Back to the Library
The Church Fathers · c. 396–397
The Life of Martin
Vita Martini
Sulpicius Severus · c. 363–c. 425
Read elsewhere
What it is
The soldier who cut his cloak in half for a beggar, left the army because he was Christ's soldier and could not fight, and became a reluctant bishop of Tours.
Why it lasted
The most popular saint's life of the Middle Ages and the model for Western hagiography — a holy life told without a martyrdom.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next