Martin of Tours in the context of "Hagiography"

St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church (Dutch: Domkerk), is a Gothic church dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, which was the cathedral of the Diocese of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, but has been a Protestant church since 1580.

It was once the Netherlands' largest church, but the nave collapsed in a storm in 1674 and has never been rebuilt, leaving the tower isolated from the east end.

Tours (/tʊər/ TOOR; French: [tuʁ] ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metropolitan area was 516,973.

Tours sits on the lower reaches of the Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Formerly named Caesarodunum by its founder, Roman Emperor Augustus, it possesses one of the largest amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, the Tours Amphitheatre. Known for the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, it is a National Sanctuary with connections to the Merovingians and the Carolingians, with the Capetians making the kingdom's currency the Livre tournois. Saint Martin and Gregory of Tours were from Tours. Tours was once part of Touraine, a former province of France. Tours was the first city of the silk industry. It was taken by Louis XI, as the royal capital under the Valois Kings with its Loire castles and city of art with the School of Tours. The prefecture was partially destroyed during the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century and again during the Second World War in June 1940.

Sulpicius Severus (/sʌlˈpɪʃəs ˈsɛvərəs/; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours.

Gesso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒɛsso]; 'chalk', from the Latin: gypsum, from Greek: γύψος), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigid surfaces such as wooden painting panels or masonite as a permanent absorbent primer substrate for painting. It consists of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these.

Gesso is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates such as wood panels, canvas and sculpture as a base for paint and other materials that are applied over it.

The Lutheran Church has, from the time of the Reformation, continued the remembrance of saints. The theological basis for this remembrance is understood as being connected to the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews 12:1. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession states that the remembrance of the saints has three parts: thanksgiving to God, the strengthening our faith, and the imitation of the saints' holy living.

As a result, the Lutheran reformers retained a robust calendar of saints to be commemorated throughout the year. In addition to figures found in the Bible, early Christians such as Saint Lawrence and Martin of Tours were retained as saints on the calendar, as were extra-Biblical commemorations like the Assumption of Mary. Following the Reformation, most especially in the latter half of the twentieth century, many names were added to the calendar, both new and restored pre-Reformation commemorations.

Gregory of Tours (born Georgius Florentius; 30 November c. 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encompassing Gaul's historic region.

Gregory's most notable work is the Decem Libri Historiarum ('Ten Books of Histories'), also known as the Historia Francorum ('History of the Franks'). Decem Libri Historiarum is considered a primary source for the study of Merovingian history and chronicles the accounts of the Franks during the period. Gregory is also known for documenting accounts of religious figures, notably that of Martin of Tours.

The Basilica of Saint Martin is a Catholic basilica dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, over whose tomb it was built. It is located in Tours, France.

The first basilica was established here in the 5th century (consecrated in 471) on the site of an earlier chapel. It was at first served by a community of monks under an abbot, the Abbot of Saint Martin, who between 796 and 804 was Alcuin, the adviser of Charlemagne. Shortly before this the monastic establishment was changed to a collegiate church manned by a community of canons, but the office and title of abbot persisted.