From Saint Jacques to Saint Martin, from a Europe of hospitality to a Europe of sharing.
An open-air laboratory
Paolo Caucci von Saucken set out the characteristics of a pilgrimage route for the Council of Europe:
“A pilgrimage route is distinguishable from a normal pathway of communication, or such a pathway is transformed into a pilgrimage route, when one can identify certain specific elements such as, for example, a long tradition of pilgrimage, the presence of fixed points of accommodation, such as the hospitals, and the presence of hospitaller orders”, and “when specific architectural features appear, when the passage of pilgrims affects urban structuring and the lifestyles of the countries travelled through”.
From its creation in the tenth century, the “Way of Saint Jacques” was a Catholic dream of the unification of Europe. The decision of the Council of Europe in 1987 to turn the route to Compostelle into “a highly symbolic route in the process of the construction of Europe” was based on the fact that, beyond the religious dimension which was the true motivation behind the pilgrimages, these routes formed a meeting place, a place of exchanges, and a special means of communication and mutual knowledge, a source of solidarity which is at the origin of our own identity.
From its creation in the tenth century, the “Way of Saint Jacques” was a Catholic dream of the unification of Europe. The decision of the Council of Europe in 1987 to turn the route to Compostelle into “a highly symbolic route in the process of the construction of Europe” was based on the fact that, beyond the religious dimension which was the true motivation behind the pilgrimages, these routes formed a meeting place, a place of exchanges, and a special means of communication and mutual knowledge, a source of solidarity which is at the origin of our own identity.
A network of Roman roads, diversified, strengthened and developed over many centuries for the reception of pilgrims, and today for welcoming the tourists who walk the routes, for reasons as equally personal as spiritual, has become an open-air laboratory for European dialogue, founded on hospitality.
Why Saint Martin?
It was a journalist, a promoter of cultural projects at Tours, who first thought of a route dedicated to Saint Martin. Tours is of course one of the points of departure of both the ancient and contemporary route to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, the Via Turonensis, but at the beginning of the twenty-first century its inhabitants seemed to have forgotten that their city grew out of the worship of a bishop buried there on 11th November 397, and who was himself the subject of a large local following.
But why Saint Martin and not any of the other European saints, beyond those who are strongly linked to the idea of pilgrimage? This is where the truly fascinating work of analysing a proposal for a cultural route starts, evaluating the possibilities for European partnerships but also, and more importantly, the European values such a route could help promote, through reading, understanding and more concrete and contemporary means. In other words, how could this converted Roman soldier be a meaningful European figure?
Why Saint Martin?
It was a journalist, a promoter of cultural projects at Tours, who first thought of a route dedicated to Saint Martin. Tours is of course one of the points of departure of both the ancient and contemporary route to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, the Via Turonensis, but at the beginning of the twenty-first century its inhabitants seemed to have forgotten that their city grew out of the worship of a bishop buried there on 11th November 397, and who was himself the subject of a large local following.
But why Saint Martin and not any of the other European saints, beyond those who are strongly linked to the idea of pilgrimage? This is where the truly fascinating work of analysing a proposal for a cultural route starts, evaluating the possibilities for European partnerships but also, and more importantly, the European values such a route could help promote, through reading, understanding and more concrete and contemporary means. In other words, how could this converted Roman soldier be a meaningful European figure?
Walking close to Aulnay de Saintonge
The answer is in his life as recorded by Sulpice Sévère. He was born around 316 in Pannonia, modern-day Hungary, to pagan parents. Following his childhood in Pavia, Italy, he joined the Roman army. After his conversion to Christianity in 337 he obtained permission to leave the army in 356 in Worms, Germany. He subsequently entered the service of Saint Hilary, bishop of Poitiers in France where he received his training before returning to his native Pannonia where he converted his mother to Christianity. He stayed a while in Milan, Italy, and then he confined himself in isolation to the island of Gallinaria on the Ligurian coast. Returning to Hilary, he began life as a hermit near Poitiers and founded the Monastery of Ligugé, the first western monastery. Kidnapped by the people of Tours, he was subsequently elected bishop of Tours on 4th July 371. He founded a new monastery at Marmoutier, near Tours. In the course of his travels, he passed through the Greater Region several times, passing through Luxembourg in particular, as the Niederanven monument and the fountain in Weimerskirch attest.
