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80-589: The Martinitoren ( Dutch pronunciation: [mɑrˈtinitoːrə(n)] ; Martini or St. Martin 's Tower) is the tallest church steeple in the city of Groningen , Netherlands , and the bell tower of the Martinikerk . The tower is located at the north-eastern corner of the Grote Markt (Main Market Square). It contains a brick spiral staircase consisting of 260 steps, and the carillon within

160-542: A hagiography of the early life of the saint. It contains, among other things, descriptions of supernatural events such as interactions with the Devil and various miracles performed by the saint such as the casting out of demons, the healing of a paralytic and the raising of the dead . Other miracle stories described are: turning back the flames from a house while Martin was burning down the Roman temple it adjoined; deflecting

240-496: A centre for the evangelisation of the country districts around Poitiers, and later developed into Ligugé Abbey , belonging to the Order of St. Benedict and claiming to be the oldest monastery known in western Europe. In 371, Martin succeeded Litorius, the second bishop of Tours . He impressed the city with his demeanour. He was enticed to Tours from Ligugé by a ruse — he was urged to come to minister to someone sick — and

320-660: A cessation of the persecution of Priscillian's followers in Spain. Deeply grieved, Martin refused to communicate with Ithacius, until pressured by the Emperor. Martin died in Candes-Saint-Martin , Gaul (central France) in 397. After he died, local citizens of the Poitou region and residents of Tours quarreled over where Martin would be buried. One evening after dark, several residents of Tours carried Martin's body to

400-618: A court martial but they held no power in battle. Most thin-stripe tribunes served the legionary legate, yet a lucky few (such as Agricola ) were selected to serve on the staff of the provincial governor. According to Tacitus , they did not always take their appointment as seriously as they might, contrasting Agricola's tribuneship to his peers by saying "[Agricola did not], like many young men who convert military service into wanton pastime, avail himself licentiously or slothfully of his tribunitial title, or use his inexperience to spend his time in pleasures and absences from duty". Under Augustus ,

480-458: A foundation of only three metres deep. The citizens of Groningen call their tower d'Olle Grieze , meaning the old grey one in the local dialect. Twice before a tower has stood on the site of the current Martinitoren. The first was built in the 13th century; this was approximately 30 metres high and built in the Romanesque style . This tower was destroyed by lightning . In the 15th century

560-607: A legate, and some legions were permanently commanded by a broad-stripe tribune, such as those stationed in Egypt, as an Augustan law required that no member of the Senatorial Order ever enter Egypt. In contrast to the broad-stripe tribune, the other five 'thin stripe' tribunes were lower in rank, and were called the tribuni angusticlavii . These 'officer cadets' were men of equestrian rank who had military experience, and yet had no authority: they were allowed to sit on

640-410: A man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front of the procession. The children sing songs about St. Martin and about their lanterns. The food traditionally eaten on the day is goose , a rich bird. According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him. In

720-534: A national pilgrimage to Tours that attracted people from all of France. The devotion to St. Martin was amplified in the dioceses of France, where special prayers were offered to the patron saint. When the armistice was signed on Saint Martin's Day, 11 November 1918, the French people saw it was a sign of his intercession in the affairs of France. He is the patron saint of beggars (because of his sharing his cloak), wool-weavers and tailors (also because of his cloak), he

800-400: A political position than a military rank. The second-in-command to the legate was the tribunus laticlavius or 'broad-stripe' tribune (named after the width of the stripe used to demarcate him on his tunic and toga), usually a young man of senatorial rank. He was given this position to learn and watch the actions of the legate. They often found themselves leading their unit in the absence of

880-629: A popular ritual, even in Protestant areas of Germany and the Netherlands, although most Protestant churches no longer officially recognize Saints . In Portugal , where the saint's day is celebrated across the country, it is common for families and friends to gather around the fire in reunions called magustos , where they typically eat roasted chestnuts and drink wine , jeropiga (a drink made of grape must and aguardente ) and aguapé (a sort of weak and watered-down wine). According to

