I · Ch. 2
The recruit
Martin was forced into the Roman army at fifteen and given a servant. He cleaned the man’s boots and waited on him at table.
Reported by Sulpicius →
Half a CloakI — IX
The stories of Saint Martin
Nine scenes from one life, each with the chapter it comes from.
II · Ch. 3
The cloak
At the gate of Amiens, in a hard winter, a soldier cut his only cloak in two and gave half to a naked man. That night he dreamed of Christ wearing it.
Reported by Sulpicius →
III · Ch. 4
The refusal
Before a battle near Worms, Martin refused the emperor’s bonus and offered to walk unarmed in front of the line. The enemy asked for peace at dawn.
Reported by Sulpicius →
IV · Ch. 5
The apprentice
Ambushed on a mountain road and tied up, Martin said he had never felt safer, and that he was sorry for the man holding the rope.
Reported by Sulpicius →
V · Ch. 7, 10
The hut
As bishop of Tours, Martin lived in a wooden hut by the Loire. About eighty monks joined him in caves in the cliff.
Reported by Sulpicius →
VI · Ch. 9
The kidnapping
Martin would never have agreed, so the people of Tours tricked him out of his monastery and marched him into the city under guard.
Reported by Sulpicius →
VII · Ch. 11, 13
The fact-checker
He took down an altar because nobody could name the martyr buried under it. Then villagers dared him to stand where their sacred pine would fall.
Reported by Sulpicius →
VIII · Ch. 20, 24
The banquet and the Devil in purple
A shining figure in purple and gold told Martin it was Christ. Martin asked to see the wounds of the Cross.
Told by Martin himself →
IX · Epilogue
The last journey
Old and ill, Martin went to settle a quarrel among priests, died on 8 November 397, and was carried up the Loire to Tours.
Reported by Sulpicius →