The Revival of the Cult of Martin of Tours in the Third Republic
Brian Brennan
Statuary groups, countless illustrations, and colorful stained glass all preserve for us the most famous medieval image of charitable soldier-saint, Martin Tours (336–397). The young is depicted seated on his horse dividing soldier's cape to share it with Christ disguised as a freezing beggar at gate Amiens. After abandoning Roman army, became monk, an ascetic “soldier Christ,” was chosen by people their bishop. Renowned in lifetime wonderworker, Martin's tomb remained centuries important pilgrimage center. later Carolingian kings carried fragment into battle victory-giving talisman, French monarchs invoked saint patron. Because its royalist associations, Saint basilica almost completely destroyed Revolution, subsequently houses new municipal streets encroached sacred space.
Church History