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960-486: A second tower was built, approximately 45 metres high, but it also was devastated by lightning in a storm. The third and current tower was largely built between 1469 and 1482 from blocks of Bentheimer sandstone . The steeple was not finished until the mid-16th century. This tower was initially an estimated 102 metres high. Its architecture was influenced by the Dom Tower of Utrecht . The lighting of celebratory fires on

1040-412: A sign of divine retribution on the irreligious emperor. Priests interpreted it as punishment for a nation led astray due to years of anti-clericalism . They preached repentance and a return to religion for political stability. The ruined towers of the old royal basilica of St. Martin at Tours came to symbolize the decline of traditional Catholic France. With the government's relocation to Tours during

1120-516: A sunny break to the chilly weather on Saint Martin's Day (11 November) is called Verão de São Martinho (Saint Martin's Summer, veranillo de san Martín in Spanish) in honor of the cloak legend. In Malta on the night of the eve of Saint Martin's day children leave an empty bag next to the bed. This bag is found full of fruit on the next day. Tribunus Militum A military tribune (from Latin tribunus militum  ' tribune of

1200-405: A waiting boat on the river Loire , where teams of rowers ferried his body on the river to Tours, where a huge throng of people waited on the river banks to meet and pay their last respects to Martin's body. One chronicle states that "2,000 monks, and nearly as many white-robed virgins, walked in the procession" accompanying the body from the river to a small grove just west of the city, where Martin

1280-665: A wedge between the Church and the Republic. By 1905, the influence of Rene Waldeck-Rousseau and Emile Combes , combined with deteriorating relations with the Vatican , led to the separation of church and state. St. Martin's popularity was renewed during the First World War. Anticlericalism declined, and priests served in the French forces as chaplains. More than 5,000 of them died in the war. In 1916, Assumptionists organized

1360-487: Is also the patron saint of the US Army Quartermaster Corps (also because of sharing his cloak), geese (some say because they gave his hiding place away when he tried to avoid being chosen as bishop, others because their migration coincides with his feast), vintners and innkeepers (because his feast falls just after the late grape harvest), and France. He was proclaimed patron of Italian volunteering by

1440-413: Is first attested to in the royal treasury in 679, when it was conserved at the palatium of Luzarches , a royal villa that was later ceded to the monks of Saint-Denis by Charlemagne , in 798/99. The priest who cared for the cloak in its reliquary was called a cappellanu , and ultimately all priests who served the military were called cappellani . The French translation is chapelains , from which

1520-495: Is often that of a goose, whose annual migration is about late autumn. By the early 9th century, respect for Saint Martin was well-established in Ireland. His monastery at Marmoûtiers became the training ground for many Celtic missions and missionaries. Some believe that St. Patrick was his nephew and that Patrick was one of many Celtic notables who lived for a time at Marmoûtiers. St. Ninian definitely studied at Marmoûtiers and

1600-489: The Canadian Forces liberated Groningen at the end of World War II . Martin of Tours The contemporary hagiographer Sulpicius Severus wrote a Life of St. Martin . Some of the accounts of his travels may have been interpolated into this book to validate early sites of his cult . He is best known for the account of his using his sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in

1680-501: The Episcopal Church on 11 November . In 1860 excavations by Leo Dupont (1797–1876) established the dimensions of the former abbey and recovered some fragments of architecture. The tomb of St. Martin was rediscovered on 14 December 1860, which aided in the nineteenth-century revival of the popular devotion to St. Martin. After the radical Paris Commune of 1871, there was a resurgence of conservative Catholic piety, and

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1760-696: The Franco-Prussian War , 1870, numerous pilgrims were attracted to St. Martin's tomb. It was covered by a temporary chapel built by archbishop Guibert . The popular devotion to St. Martin was also associated with the nationalistic devotion to the Sacred Heart . The flag of Sacre-Coeur, borne by Ultramontane Catholic Pontifical Zouaves who fought at Patay, had been placed overnight in St. Martin's tomb before being taken into battle on 9 October 1870. The banner read "Heart of Jesus Save France" and on

1840-602: The Middle Ages , above all in the region between the Loire and the Marne , where Le Roy Ladurie and Zysberg noted the densest accretion of place names commemorating Martin. Venantius Fortunatus had earlier declared, "Wherever Christ is known, Martin is honored." When Bishop Perpetuus took office at Tours in 461, the little chapel over Martin's grave, built in the previous century by Martin's immediate successor, Bricius ,

