E00100: Sulpicius Severus recounts how *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050) investigated the authenticity of some martyrs venerated in the countryside of his diocese and ordered the destruction of an altar built over them. Account in the Life of Martin, written in Latin in Primuliacum (south west Gaul), c. 396.

Sulpicius Severus, Life of Martin 11

Sed ut reliquas virtutes eius quas in episcopatu egit adgrediar erat haud longe ab oppido proximus monasterio locus quem falsa hominum opinio velut consepultis ibi martyribus sacraverat nam et altare ibi a superioribus episcopis constitutum habebatur. Sed Martinus non temere adhibens incertis fidem ab his qui maiores natu erant presbyteris vel clericis flagitabat nomen sibi martyris tempus passionis ostendi grandi se scrupulo permoveri quod nihil certi constans sibi maiorum memoria tradidisset. Cum aliquandiu ergo a loco illo se abstinuisset nec derogans religioni quia incertus erat nec auctoritatem suam vulgo adcommodans ne superstitio convalesceret quodam die paucis se cum adhibitis fratribus ad locum pergit. Dehinc super sepulchrum ipsum adstans oravit ad dominum ut quis esset vel cuius meriti esset sepultus ostenderet. Tum conversus ad laevam videt prope adsistere umbram sordidam trucem imperat nomen meritum que loqueretur. Nomen edicit de crimine confitetur latronem se fuisse ob scelera percussum vulgi errore celebratum sibi nihil cum martyribus esse commune cum illos gloria se poena retineret. Mirum in modum vocem loquentis qui aderant audiebant personam tamen non videbant. Tum Martinus quid vidisset exposuit iussit que ex loco altare quod ibi fuerat submoveri atque ita populum superstitionis illius absoluit errore.

'Let me proceed to a description of other miracles which Martin performed as a bishop. There was, not far from the town, a place very close to the monastery, which a false human opinion had consecrated, on the supposition that some martyrs had been buried together there. For it was also believed that an altar had been placed there by former bishops. But Martin, not inclined to give a hasty belief to things uncertain, often asked from those who were his elders, whether among the presbyters or clerics, that the name of the martyr, or the time when he suffered, should be made known to him. He did so, he said, because he had great scruples on these points, inasmuch as no steady tradition respecting them had come down from antiquity. Having, therefore, for a time kept away from the place, by no means wishing to lessen the religious veneration with which it was regarded, because he was as yet uncertain, but, at the same time not lending his authority to the opinion of the multitude, lest a mere superstition should obtain a firmer footing, he one day went out to the place, taking a few brethren with him as companions. There standing above the very sepulchre, Martin prayed to the Lord that he would reveal, who the man in question was, and what was his character or desert. Next turning to the left-hand side, he sees standing very near a shade of a mean and cruel appearance. Martin commands him to tell his name and character. Upon this, he declares his name, and confesses his guilt. He says that he had been a robber, and that he was beheaded on account of his crimes; that he had been honoured simply by an error of the multitude; that he had nothing in common with the martyrs, since glory was their portion, while punishment exacted its penalties from him. Those who stood by heard, in a wonderful way, the voice of the speaker, but they beheld no person. Then Martin made known what he had seen, and ordered the altar which had been there to be removed, and thus he delivered the people from the error of that superstition.'

Text: Fontaine 1967. Translation: Roberts 1894.