Hebrew-English Guide to Soncino

15 THE HISTORY OF SONCINO SAINT MARTIN He was born in 316 or 317 A.D. in Sabaria, in the Roman province of Pannonia (today, Hungary). At the age of 18, he gave half of his mantle to a poor man from Amiens. The following night, Christ ap- peared to him with the half of his mantle: so he decided to be bapti- zed. In 356 he left the army and went to Poitiers to visit Bishop Ilario. After some travels, in 360 he came back to Poitiers, where the Bi- shop gave him the approval to carry out his vocation and retire to a hermitage in Ligugé. Some followers joined him, thus forming the first monastic community attested in France. Against his will, the electors gathered in Tours and elected him Bishop in 371. Martin carried out his episcopal duties without abandoning his mo- nastic choices. He went to live in a solitary hermitage, three kilo- meters away from the city, where he was soon joined by numerous followers and he created a monastery, called Marmoutier, with 80 monks. Saint Martin died on 8th November 397 in Candes. He is one of the first non-martyr saints proclaimed by the Church and became the French saint par excellence. His cult spread throughout Europe and his feast will be celebrated on the anniversary of the burial on 11th November.