luther respected, rather than papal decretals and scholastic theology, which he despised.

Thomas Illyric à tous les chrétiens sur le mariage and published at Poitiers in 1525.

A letter to all Christians on church reform, Epistola fratris Thome Illyrici ordinis Minorum divini verbi predicatoris generalis directa ad omnes Christi fideles contra hypocritas, quorum bellum est intestinum contra Ecclesiam dei, was published at Limoges in 1520.