1920-525: The Republican period , there were six appointed to each legion. Authority was given to two at a time, and command rotated among the six. Tribunes were men of senatorial status appointed by the Roman Senate . To attain the position of tribune, one only needed to be a member of the ruling class. By 311 BC the plebeians acquired the right to elect sixteen tribunes of the soldiers, that is, four out of

2000-594: The Salian Franks , one of many warring tribes in sixth-century France, promised his Christian wife Clotilda that he would be baptised if he was victorious over the Alemanni . He credited the intervention of St Martin with his success, and with several following triumphs, including the defeat of Alaric II . The popular devotion to St Martin continued to be closely identified with the Merovingian monarchy: in

2080-421: The 1870s, the procession to St. Martin's tomb at Tours became a display of ecclesiastical and military cooperation. Army officers in full uniform acted as military escorts, symbolically protecting the clergy and clearing the path for them. Anti-clerics viewed the staging of public religious processions as a violation of civic space. In 1878, M. Rivière, the provisional mayor of Tours, with anticlerical support banned

2160-677: The Alps, and from Milan went over to Pannonia. There he converted his mother and some other persons; his father he could not win over. While in Illyricum he took sides against the Arians with so much zeal that he was publicly whipped and forced to leave. Returning from Illyria , he was confronted by Auxentius , the Arian Archbishop of Milan , who expelled him from the city. According to the early sources, Martin decided to seek shelter on

2240-546: The Empire. Martin's biographer, Sulpicius Severus , provided no dates in his chronology, so although he indicated that Martin served in the military "for nearly two years after his baptism," it is difficult for the historian to pin down the exact date of Martin's exit from military service. Still, historian Andre Mertens has provided this guidance: "He [Martin] served under the Roman emperor Constantine II (ruled 337-61) and afterwards under Julian (ruled 355-60)." Regardless of

2320-461: The English word chaplain is derived. A similar linguistic development took place for the term referring to the small temporary churches built for the relic. People called them a "capella", the word for a little cloak. Eventually, such small churches lost their association with the cloak, and all small churches began to be referred to as "chapels". The veneration of Martin was widely popular in

2400-553: The Imperial court of Trier to remove them from the secular jurisdiction of the emperor. With Ambrose, Martin rejected Bishop Ithacius's principle of putting heretics to death—as well as the intrusion of the emperor into such matters. He prevailed upon the emperor to spare the life of the heretic Priscillian. At first, Maximus acceded to his entreaty, but, when Martin had departed, yielded to Ithacius and ordered Priscillian and his followers to be beheaded (in 385). Martin then pleaded for

2480-591: The Italian bishops in the spring of 2021. Beyond his patronage of the French Third Republic , Saint Martin more recently has also been described in terms of "a spiritual bridge across Europe" due to his "international" background, being a native of Pannonia who spent his adult life in Gaul . Martin is most generally portrayed on horseback dividing his cloak with the beggar. His emblem in English art

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2560-550: The November procession in honor of St. Martin. President Patrice de Mac-Mahon was succeeded by the Republican Jules Grévy , who created a new national anticlerical offensive. Bishop Louis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie of Poitiers united conservatives and devised a massive demonstration for the November 1879 procession. Pie's ultimate hope was that St Martin would stop the "chariot" of modern society, and lead to

2640-595: The age of 10 he attended the Christian church against the wishes of his parents and became a catechumen . Christianity had been made a legal religion (in 313) in the Roman Empire . It had many more adherents in the Eastern Empire, whence it had sprung, and was concentrated in cities, brought along the trade routes by converted Jews and Greeks (the term 'pagan' literally means 'country-dweller'). Christianity

2720-571: The age of 18 (around 334 or 354), he was stationed at Ambianensium civitas or Samarobriva in Gaul (now Amiens , France). It is likely that he joined the Equites catafractarii Ambianenses , a heavy cavalry unit listed in the Notitia Dignitatum . As the unit was stationed at Milan and is also recorded at Trier , it is likely to have been part of the elite cavalry bodyguard of the Emperor, which accompanied him on his travels around