Saint Martin and sharing meeting in Paris. Among others Augustin Legrand, Albert Jacqard, Catherine Lalumière, Gabriela Battaini-Dragoni
Saint Martin is therefore truly European by favour of his travels. For us, he is a connecting link and key to an understanding of fourth century Europe, a time when the process of Christianisation was beginning to change the geopolitical order. Clovis’ journey to the tomb of Saint Martin in 508 was to link together the veneration of the saint, the victory over the Visigoths and concrete signs of the protection of the Byzantine Empire.
The Frankish monarchy made Saint Martin a protector palladium of the cope, a relic of the saint that was part of the royal treasure and for which Charlemagne ordered the construction of a reliquary-monument which was to be the centre of a new capital, Aix, which is commonly called the Chapel (‘la Chapelle’) because of the cope (‘cape’ in French).
European because of the travels and the history that he symbolises, yet also European because of his following, as an exceptional and varied heritage shows. Almost 3,700 monuments, for example, are dedicated to him in France alone, with 500 more in Spain, 700 in Italy and 350 in Hungary, and an additional 12 cathedrals built in his name throughout Europe. An immaterial heritage is linked to these places of worship which, if partially forgotten in some countries, is still very much alive in other regions. The Greater Region, for example, remembers him in songs, sayings, culinary traditions such as Saint Martin’s goose, popular festivals such as the summer of Saint Martin and various beliefs to name but a few.
Saint Martin de Tours : European figure, symbol of the universal value of sharing
The legendary and symbolic nature of Saint Martin – in other words, his portrayal – is based on the charitable gesture, sharing a coat with a poor man, as advised by Saint Matthew’s gospel in the Greco-Latin philantrôpia passage: “Clothe those who are naked”. Another important historical dimension of Saint Martin’s portrayal is that of a travelling bishop with a vision of monachism open to the world. Jean Favier says, “The act of sharing is not just that of sharing the coat, whether there is a coat or not, it is also sharing the possessions of the monastery”.
European because of the travels and the history that he symbolises, yet also European because of his following, as an exceptional and varied heritage shows. Almost 3,700 monuments, for example, are dedicated to him in France alone, with 500 more in Spain, 700 in Italy and 350 in Hungary, and an additional 12 cathedrals built in his name throughout Europe. An immaterial heritage is linked to these places of worship which, if partially forgotten in some countries, is still very much alive in other regions. The Greater Region, for example, remembers him in songs, sayings, culinary traditions such as Saint Martin’s goose, popular festivals such as the summer of Saint Martin and various beliefs to name but a few.
Saint Martin de Tours : European figure, symbol of the universal value of sharing
The legendary and symbolic nature of Saint Martin – in other words, his portrayal – is based on the charitable gesture, sharing a coat with a poor man, as advised by Saint Matthew’s gospel in the Greco-Latin philantrôpia passage: “Clothe those who are naked”. Another important historical dimension of Saint Martin’s portrayal is that of a travelling bishop with a vision of monachism open to the world. Jean Favier says, “The act of sharing is not just that of sharing the coat, whether there is a coat or not, it is also sharing the possessions of the monastery”.
