Thomar (Tomar), Monastery of
THOMAR (TOMAR), MONASTERY OF
Twenty miles from Fatima, founded in 1160 for defense and administration of the district's repopulation. Tomar was the seat of the templars in Portugal and of the order of christ. For many years after 1455 its prior, usually the king, had ecclesiastical authority for territories overseas. Under Henry the Navigator the monastery and town flourished. In 1530 Anthony of Lisbon introduced reforms. Thomar was an abbey nullius diocesis until 1882, even after being abandoned in 1834. Today it is a national monument of unusual mixed architecture.
Bibliography: Definições e estatutos da ordem de Christo (Lisbon 1628, 1671, 1717, 1746). w. c. watson, Portuguese Architecture (London 1908). f. m. de sousa viterbo, A ordem de Chris-to e a musica sagrada (Coimbra 1911). f. de almeida, História da igreja em Portugal, 4 v. (Coimbra 1910–22); História de Portugal, 4 v. (Coimbra 1922–26). j. vieira guimarÃes, A ordem de Christo (Lisbon 1936). Grande enciclopédia portuguesa brasileira (Coimbra 1935–60) 31:894–925.
[e. p. colbert]