Tomas Vivar, also known as the Count of Mouromorto and the Man in Black, is the secondary antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Rifles and its television adaptation.
He was portrayed by Anthony Hyde.
Biography[]
Book[]
A Spanish aristocrat, Tomas Vivar welcomed the French occupation of his country, seeing them as bringing reason to Spain. This brought him into conflict with his younger brother, Major Don Blas Vivar, a deeply religious man who continued to support the Bourbons. Tomas learned that Vivar planned to inspire the population to resist the French by unfurling a gonfalon reported to have belonged to Saint James in the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela. In the company of French troops led by Colonel de l'Eclin, Tomas pursued his brother. He stood by and watched as the French troops decimated a unit of the British 95th Rifles and sacked and raped a Spanish village.
Tomas and De L'Eclin encountered Lieutenant Richard Sharpe after being led to believe Vivar was travelling with him and his men. They surrounded the British troops at a farm house, but they were rescued by Vivar and joined him in his attack on Santiago. After the motley collection of men infiltrated the city, the Count met with Sharpe along with the French Colonel Coursot. They told him De L'Eclin and most of the men had gone out to look for them, and offered a truce: The French would stay in the town's palace while Vivar performed his ceremony in the cathedral.
This was a ruse: De L'Eclin and most of the French troops were hiding inside the palace, ready to ambush Vivar during the ceremony. The ambush faltered thanks to Sharpe taking out many of the French horses with spiked caltrops and Vivar arriving with Spanish cavalry, carrying the gonfalon. Seeing the hated flag, the Count rode at many of the Spanish horsemen surrounding it. He was met by his brother and the two men fought on horseback. Don Blas finally killed Tomas with a sword thrust through the stomach, inheriting the title of count from him.
Television[]
Tomas accompanied De L'Eclin in his search for Don Blas Vivar and his gonfalon, who were being aided by Spanish partisans led by Teresa Moreno. They encountered a group of the 95th Rifles and massacred them. After Vivar and Teresa joined up with Lieutenant Sharpe and his Riflemen, De L'Eclin attacked a Spanish village in order to lure them while Tomas took two French horsemen to steal the gonfalon. The Frenchmen killed the two partisans guarding it but were halted by Patrick Harper. Tomas tried to bribe him into standing down, then offered the money to the two French horsemen, saying if they attacked together Harper would kill one of them and the other would get the money. Harper managed to partially reload his rifle after the first shot, impaling the second horseman through the neck with his ramrod, and shot Tomas' hat off as the count fled.
After Sharpe and Vivar attacked Santiago, Tomas met Sharpe with De L'Eclin. Sharpe asked Tomas why he supported the French and Tomas replied that his brother saw Spain as a monastery and he saw it as a college. Sharpe retorted that he would choose a tavern. As the fighting broke out again, Tomas ended up fighting with Don Blas in the cathedral. Don Blas ran his brother through with his sword. As Tomas died, he told him "When you bury me, no priests."