Sharing is a fundamental gesture of Christianity yet it also has meaning for the Council of Europe. That is why the route organised a debate on the subject of “le partage citoyen” (civic sharing) in which participated the anthropologist Joel Candau, ecologists such as Jean-Marie Pelt and Yves Paccalet, the geneticist Albert Jacquard, the economist and advocate of downsizing Nicolas Ridoux, and Jacqueline Costa-Lascoux arguing in favour of co-development, as well as Florence Chauvin (Réflexe Partage), Patrick Boulte (Solidarités nouvelles face au chômage) and Augustin Legrand (Les Enfants de Don Quichotte) who all brought concrete experiences of urban poverty in Europe to the discussion, along with possible solutions to this problem, such as the right to accommodation.
“It is not just a gesture of generosity from one who has something to one who has nothing. It is a consideration of the possessions which are in fact common possessions, sometimes common to all humanity, and which the billions of people who constitute humanity on this earth must share. There are all the possessions of nature: water, air, earth, mineral resources, energy resources. There is also education and culture. The fruit of man’s labour over the centuries. Yet from the moment man created them – education and knowledge – they became possessions. Are they to be reserved only for some whilst others are deprived of them?” asks Catherine Lalumiere.
A gap opens between a shared coat and a shared consumption, a gap that the symbolic nature of a route of the Council of Europe bridges, linking it to the current economic drama which has become even more striking in recent months. These cultural offers not only allow people to walk the routes but also to re-interpret the ethics of growth and to take part in ‘le partage citoyen’ (civic sharing).
Illustration
A charter for European signalisation was set out in 2005. The signalisation on existent routes is to take its inspiration from the markers used in Saint Martin’s time, and a bronze nail, a contemporary creation of the sculptor Michel Audiard, called Saint Martin’s Footstep, is to be attached to the monuments dedicated to him or linked to his life. Cultural boards will explain both Saint Martin’s life and the site itself within the context of the European route.
“It is not just a gesture of generosity from one who has something to one who has nothing. It is a consideration of the possessions which are in fact common possessions, sometimes common to all humanity, and which the billions of people who constitute humanity on this earth must share. There are all the possessions of nature: water, air, earth, mineral resources, energy resources. There is also education and culture. The fruit of man’s labour over the centuries. Yet from the moment man created them – education and knowledge – they became possessions. Are they to be reserved only for some whilst others are deprived of them?” asks Catherine Lalumiere.
A gap opens between a shared coat and a shared consumption, a gap that the symbolic nature of a route of the Council of Europe bridges, linking it to the current economic drama which has become even more striking in recent months. These cultural offers not only allow people to walk the routes but also to re-interpret the ethics of growth and to take part in ‘le partage citoyen’ (civic sharing).
Illustration
A charter for European signalisation was set out in 2005. The signalisation on existent routes is to take its inspiration from the markers used in Saint Martin’s time, and a bronze nail, a contemporary creation of the sculptor Michel Audiard, called Saint Martin’s Footstep, is to be attached to the monuments dedicated to him or linked to his life. Cultural boards will explain both Saint Martin’s life and the site itself within the context of the European route.
A European charter for the lighting of heritage dedicated to Saint Martin, prepared by Pierre Bideau, proposes a common lighting system throughout the various countries, to be based on an analysis of the colours linked to Saint Martin in European iconography.
Commision on sharing
Centre Culturel Européen Saint Martin de Tours. Cloître de la Psalette. 7, rue de la Psalette – F-37000 Tours – Francie. Tel. : 00 33 (0)1 45 48 69 16. Fax : 00 33 (0)6 87 78 83 70. E-mail : antoine.selosse@saintmartindetours.eu
website.
Commision on sharing
Centre Culturel Européen Saint Martin de Tours. Cloître de la Psalette. 7, rue de la Psalette – F-37000 Tours – Francie. Tel. : 00 33 (0)1 45 48 69 16. Fax : 00 33 (0)6 87 78 83 70. E-mail : antoine.selosse@saintmartindetours.eu
website.
English version of an article published in Le Jeudi - weekly magazine issued in Luxembourg March 2007 (Text by Michel Thomas-Penette - Translation Lorna Slinger)
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