Martin of Brive

Martin of Brive (also called Martin the Spaniard) was the first apostle of the town of Brive-⁠la-⁠Gaillarde and died a martyr by beheading on 9 August 407. He was born around 356 into a noble pagan Spanish family. He became a Christian in youth and went to Rome to venerate the tombs of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, perhaps also to distance himself from his surroundings. At Trier he met Saint Martin of Tours and attached himself to him, entering a life of prayer. After the death of the bishop of Tours in 397 he withdrew to Périgord, probably on the site of the present commune of Savignac-⁠les-⁠Églises, beside a priest of great holiness, Laurence.

At the beginning of the 5th century Limousin had been evangelized only by Saint Martial of Limoges. Martin went to Brive with Laurence and, at the pagan temple, disturbed the ceremony, overturned the idols of Saturn and the table of sacrifice, confessing the Christian God. According to tradition this happened on 9 August 407, a day consecrated to Saturn. The enraged inhabitants began to stone him, and one of them cut off his head. The body was buried, probably by Laurence, on the site where a sanctuary of Saint Martin was later raised; later still, an epidemic decimated the town, and the people, through the intercession of the one they had killed, are said to have received protection for the healthy and healing for the sick. The first church dedicated to him is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century, and the excavations of 1986-1988 in the crypt of the collegiate church of Brive confirm the account. A holy martyr of the undivided Church, venerated locally.