2800-470: The authority of the former now, telling him, "I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight." He was charged with cowardice and jailed, but in response to the charge, he volunteered to go unarmed to the front of the troops. His superiors planned to take him up on the offer, but before they could, the invaders sued for peace, the battle never occurred, and Martin was released from military service. Martin declared his vocation, and made his way to

2880-460: The church decided to build a basilica to St. Martin. They selected Victor Laloux as architect. He eschewed Gothic for a mix of Romanesque and Byzantine, sometimes defined as neo-Byzantine. The new Basilique Saint-Martin was erected on a portion of its former site, which was purchased from the owners. Started in 1886, the church was consecrated 4 July 1925. Martin's renewed popularity in France

2960-493: The church in great numbers. As Martin was a man's saint, the devotion to him was an exception to this trend. For men serving in the military, Martin of Tours was presented by the Catholic Right as the masculine model of principled behavior. He was a brave fighter, knew his obligation to the poor, shared his goods, performed his required military service, followed legitimate orders, and respected secular authority. During

3040-602: The city of Caesarodunum (now Tours ), where he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers ' Christian orthodoxy. He opposed the Arianism of the Imperial Court. When Hilary was forced into exile from Pictavium (now Poitiers ), Martin returned to Italy. According to Sulpicius, he converted an Alpine brigand on the way, and confronted the Devil himself. Having heard in a dream a summons to revisit his home, Martin crossed

3120-465: The city of Amiens, he met a scantily clad beggar. He impulsively cut his military cloak in half to share with the man. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half of the cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to some of the angels, "Martin, who is still but a catechumen , clothed me with this robe." ( Sulpicius, ch 2 ). In another version, when Martin woke, he found his cloak restored to wholeness. The dream confirmed Martin in his piety, and he

3200-535: The context in which the Life of St Martin was brought from Gaul to Ireland at an early date, and could explain how Columbanus was familiar with it before he ever left Ireland. Founded by Martin of Tours in 360, Ligugé Abbey is one of the earliest monastic foundations in France. The reputation of the founder attracted a large number of disciples to the new monastery; the disciples initially living in locaciacum or small huts, this name later evolved to Ligugé. Its reputation

3280-423: The copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes ) developed Caroline minuscule , the clear round hand that made manuscripts far more legible. In later times the abbey was destroyed by fire on several occasions and ransacked by Norman Vikings in 853 and in 903. It burned again in 994, and was rebuilt by Hervé de Buzançais, treasurer of Saint Martin, an effort that took 20 years to complete. Expanded to accommodate

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3360-407: The creation of a France where the religious and secular sectors merged. The struggle between the two men was reflective of that between conservatives and anti-clerics over the church's power in the army. From 1874, military chaplains were allowed in the army in times of peace, but anti-clerics viewed the chaplains as sinister monarchists and counter-revolutionaries. Conservatives responded by creating

3440-620: The crowds of pilgrims and to attract them, the shrine of St. Martin of Tours became a major stopping-point on pilgrimages . In 1453 the remains of Saint Martin were transferred to a magnificent new reliquary donated by Charles VII of France and Agnes Sorel . During the French Wars of Religion , the basilica was sacked by the Protestant Huguenots in 1562. It was disestablished during the French Revolution . It

3520-520: The depth of winter. His shrine in Tours became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. His cult was revived in French nationalism during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1, and as a consequence he was seen as a patron saint of France during the French Third Republic . Sulpicius Severus , a contemporary Christian writer, who knew Martin personally wrote

3600-482: The destruction of pagan temples, altars and sculptures: [W]hen in a certain village he had demolished a very ancient temple, and had set about cutting down a pine-tree, which stood close to the temple, the chief priest of that place, and a crowd of other heathens began to oppose him; and these people, though, under the influence of the Lord, they had been quiet while the temple was being overthrown, could not patiently allow

3680-452: The difficulties in chronology, Sulpicius reports that just before a battle in the Gallic provinces at Borbetomagus (now Worms, Germany) , Martin determined that his switch of allegiance to a new commanding officer (away from antichristian Julian and to Christ), along with reluctance to receive Julian's pay just as Martin was retiring, prohibited his taking the money and continuing to submit to

