Demetrius of Tiflis

Demetrius of Tiflis or Demetrio da Tifliz was a 14th-century Christian layman and martyr from Georgia or Armenia. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as one of the Four Martyrs of Thane, on April 9.[1]

Life

In 1320, Demetrius left Hormuz with the Franciscans Peter of Siena, James of Padua and Thomas of Tolentino and the Dominican Jordan of Severac.[2] - Demetrius was proficient at languages and served as the group's interpreter.[3] A storm forced the party to land at Thane[4] on the island of Salsette Island[2] near Mumbai in India,[3] en route and were greeted by local Nestorians.[2][lower-alpha 1] Jordan left them to preach at Bharuch, reaching Sopara (see Sopara in history) before he heard Demetrius and the Franciscans had been arrested.[5] The family with whom they were staying had fallen into a quarrel and the husband had beaten his wife. When she went to the qadi to report this abuse, she had mentioned the four clerics as witnesses and they were called before him. Thomas, James, and Demetrius had gone to the court while Peter remained behind to look after their things. Having begun a discussion of religion, the qadi had asked them their opinion of Muhammad and Thomas replied bluntly that he was "the son of perdition and had his place in Hell with the Devil his father". At this, the Muslims around the court called for their death for blasphemy.[6] Some accounts claim they were scourged and tortured before their execution[4] by beheading on April 8, 1321.[lower-alpha 2] Peter was killed three days later.[3]

Notes
  1. Another account exists which claims they had arrived at Diu intending to missionize at Columbum and had travelled to Thane on foot.[5]
  2. Some sources mistakenly list the date as April 9[2] or the year as 1322.[7]
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References
  1. "9 Aprile: S. Tommaso di Tolentino", Martirologio, Vatican City: Holy See, retrieved 9 November 2016. (in Italian)
  2. Nardi, Elisabetta, "Beato Tommaso da Tolentino", Santi Beati e Testimoni, retrieved 9 November 2016. (in Italian)
  3. Habig (1979), "Thomas of Tolentino".
  4. Butler.
  5. Cunha (1876), p. 174.
  6. Cunha (1876), p. 176.
  7. "Bl. Thomas of Tolentino", Catholic Online.
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