St Martin of Tours

11^th November is the official saint’s day for St Martin of Tours, who is best remembered for the legend of “St Martin and the beggar”.

Martin was born in what is now Hungary, in the year 316, but grew up in northern Italy because his father was an officer in the Roman army and moved his family to wherever his unit was stationed.

Martin was attracted to Christianity as a boy, although his parents objected. Being a Christian at this time was not as dangerous as it would have been in earlier decades because, since the conversion of Emperor Constantine, Christianity was now recognised as a state religion. This did not mean that it was the sole religion of the Empire, and it was rare for military families to be Christian.

Martin had little choice when it came to his career and he therefore followed his father into the Roman army. There is a question over how long he remained in the army, with some sources claiming that he went nearly the full distance (which would have been 25 years) and others maintaining that he left after only a few years.

The story of the beggar and the cloak seems to belong to an early time in his army career. While on military service in France, Martin came across a beggar who was shivering with cold. He used his sword to cut his military cloak in half, then gave one half to the beggar while keeping the other for himself. The incident has been cited many times down the centuries as an example of Christian charity.

It appears that Martin could not reconcile military service with his Christian principles and eventually refused to fight and shed blood. He was arrested and imprisoned but was later released not only from prison but also from his military duties.

Martin became the protégé of Hilary, the bishop of what is now Poitiers, at a time when Christianity was split between Arians and Trinitarians over the matter of the nature of Christ (i.e. human or divine?). Hilary was a Trinitarian, which caused him serious problems leading to his expulsion in 357. Martin also left Poitiers, wandering across several countries and eventually settling as a hermit on an island off the coast of Italy.

However, when Hilary was restored to office in 361, Martin also went back to Poitiers. He founded a monastery at Ligugé, south of Poitiers, that is the oldest monastic foundation in Europe.

Martin became Bishop of Tours in 371 and founded another monastery, at Marmoutier, in 372. He spent most of his time in the monastery, having been reluctant to accept the post of Bishop. However, he did also travel around France, setting up new monastic communities as he did so. He died in 397 aged 81.

© John Welford