Martin of Soure or Martin Arias (b. 11th century, Auranca,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
; d. 31 January 1146 in
Córdoba,
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus DIN 31635, translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label=Berber languages, Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, ...
) was a
Portuguese captive canon.
Life
Arias was the son of Manuel Aires and Argia. He entered clerical service under the care of Bishop Maurice of Coimbra. Bishop Maurice was the cousin of Martinho's father, who requested he oversee his son's training.
Martinho lived and trained in the house of the bishop (in
Fradelos,
Albergaria-a-Velha,
Aveiro District
Aveiro District ( pt, Distrito de Aveiro, or ) is located in the central coastal region of Portugal. The capital of the district is the city of Aveiro, which also serves as the seat of Aveiro Municipality.
Aveiro District is bordered by the Po ...
). Later in life, Martinho served as the canon of the
Cathedral of Coimbra.
As an ordained priest, Martinho led an exemplary life and was admired for his virtue and charity. Around 1124 he moved to the border town of
Soure with his brother Mendo. He established an ecclesiastical chapter to restore the church and give spiritual assistance to people who had been attacked by
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
in 1117.
In 1144, the Muslim governor of Santarém Abu Zakaria occupied and destroyed Soure, dispersing a large part of the population to
Santarém. There, he predicted the conquest of the city by
Afonso I of Portugal and was sent to
Évora
Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District.
Due to its well-preserved old to ...
,
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
, and
Córdoba, where he was tortured and died in prison by Abu Zakaria's order in 1146.
The monk Salvado de Santa Cruz wrote about the life of Saint Martinho de Soure around 1150.
Bibliography
de NASCIMENTO, Aires A.. Hagiografia de Santa Cruz de Coimbra: vida de D. Telo, vida de D. Teotónio, vida de Martinho de Soure (em português).
.l.: s.n. Página visitada em 12/08/2012.
External links
Soure O Ltimo Ataque Muulana*
Portuguese Roman Catholics
1146 deaths
12th-century Portuguese people
Portuguese torture victims
Year of birth unknown
{{Portugal-reli-bio-stub