Although there are other ‘Saint Martins’, notably Saint Martin de Porres who is known as the patron saint for those facing racial discrimination 1, both of the roads named for Saint Martin are in the proximity of Saint Martin’s Church, which is dedicated to the most famous Martin, Saint Martin of Tours.
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
Saint Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier who lived from AD 316 to AD 397. He is probably most famous for the story of his cloak. He was stationed at Amiens in Northern France. On a cold day he was riding near the gates of the city and met a half-clothed beggar, who was suffering badly from the cold. Martin had a large travelling cloak – he cut it in two and gave half to the beggar 2. According to the version of the story I learnt at school, Jesus then appeared to Saint Martin in a dream wearing the half of the cloak that Martin had given to the beggar. In any case, Martin was soon baptized, and later became Bishop of Tours.
Footnotes
- Thomas J. Craughwell. This Saint’s for You!: 300 Heavenly Allies Who Will Change Your Life p335, Quirk Books,US (1 Nov 2007). ISBN 978-1594741845 [↩]
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Martin of Tours – Wikisource [↩]
[...] St Martins Church St [...]
[...] Other roads with the word ‘Martin’ in their name are references to Saint Martin, and in particular to Saint Martin’s Church. Saint Martin’s Church is to the south east of Salisbury city centre. The associated roads are St Martins Church Street and St Martins Terrace [...]