3760-597: The early seventh century Dagobert I commissioned the goldsmith Saint Eligius to make a work in gold and gems for the tomb-shrine. The bishop Gregory of Tours wrote and distributed an influential Life filled with miraculous events of St. Martin's career. Martin's cultus survived the passage of power to the Merovingians' successors, the Carolingian dynasty. Martin is honored in the Church of England and in

3840-478: The eastern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders (Aalst) and the western part of West Flanders ( Ypres ), traditionally children receive presents from St. Martin on November 11, instead of from Saint Nicholas on December 6 or Santa Claus on December 25. They also have lantern processions, for which children make lanterns out of beets . In recent years, the lantern processions have become widespread as

3920-471: The established faith of "patriotic Republicanism". St. Martin has long been associated with France's royal heritage. Monsignor René François Renou (Archbishop of Tours, 1896–1913) worked to associate St. Martin as a specifically "republican" patron. Renou had served as a chaplain to the 88 Régiment des mobils d'Indre-et-Loire during the Franco-Prussian war and was known as the "army bishop". Renou

4000-595: The feast day, people ate and drank very heartily for a last time before they started to fast. This fasting time was later called " Advent " by the Church and was considered a time for spiritual preparation for Christmas. On St. Martin's Day, children in Flanders , the southern and northern parts of the Netherlands , and the Catholic areas of Germany and Austria participate in paper lantern processions. Often,

4080-534: The gift of bishop Euphronius of Autun (472–475), rendered it visible to the faithful gathered behind the high altar. Werner Jacobsen suggests it may also have been visible to pilgrims encamped in the atrium of the basilica. Contrary to the usual arrangement, the atrium was situated behind the church, close to the tomb in the apse , which may have been visible through a fenestrella in the apse wall. St. Martin's popularity can be partially attributed to his adoption by successive royal houses of France. Clovis , King of

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4160-473: The incident the Roman poet Horace recalls in several Odes of his own narrow escape from a falling tree. The churches of other parts of Gaul and in Spain were being disturbed by the Priscillianists, an ascetic sect, named after its leader, Priscillian . The First Council of Saragossa had forbidden several of Priscillian's practices (albeit without mentioning Priscillian by name), but Priscillian

4240-411: The influence of his episcopate from Touraine to such distant points as Chartres, Paris, Autun, and Vienne. In one instance, the pagans agreed to fell their sacred pine tree, if Martin would stand directly in its path. He did so, and it miraculously missed him. Sulpicius, a classically educated aristocrat, related this anecdote with dramatic details, as a set piece. Sulpicius could not have failed to know

4320-461: The island then called Gallinaria, now Isola d'Albenga , in the Ligurian Sea , where he lived the solitary life of a hermit. Not entirely alone, since the chronicles indicate that he would have been in the company of a priest, a man of great virtues , and for a period with Hilary of Poitiers , on this island, where the wild hens lived. Martin lived on a diet of herbs and wild roots . With

4400-527: The mid-7th century contains the text of a mass for St Martin. In the Life of Columba , Adamnan mentions in passing that St Martin was commemorated during Mass at Iona . In his Ireland and Her Neighbours in the Seventh Century , Michael Richter attributes this to the mission of Palladius seen within the wider context of the mission of Germanus of Auxerre to Britain around 429. Thus, this could be

4480-510: The military tribunes. The office of "consular tribune" eventually fell out of use after 366 BC. After changes to Roman army driven by the Social War (91–87 BC) and subsequent civil wars (further formalised by the emperor Claudius ) created a professionalized military system, legions were commanded by a legionary legate ( legatus ). Six tribunes were still posted to a legion, but their duties and responsibilities had changed, becoming more

4560-423: The most widespread variation of the cloak story, Saint Martin cut off half of his cloak in order to offer it to a beggar and along the way, he gave the remaining part to a second beggar. As he faced a long ride in a freezing weather, the dark clouds cleared away and the sun shone so intensely that the frost melted away. Such weather was rare for early November, so was credited to God's intervention. The phenomenon of

