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St Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours
Höchster Schloß Tor St Martin.jpg
Statue of Saint Martin cutting his cloak in two. Höchster Schloss, Höchst.
Bishop and Confessor
Born 316 or 336 AD
Savaria, Diocese of Pannonia (modern-day Hungary)
Died November 8, 397(397-11-08)
Candes, Gaul (modern-day France)
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
Oriental Orthodoxy
Anglican Communion
Lutheranism
Feast 11 November (Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, and Anglican Communion)
12 November (Eastern Orthodox Church)
Attributes man on horseback sharing his cloak with a beggar; man cutting cloak in half; globe of fire; goose
Patronage against poverty; against alcoholism; Baħrija, Malta; beggars; Beli Manastir; Archdiocese of Bratislava; Buenos Aires; Burgenland; cavalry; Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade; Dieburg; Edingen equestrians; Foiano della Chiana; France; geese; horses; hotel-keepers; innkeepers; Kortrijk; diocese of Mainz; Montemagno; Olpe; Ourense; Pietrasanta; Pontifical Swiss Guards; quartermasters; reformed alcoholics; riders; Taal, Batangas; Bocaue, Bulacan; Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart; soldiers; tailors; Utrecht; vintners; Virje; wine growers; wine makers; Wissmannsdorf and Villadoz

Saint Martin of Tours (Latin: Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316 or 336 – 8 November 397) was Bishop of Tours, whose shrine in France became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints, sometimes venerated as a military saint. As he was born in what is now Szombathely, Hungary, spent much of his childhood in Pavia, Italy, and lived most of his adult life in France, he is considered a spiritual bridge across Europe.

His life was recorded by a contemporary, the hagiographer Sulpicius Severus. Some of the accounts of his travels may have been interpolated into his vita to validate early sites of his cult. He is best known for the account of his using his military sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depth of winter. Conscripted as a soldier into the Roman army, he found the duty incompatible with the Christian faith he had adopted and became an early conscientious objector.

Martin was born in 316 or 336 AD in Savaria in the Diocese of Pannonia (now Szombathely, Hungary). His father was a senior officer (tribune) in the Imperial Horse Guard, a unit of the Roman army, later stationed at Ticinum (now Pavia), in northern Italy, where Martin grew up. The date of his birth is a matter of controversy, with both 316 and 336 having rationales.


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