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 of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

. He travelled to Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 as a child in the entourage of Robert of Selby

Robert of Selby

Robert of Selby was an Englishman, a courtier of Roger II and chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily. His name possibly indicates that he hailed from Selby. He probably journeyed to Sicily about 1130...

  about the year 1130. He first appears in a document in Sicily in 1137.

Thomas was a kaid

Kaid

A kaid or caïd was a title in the Norman kingdom of Sicily. It applied to palatine officials and members of the curia, usually to those who were Muslims or converts from Islam, often eunuchs, but sometimes to others...

, or magister

Magister

Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher." It may refer to:* The Magister , an academic degreePositions or titles* A magister equitum, or Master of the Horse...

, 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

Cappella Palatina

The Palatine Chapel is the royal chapel of the Norman kings of Sicily situated on the ground floor at the center of the Palazzo Reale in Palermo, southern Italy....

. He is known to have had a secretary named Othman, named in an Arabic source. It is interesting that 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 of Sicily

William I , called the Bad or the Wicked, was the second king of Sicily, ruling from his father's death in 1154 to his own...

 in 1154, Thomas was removed from office (possibly by the Emir Maio of Bari

Maio of Bari

Maio of Bari , a Lombard merchant's son from Bari, was the third of the great admirals of Sicily. An ammiratus ammiratorum, or "Emir of Emirs," he was the most important man in the kingdom save the king himself. After the deposition and execution of Philip of Mahdia , the admiralcy was vacant for...

) and returned to England. There he became the almoner

Almoner

An almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing cash to the deserving poor.Historically, almoners were Christian religious functionaries whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. Monasteries were required to spend one tenth of their income in charity to...

 to Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

.

Sources

• Norwich, John Julius
  John Julius Norwich
  John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
  
  . The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. London: Longmans, 1970.