St. Thomas the Apostle
It is significant that the Letter not only mentions St. Thomas, who would be the best known (if not the only) Christian figure associated with India, but also that it uses the legend of Thomas as a geographical marker. In fact, the Apostle Thomas is named in all three of the Prester John texts that predate the Letter. Each text mentions Thomas's tomb, which according to medieval lore had two resting places: Edessa and India. The particular qualities of this usage remind the reader that despite John’s kingdom’s exotic locale, this land can indeed claim a legitimate and recognizable Christian forebear (even if we don't really know where to find him).
One of Jesus's original Twelve Apostles, Thomas (popularly known as Doubting Thomas) was sent by Jesus to preach the Gospel in the Eastern parts of the world. By the Middle Ages, Thomas was a very important figure for several Eastern sects of Christianity, made popular by the Gospel of Thomas and the Acts of Thomas. As Marco Polo later observes, there existed an Christian community devoted to St. Thomas as far east as Mailapur [Mylapore], India. More generally Thomas was a very important figure for Nestorian Christians and, beginning in the twelfth century, the Syriac Acts of Thomas, a key source for the Letter, was just beginning to circulate in the Latin West.
