Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours (latin: Martinus), (born 316 or 317; died November 11, 397) was a native of Sabaria, Pannonia. His father had reached the rank of an important officer in the Roman army. Martin was named after Mars, the god of war, meaning Martin, the brave, the courageous. The family moved to Pavia in Italy. When he was 15, the son of an officer, he had to join army himself. He was stationed in Gaul and later became a monk in the region of Poitiers.

Statue of Saint Martin cutting his cloak atwain
(Chateau "Höchster Stadtschloß", Frankfurt)

Contents

1 The Legend of the Cloak

2 Conversion to Christianity

3 Folklore

4 See also

The Legend of the Cloak

While Martin was still a soldier he experienced the vision that became the most-repeated story about his life. He was at the gates of the city of Amiens with his soldiers when he met a scarcely dressed beggar. He impulsively cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with the beggar. That night he dreamed that Jesus Christ came to him and returned the half cloak Martin had shared with him. He heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised, he has clad me." When Martin woke his cloak was restored. The miraculous cloak was preserved as a relic, and entered the relic-collection of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. The Latin word for "short cloak", cappella in Latin, was extended to the people charged with preserving the cloak of St. Martin, the cappellani or "chaplains" and from them was applied to the royal oratory that was not a regular church, a "chapel".

Conversion to Christianity

The dream had such an impact on Saint Martin that he was baptised the next day and became a Christian. He decided to leave the army and became a monk near the city of Tours.

Martin worked for the conversion to Christianity of the populace, making many preaching trips through western and central France. In the course of this work he became extremely popular, and in 371 became bishop of Tours; he refused to live in the city and instead founded a monastery for his residence a short distance outside the walls. The monastery, known in Latin as the 'Larger Monastery' or Maius monasterium became known as Marmoutier in later French.

Folklore

On November 11, Saint Martin's day, children in Flanders, the Catholic areas of Germany and in Austria participate in lantern processions. Often, a man dressed as Saint Martin rides on a horse in front of the procession. The children sing songs about Saint Martin and about their lantern. The food tradionally eaten on the day is goose. According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him.

Many churches in Europe are named after Saint Martinus also known as Saint Martin of Tours.