Editing Martin of Tours (section)

== Legend of Saint Martin dividing his cloak ==
[[Image:La charité de saint Martin.jpg|thumb|''Saint Martin Dividing his Cloak'' by [[Jean Fouquet]]]]

While Martin was a soldier in the Roman army and stationed in Gaul (modern-day France), he experienced a vision, which became the most-repeated story about his life. One day as he was approaching the gates of the [[Amiens|city of Amiens]], he met a scantily clad beggar. He impulsively cut his military cloak in half to share with the man. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half of the cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to some of the angels, "Martin, who is still but a [[catechumen]], clothed me with this robe." ([https://web.archive.org/web/20060909225230/http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/npnf2-11/sulpitiu/lifeofst.html#tp Sulpicius, ch 2]). In another version, when Martin woke, he found his cloak restored to wholeness. The dream confirmed Martin in his piety, and he was baptised at the age of 18.<ref name=foley>{{cite web |url=http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1196 |title=Foley O.F.M., Leonard. ''Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast'', (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.)}}</ref>

The part kept by himself became the famous relic preserved in the oratory of the [[Merovingian]] kings of the [[Franks]] at the [[Marmoutier Abbey (Tours)|Marmoutier Abbey]] near [[Tours]].{{sfn|Clugnet|1910}} During the [[Middle Ages]], the supposed relic of St. Martin's miraculous cloak (''cappa Sancti Martini'') was carried by the king even into battle, and used as a holy relic upon which oaths were sworn. The cloak is first attested to in the royal treasury in 679 when it was conserved at the ''[[palatium]]'' of [[Luzarches]], a royal villa that was later ceded to the monks of [[Basilique Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]] by [[Charlemagne]], in 798/99.{{sfn|Brunterch|1988|pp=90-93}}{{sfn|Touati|1998|p=216|loc=note 100}}

The priest who cared for the cloak in its reliquary was called a ''cappellanu'', and ultimately all priests who served the military were called ''cappellani''. The French translation is ''chapelains'', from which the English word ''chaplain'' is derived.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

A similar linguistic development took place for the term referring to the small temporary churches built for the relic. People called them a "capella", the word for a little cloak. Eventually, such small churches lost their association with the cloak, and all small churches began to be referred to as "chapels".{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|p=}}{{Page number|date=September 2024}}