page_title: Martin of Tours
section_title: Franco-Prussian War
hierarchical_section_title: Martin of Tours / Veneration / Revival of the popular devotion to St. Martin in the Third Republic / Franco-Prussian War
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Tombeau de Saint-Martin de Tours dans la crypte de la basilique. English: Tomb of Saint Martin of Tours in the crypt of the basilica.
context_page_description: Martin of Tours was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in Western tradition. A native of Pannonia, he converted to Christianity at a young age. He served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul, but left military service at some point prior to 361, when he became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, establishing the monastery at Ligugé. He was consecrated as Bishop of Caesarodunum in 371. As bishop, he was active in the suppression of the remnants of Gallo-Roman religion, but he opposed the violent persecution of the Priscillianist sect of ascetics.
  His life was recorded by a contemporary hagiographer, Sulpicius Severus. Some of the accounts of his travels may have been interpolated into his vita to validate early sites of his cult. He is best known for the account of his using his military sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depth of winter. His shrine in Tours became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
context_section_description: Martin's renewed popularity in France was related to his promotion as a military saint during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.  
  During the military and political crisis of the Franco-Prussian war, Napoleon III's Second Empire collapsed. After the surrender of Napoleon to the Prussians after the Battle of Sedan in September 1870, a provisional government of national defense was established, and France's Third Republic was proclaimed. Paris was evacuated due to the advancing enemy and for a brief time, Tours (September–December 1870) became the effective capital of France.
  St Martin was promoted by the clerical right as the protector of the nation against the German threat. Conservatives associated the dramatic collapse of Napoleon III's regime as a sign of divine retribution on the irreligious emperor.  Priests interpreted it as punishment for a nation led astray due to years of anti-clericalism.  They preached repentance and a return to religion for political stability.  The ruined towers of the old royal basilica of St. Martin at Tours came to symbolize the decline of traditional Catholic France.
  With the government's relocation to Tours during the Franco-Prussian War, 1870, numerous pilgrims were attracted to St. Martin's tomb. It was covered by a temporary chapel built by  archbishop Guibert.  The popular devotion to St. Martin was also associated with the nationalistic devotion to the Sacred Heart.  The flag of Sacre-Coeur, borne by Ultramontane Catholic Pontifical Zouaves who fought at Patay, had been placed overnight in St. Martin's tomb before being taken into battle on October 9, 1870.  The banner read "Heart of Jesus Save France" and on the reverse side Carmelite nuns of Tours embroidered "Saint Martin Protect France".As the French army was victorious in Patay, many among the faithful took the victory to be the result of divine favor. Popular hymns of the 1870s developed the theme of national protection under the cover of Martin's cloak, the "first flag of France".
  During the nineteenth-century Frenchmen, influenced by secularism, agnosticism, and anti-clericalism, deserted the church in great numbers. As Martin was a man's saint, the devotion to him was an exception to this trend.  For men serving in the military, Martin of Tours was presented by the Catholic Right as the masculine model of principled behavior. He was a brave fighter, knew his obligation to the poor, shared his goods, performed his required military service, followed legitimate orders, and respected secular authority.
caption: Tomb of Saint Martin
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