Bonacursus de Gloria

The seal of Archbishop Bonacursus depicts the city of Tyre. It is one of the few surviving non-patriarchal episcopal seals from the late 13th century.

Bonacursus de Gloria (French : Bonacours de Gloire) was a Latin churchman who was the resident archbishop of Tyre from 1272 until the 1291 fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and titular archbishop until 1295. He performed the last coronation in the kingdom. He is most probably the archbishop of Tyre who brought the Pontifical of Tyre to Europe.

Background and early career

Bonacursus' name points to an Italian heritage. ^[2] Because he was known as Ultramarinus, most historians conclude that Bonacursus was born in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. ^[3] Hans E. Mayer argues that Ultramarinus does not necessarily indicate that he was born in Palestine and that he was probably an immigrant from Italy. ^[4]

Bonacursus was a member of the Dominican Order. By 1277, he had risen to the position of "vicar of the patriarch and bishop of Acre". ^[2] In the mid-thirteenth century, it was usually foreigners who were appointed to the bishoprics and archbishoprics in the kingdom. During the reign of King Hugh, and perhaps due to his influence, the promotion of locals to vacant church offices became common again. ^[3] Bonacursus was appointed archbishop of Tyre in 1272. ^[5]

Episcopacy

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Thomas of Lentino, died in 1277. Bonacursus became the administrator of the patriarchal see. He served until the appointment of the bishop of Périgueux, Elias Peleti, to the patriarchate in 1280. ^[6] Because Patriarch Elias Peleti was in Europe in the late 1280s, it was Bonacursus who performed the coronation of Henry II of Cyprus as king of Jerusalem in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Tyre on the feast of the Assumption (15 August) 1286. ^{[7] [8]}

Bonacursus is last mentioned by name in the sources in connection with Henry's coronation, the last such ceremony in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Nevertheless the archbishop who led Tyre when the crusader state's last territories were conquered by Mamluk Egypt in 1291 was almost certainly Bonacursus. Tyre surrendered without a fight on 19 May after the fall of Acre and its rich inhabitants were evacuated. The archbishop likely took with him valuables, including the Pontifical of Tyre, from which the order of the coronation service is known. ^[9]

Bonacursus was the last resident archbishop of Tyre. ^[4] He remained titular archbishop until 1295. ^[5] In 1294 Pope Celestine V made Bonacursus the administrator of the bishopric of Luni in Liguria. He is probably the one who brought the Pontifical of Tyre to Siena. ^[10]

References

Citations

1. Folda 2005, p. 468.
2. Prawer 1974, p. 246.
3. Hamilton 1980, p. 276.
4. Mayer 1967, pp. 149–150.
5. Hamilton 1980, p. 409.
6. Hamilton & Jotischky 2020, p. 55.
7. Hamilton 1980, p. 278.
8. Folda 2005, p. 382.
9. Mayer 1967, pp. 150, 211.
10. Dondi 2004, p. 80.

Bibliography

• Dondi, Cristina (2004). The Liturgy of the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem: A Study and a Catalogue of the Manuscript Sources. Brepols. ISBN   978-2-503-51422-2 . Retrieved 3 August 2025.
• Folda, Jaroslav (5 September 2005). Crusader Art in the Holy Land, From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-83583-1 . Retrieved 3 August 2025.
• Hamilton, Bernard (1980). The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church. Variorum Publications. ISBN   978-1-351-88705-2.
• Hamilton, Bernard; Jotischky, Andrew (2020). Derek Baker (ed.). Latin and Greek Monasticism in the Crusader States. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0521836388.
• Mayer, Hans Eberhard (1967). "Das Pontifikale von Tyrus und die Krönung der Lateinischen Könige von Jerusalem: Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Forschung über Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik". Dumbarton Oaks Papers (in German). 21. Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University: 143–150. doi:10.2307/1291262. ISSN   0070-7546. JSTOR   1291262 . Retrieved 27 July 2025.
• Prawer, J. (1974). "A Crusader Tomb of 1290 from Acre and the Last Archbishops of Nazareth". Israel Exploration Journal. 24 (3/4). Israel Exploration Society: 241–251. ISSN   0021-2059. JSTOR   27925476 . Retrieved 3 August 2025.