Martin of Tours was a famous leader and healer in the early medieval Church in France. During the first part of the fourth century, he lived in a small town in northern Italy near the French border. His parents were pagans, and his father for many years was a low-ranking soldier and a military tribune. As a young man, Martin also entered the local militia and served in the cavalry of the imperial guard under Emperor Constantinus and Emperor Julian. Sulpicius Severus, The Life of St. Martin ( Vita S. Martini), chap. 2
Throughout his youth, Martin sought to enter the clergy and devote his life to service in the Church. At the age of twelve he wanted to join the desert monks in Palestine, who were seeking to preserve the primitive teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Martin gained widespread recognition for his humanitarian works among other soldiers before he entered a monastery near Poitiers. Eventually he rose to the position of bishop of Tours. Here he performed his first healings.
The life and ministry of Martin were recorded in considerable length by a local historian named Sulpicius Severus, who came from a different family and educational background. Sulpicius was born around 340 into a wealthy family in southwestern France. He was educated at Bordeaux and became a lawyer. He married into a distinguished family and soon gained a widespread reputation in public affairs. Yet the sudden death of his young wife caused him to leave this promising career and turn to a life of religious study and devotion. Morton T. Kelsey, Psychology, Medicine, and Christian Healing (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), p. 149
