St Martin's Day (Martinmas)

Origin and history

Martin of Tours, who died in 397, was a Roman soldier who was baptised as an adult and later became a bishop in Gaul (France). He is best known for a legend that one winter day he cut his cloak in half with his sword to give half to a beggar dressed only in rags; that night he had a vision of Christ wearing the half-cloak. In the Middle Ages his feast was an important festival in much of Europe, especially in German-speaking lands, marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.

Customs

• Children's lantern processions in German and Dutch-speaking towns, sometimes led by a rider dressed as Saint Martin.
• Eating a Martinmas goose, and in some places tasting the first wine of the season.
• Bonfires in the Rhineland, and small gifts for children.

How traditions differ

The feast is kept in Catholic and other Western calendars. It also has a Lutheran link: Martin Luther was baptised on Saint Martin's Day, 11 November 1483, and was named after the saint.

In the library

Great Lives: Martin of Tours · Martin Luther

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Trinity Sunday · Corpus Christi · Nativity of St John the Baptist · Sts Peter and Paul · Michaelmas · All Hallows' Eve · Reformation Day · All Saints' Day · All Souls' Day · Christ the King