4640-570: The path of a felled sacred pine ; the healing power of a letter written by Martin. Martin was born in AD 316 or 336 in Savaria in the Diocese of Pannonia (now Szombathely, Hungary). His father was a senior officer ( tribune ) in the Roman military. His father was then allowed veteran status and was given land on which to retire at Ticinum (now Pavia ), in northern Italy, where Martin grew up. At

4720-407: The return of Hilary to his see in 361, Martin joined him and established a hermitage at what is now the town of Ligugé south of Poitiers , and soon attracted converts and followers. The crypt under the parish church (not the current Abbey Chapel) reveals traces of a Roman villa, probably part of the bath complex, which had been abandoned before Martin established himself there. The monastery became

4800-569: The reverse side Carmelite nuns of Tours embroidered "Saint Martin Protect France". As the French army was victorious in Patay, many among the faithful took the victory to be the result of divine favor. Popular hymns of the 1870s developed the theme of national protection under the cover of Martin's cloak, the "first flag of France". During the nineteenth-century Frenchmen, influenced by secularism, agnosticism, and anti-clericalism , deserted

4880-402: The short-lived Legion de Saint Maurice in 1878 and the society, Notre Dame de Soldats, to provide unpaid voluntary chaplains with financial support. The legislature passed the anticlerical Duvaux Bill of 1880, which reduced the number of chaplains in the French army. Anticlerical legislators wanted commanders, not chaplains, to provide troops with moral support and to supervise their formation in

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4960-628: The six tribunes assigned to each of the four legions that formed the Roman army . Previously these places had been for the most part in the gift of consuls or dictators . Additionally, in the early Republic, another type of military tribune was sometimes chosen in place of the annually elected consuls to be the heads of the Roman State. These are known in Latin as tribuni militum consulari potestate ("military tribunes with consular authority"). At

5040-547: The soldiers') was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion . Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone to the Senate. The tribunus militum should not be confused with the elected political office of tribune of the people ( tribunus plebis ) nor with that of tribunus militum consulari potestate . The word tribunus derives from tribus , "tribe". In Rome's earliest history, each of

5120-412: The third gallery, after the departure of Spanish and Walloon troops in 1577, caused the tower to partially collapse. However, the remaining portion kept a height of 69 meters. In the 17th century the tower was repaired up to the current 97 metre height. Later the tower was damaged several times by natural violence and several wars. There is a bullet hole in one of the bells, a result of heavy fighting when

5200-486: The three tribes (Ramnes, Luceres, and Tities) sent one commander when an army was mustered, since there was no standing army. The tribunes were commanders of the original legion of 3,000. By the time of the Greek historian Polybius (d. 118 BC), the tribunes numbered six, and they were appointed by the consuls . However, the process by which tribunes were chosen and assigned is complex and varies at different times. In

5280-442: The time only patricians could be chosen as consuls, but both patricians and plebeians could be elected as tribunes with consular authority. Instead of the usual two consuls, between four and six military tribunes were elected for the year. The reasons for this choice are obscure, though Livy often cast the decision according to the class struggles he saw as endemic during this period, with patricians generally favoring consuls and plebs

5360-400: The tower contains 62 bells. The tower is one of the main tourist attractions of Groningen and offers a view over the city and surrounding area. The front of the tower shows three pictures above the entrance: the blind poet Bernlef , Saint Martinus , and Rudolf Agricola . All three men are linked to the history of Groningen. The tower is tilting about 0.6 m. According to reports, the tower has

5440-517: The tree to be cut down. Sulpicius writes that Martin withdrew from the city to live in Marmoutier ( Majus Monasterium ), a rural monastery which he founded a short distance upstream from Tours on the opposite shore of the river Loire . Martin introduced a rudimentary parish system in his diocese. Once a year, the bishop visited each of his parishes, traveling on foot, or by donkey or boat. He continued to set up monastic communities, and extended

5520-586: Was a strong supporter of St. Martin and believed that the national destiny of France and all its victories were attributed to him. He linked the military to the cloak of St. Martin, which was the "first flag of France" to the French tricolor, "the symbol of the union of the old and new." This flag symbolism connected the devotion to St. Martin with the Third Republic. But, the tensions of the Dreyfus Affair renewed anti-clericalism in France and drove

