11th 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
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