Thomas Brun, also le Brun or Brown, was son or nephew of William Brun (first to bear the name Le Brun), a clerk of

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

. He travelled to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

as a child in the entourage of Robert of Selby about the year 1130. He first appears in a document in Sicily in 1137. Thomas was a ''

kaid Qaid ( ar , قائد ', "commander"; pl. '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to those w ...

'', or ''magister'', of the royal Diwan throughout the reign of Roger II, whose favour he certainly had. His name appears in many official documents and it was probably he who drafted the foundation charter of the Cappella Palatina. He is known to have had a secretary named Othman, named in an Arabic source. He appears in charters in Latin, Greek, and Arabic. The Greek transcription of his name and title was ''μαστρο Θωμα του Βρουνου''. Upon the succession of

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

in 1154, Thomas was removed from office (possibly by the Emir Maio of Bari) and returned to England. There he became the

almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

to Henry II.

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. London: Longmans, 1970. Anglo-Normans 12th-century English people {{England-bio-stub