5600-518: Was baptised at the age of 18. The part kept by himself became the famous relic preserved in the oratory of the Merovingian kings of the Franks at the Marmoutier Abbey near Tours . During the Middle Ages , the supposed relic of St. Martin's miraculous cloak ( cappa Sancti Martini ) was carried by the king even into battle, and used as a holy relic upon which oaths were sworn. The cloak

5680-466: Was brought to the church, where he reluctantly allowed himself to be consecrated bishop. According to one version, he was so unwilling to be made bishop that he hid in a barn full of geese, but their cackling at his intrusion gave him away to the crowd; that may account for complaints by a few that his appearance was too disheveled to be commensurate with a bishopric, but the critics were hugely outnumbered. As bishop, Martin set to enthusiastically ordering

5760-530: Was buried and where his shrine was established. The shrine chapel at Tours developed into one of the most prominent and influential establishments in medieval France. Charlemagne awarded the position of Abbot to his friend and adviser Alcuin . At this time the abbot could travel between Tours and the court at Trier in Germany and always stay overnight at one of his own properties. It was at Tours that Alcuin's scriptorium (a room in monasteries devoted to

5840-454: Was deconsecrated, used as a stable, then utterly demolished. Its dressed stones were sold in 1802 after two streets were built across the site, to ensure the abbey would not be reconstructed. While Martin was a soldier in the Roman army and stationed in Gaul (modern-day France), he experienced a vision, which became the most-repeated story about his life. One day as he was approaching the gates of

5920-400: Was elected bishop of Avila shortly thereafter. Ithacius of Ossonoba appealed to the emperor Gratian , who issued a rescript against Priscillian and his followers. After failing to obtain the support of Ambrose of Milan and Pope Damasus I , Priscillian appealed to Magnus Maximus , who had usurped the throne from Gratian. Although greatly opposed to the Priscillianists, Martin traveled to

6000-483: Was far from accepted among the higher echelons of society; among members of the army the worship of Mithras would have been stronger. Although the conversion of the Emperor Constantine and the subsequent programme of church-building gave a greater impetus to the spread of the religion, it was still a minority faith. As the son of a veteran officer, Martin at 15 was required to join a cavalry ala . At

6080-406: Was no longer sufficient for the crowd of pilgrims it was already drawing. Perpetuus built a larger basilica , 38 m (125 ft) long and 18 m (59 ft) wide, with 120 columns. Martin's body was taken from the simple chapel at his hermitage at Candes-St-Martin to Tours and his sarcophagus was reburied behind the high altar of the new basilica. A large block of marble above the tomb,

6160-539: Was proclaimed. Paris was evacuated due to the advancing enemy and for a brief time (September–December 1870), Tours became the effective capital of France. During the French Third Republic, he was seen as a patron saint of France. St Martin was promoted by the clerical right as the protector of the nation against the German threat. Conservatives associated the dramatic collapse of Napoleon III's regime as

6240-400: Was profoundly influenced by Martin. Ninian dedicated a new church to Martin. The Book of Armagh contains, among other texts, almost the complete body of writings on Saint Martin by Sulpicius Severus. In Jonas of Bobbio 's Vita Columbani , Jonas relates that Saint Columbanus , while travelling, requested to be allowed to pray at the tomb of St Martin. The Irish palimpsest sacramentary from

6320-565: Was related to his promotion as a military saint during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. During the military and political crisis of the Franco-Prussian war, Napoleon III 's Second Empire collapsed. After the surrender of Napoleon to the Prussians after the Battle of Sedan in September 1870, a provisional government of national defense was established, and France's Third Republic

6400-655: Was soon eclipsed by Martin's later foundation at Marmoutier. As of 2013, the Benedictine community at Ligugé numbered twenty-five. From the late 4th century to the late Middle Ages , much of Western Europe , including Great Britain , engaged in a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin's Day , November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days (not including Saturdays and Sundays), and was, therefore, called Quadragesima Sancti Martini , which means in Latin "the forty days of St. Martin". At St. Martin's eve and on

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