He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third Republic. A native of Pannonia present-day Hungary , he converted to Christianity at a young age. He was consecrated as Bishop of Caesarodunum Tours in As bishop, he was active in the suppression of the remnants of Gallo-Roman religion.
The contemporary hagiographer Sulpicius Severus wrote a Life of St. 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 winter.
His shrine in Tours became an often-frequented stop for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Sulpicius Severus , a contemporary Christian writer who knew Martin personally, wrote a hagiography of the early life of the saint.
It contains descriptions of supernatural events such as interactions with the devil and various miracles: Martin casts out of demons, heals a paralytic , and raises the dead. 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 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 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".
