Sulpicius Severus

Sulpicius Severus was a Gallic writer of aristocratic background who abandoned a legal career for asceticism. His Life of Saint Martin, composed around 397, presents Martin of Tours as a monk-bishop and wonder-worker on the model of the Desert Fathers, and set the pattern for later Latin hagiography.

Dates

ca. 363–ca. 425 (approximate)

See or city

Primuliacum (Gaul)

Region

Aquitania

Notes

A wealthy, well-educated Gallic layman, trained in law, who took up ascetic life under the influence of Martin of Tours and Paulinus of Nola. His Life of Saint Martin, written while Martin was still alive, became the most widely read hagiography of the Latin Middle Ages.

Works

• Life of Saint MartinVita Sancti Martini · ca. 396–397 · CPL 475 (not yet checked)