After the death of
Katapán (or Catepan) in 1217, Thomas was elected Bishop of Eger, holding the dignity for the next seven years. In the same time, he was replaced as chancellor by
Ugrin Csák. Thomas appears as Bishop-elect in several royal documents throughout 1217 (first in May). His election was confirmed by
Pope Honorius III in the next year. Previously, Honorius called upon Andrew to fulfill
his father's vow to lead a crusade. In May 1217, Andrew's army began its journey to the
Holy Land with the participation of Thomas, Bishop-elect of Eger and
Peter,
Bishop of Győr, who also fulfilled their vows (Chancellor Thomas was already exempted from the compulsory participation in the
Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215 because of that). In July, they departed from
Zagreb and embarked in Split two months later. The ships transported them to
Acre, where they landed in October. Upon the request of Thomas and other bishops, Andrew donated 500 silver denari to the crusaders from the salt income of
Szalacs (today Sălacea, Romania) at Easter. When Andrew decided to return home at the very beginning of 1218, Thomas and Peter remained in
Syria. Peter was killed in a skirmish against the
Ayyubid Sultanate, while Thomas, who was present at the
Siege of Damietta, left the region in September 1219 and arrived home in the first half of 1220. In August 1220, Pope Honorius entrusted Thomas and
Robert,
Bishop of Veszprém to become the guardians of
Bartholomew le Gros, newly elected
Bishop of Pécs, until reach adulthood. Prior that, the canons of the
cathedral chapter of Pécs attempted to prevent Bartholomew's installation by stating that he was too young for this position, but an official inquiry ordered by the
Holy See ascertained that the new bishop had already attained 30 years, the age required by
canon law. Thus Thomas and Robert's mandate has ceased by January 1221. Following that Honorius commissioned Thomas and two abbots in January 1222 to investigate the case of the provost of
Arad, who was allegedly unlawfully deprived of his property by Andrew II. When the king persuaded his son Béla to separate from his wife,
Maria Laskarina, Honorius asked his three loyal prelates, including Thomas to inform him about the situation in May 1222. In the clause of the
Golden Bull of 1222, Thomas appears in the third place among the prelates, just after
John, Archbishop of Esztergom and Ugrin Csák,
Archbishop of Kalocsa. Two of Thomas' trials were preserved by the
Regestrum Varadinense. For instance, alongside
Solomon Atyusz,
Ban of Slavonia, he judged over
ispán Demetrius, who was charged by the serfs of
Borsod Castle in 1222. Pope Honorius instructed Thomas in January 1223 to appoint a suitable archdeacon or deacon over the clerics of
Burzenland, who is introduced to him by the
Teutonic Knights. Following the death of John around November 1223 and a few months of
sede vacante, Thomas was elected Archbishop of Esztergom, possibly in early 1224. The town of
Esztergom suffered heavy damage in the fire of 1223, thus his most important task was to restore buildings and order. He is first referred to as archbishop by Pope Honorius on 3 February. Three weeks later, the pope entrusted Thomas and
suffragan bishops to maintain peace between Andrew II and his son Duke Béla. In May 1224, he was commissioned to protect the papal interests in
Barcaság (now
Țara Bârsei, Romania). The region earlier was granted to the
Teutonic Knights, who donated
Borza (today Bârza, Romania) to the
Holy See, which act was neglected by Andrew and
Raynald of Belleville,
Bishop of Transylvania. Thomas always supported Rome in the various canonical disputes. Honorius instructed him to appoint an archdeacon in Borza to represent the Holy See. On 4 December 1224, Pope Honorius sent a letter to Archbishop Thomas, but he suddenly died by then, possibly in November. ==References==