Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Vincent of Saragossa
This is the second post in a miniseries on donkeys and medieval saints and it starts with Saint Martin of Tours whose commemoration day is November 11th (Western/Roman Church) or November 12th (Eastern Church).
Saint Martin was a fourth-century soldier from Hungary who served in the Roman army. He converted to Christianity, became a monk, and was then elected the bishop of Tours (France). He is best known for cutting his cloak in half and sharing it with a freezing beggar. The beggar then appeared to him in a dream that night and revealed himself to be Christ – it was this event that convinced Martin to become a Christian. Unsurprisingly, he is the patron saint of beggars. He is also the patron saint of wool-weavers, tailors, geese, vintners, innkeepers, and France – quite an eclectic mix.
St Martin of Tours cutting his cloak for a beggar, 2nd half of the 12th century: Add MS 15219, f. 12r (British Library, UK)
Legend has it that Martin’s donkey is responsible for introducing grapevine pruning into France. As Martin rode around his bishopric on a donkey visiting his religious communities, on one occasion, he left the donkey tied up outside a monastery. The donkey went in search of food and found a grapevine. It ate all the grapes, foliage and branches that it could reach. The monks were not very pleased when they discovered the donkey’s actions, however, when it was time for the next grape harvest they found that they had their best harvest and thus the practice of pruning vines began … all thanks to Martin’s donkey.
There is, however, no record of this incident in the early accounts of St Martin’s life, but it hasn’t stopped vineyards from around the world perpetuating this tale. And … to complicate matters further, another saint, Vincent of Saragossa is credited with the same story.
Saint Vincent (AD d. 304) lived most of his life in Saragossa, Spain. He was ordained a deacon[1] and was martyred for his steadfastness to his faith by the Roman governor of the region. His feast day is 11 November (Eastern Orthodox Church) and 22 January (Roman Church). He is the patron saint of: Lisbon, Portugal; Valencia, Spain; vintners; vinegar makers; brickmakers; and sailors.
[1] Deacon: lowest rank of the Christian ministry; during the mass, they are responsible for assisting the priest, distributing Communion and they may also preach the homily.
Vincent of Saragossa, wearing the deacon’s vestments and holding a cross-inscribed book. Book of Hours, Belgium, Bruges, ca. 1460, M.387 fol. 84v
Like Saint Martin and his grape vine eating donkey, legend tells the same story about Vincent and his donkey; and similarly, there is little evidence of the event in the early accounts of Vincent’s life. Trying to unpick the myth of donkeys and their influence on grape vine pruning is tricky. The legend goes back further than the two medieval saints. In Greek mythology, the god Aristaeus, is credited with the practice of vine pruning, supposedly after seeing a goat eat the lower foliage and another legend has it that a donkey in Palestine introduced the practice. Considering that people have been making wine for a very long time and that donkeys were in the Middle East long before they were introduced to Europe, then my money is on the Palestine donkey. Although it’s quite feasible that the actions of Martin’s and Vincent’s donkeys helped to introduce the practice to Europe. So, take what you will from these stories of hungry donkeys. They might not be miracles in the medieval Christian sense, but if pruning produces a more grapes and thus more wine, then that’s a miracle enough for me! Cheers.
And finally, here is a 1 minute and 2 second clip of a couple of donkeys re-enacting the legend (Thanks to Mariawulf for posting this delightful clip).
