Martin Todi

Born [date unknown] in Todi, Byzantine Empire

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Biography

Pope Martin I Todi is Notable.

Martin was born in Todi, Byzantine Empire (now Umbria, Italy). He was of noble birth.^[1]

He was an abbot of the Order of St Basil.^[1]

A deacon, he was the apocrisiarius or legate at Constantinople between 622-649.^[2]

He was in this position and a deacon when elected pope on 21 July 649. At that time it was normal to elect bishops and popes from those in the diaconate.^[3]

One of his first acts as pope was to summon the Lateran Council of 649.^[1]

As a result of publishing the decrees of the Lateran Council of 649 in an encyclical, the reigning emperor, Constans II required his exarch in Italy to arrest the pope. Martin was arrested on 17 June 653 and was hurried out of Rome via Naxos, Greece and ont to Constantinople arriving on 17 September 653. He was saved from execution. A new pope, Eugene I was elected to replace him. Martin was banished to Cherson, a Byzantine Theme located in the southern Crimea, arriving on 15 May 655, but died four months later on 16 September 655.^[1]

Flocknote Popes in a Year ^[4] tells us:

Pope from July 21, 649 - September 16, 655 A.D.

Died: September 16, 655 A.D.

Pronounced: MAHR-tehn

A native of Tuscany and of noble birth, Martin was known from an early age for being very intelligent and a standout student. As his life went on, he became highly educated and was also acclaimed for his charity to the poor. Prior to being pope, Martin followed in many past pontiffs’ footsteps by serving as papal nuncio in Constantinople, being ordained to the office of deacon during that time. He was also a Basilian, having belonged to the monastic order of St. Basil.

Pope Martin I was elected in Rome on July 21, 649, and was the first pope in many decades who took office without imperial consent. He did this in order to convene a council in Rome to deal definitively with the Monothelite heresy -- that Christ had only one will -- which much of the East had succumbed to believing. Many attempts were made on Martin’s life at the behest of the emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople, and he was eventually kidnapped, tortured, and exiled. He died in Cherson, a region near modern-day Ukraine, and was buried in a nearby church dedicated to Our Lady. Some of his relics have since been transferred to a church bearing his name in Rome.

Pope St. Martin I is best known for suffering well for the faith, and for being the last martyred pope. He was arrested along with St. Maximus the Confessor and taken to the island of Naxos, an island in the Aegean sea, having been accused of many trumped-up charges. Martin’s own letters indicate he was kept at Naxos for a year, then was taken to Constantinople. After arriving, he was left on the ship’s deck for hours to be jeered at by curious spectators who had heard the (untrue) charges against him, then moved to a prison for 93 days where he suffered from hunger, thirst, and cold.

The saintly pope was not so easily broken, however. On December 19, he was brought before the Senate, who attempted to force Martin to endorse heresy (he, of course, refused). After this, he was taken into an open area, stripped nearly naked, loaded with chains, and dragged through the streets of the city. He was then thrown into another prison, where he stayed for 85 more days. The emperor, in a stroke of uncharacteristic mercy, exiled Martin I to Cherson in lieu of a death sentence. St. Martin I – inexplicably – lived four more months, despite a widespread famine in the region.

Pope Pius VII made a fitting homage to St. Martin I in his encyclical Diu Satis in the year 1800:

“Indeed, the famous Martin who long ago won great praise for this See, commends faithfulness and fortitude to Us by his strengthening and defense of the truth and by the endurance of labors and pains. He was driven from his See and from the City, stripped of his rule, his rank, and his entire fortune … Although he was tempted daily in his weakened and lonely state, he never surrendered his integrity. No deceit could trick, no fear perturb, no promises conquer, no difficulties or dangers break him.” - Pope Pius VII, on Pope St. Martin I

One of the miracles related to Pope St. Martin I involved an assassination attempt on his life by one of Emperor Constans II’s henchmen, Olympius. During Mass, Olympius planned to receive Holy Communion from Martin, allowing him to get close enough to slay the pope. However, Olympius later testified that he was suddenly struck blind, preventing him from carrying out the hit.

At this time, the first major hospital in Paris, the Hotel-Dieu de Paris, was founded in 651 by her bishop, St. Landry of Paris, and dedicated to St. Christopher.

Research Notes

This profile is being updated by the Popes Project.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Wikipedia: Pope Martin I
2. ↑ Richards, Jeffrey (1979). The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
3. ↑ Collins, John N Diakonia: Interpreting the Ancient Sources. OUP, 1990.
4. ↑ Flocknote Popes in a Year
   SOURCES (and further reading)
   John, E. (1964). The Popes: A concise biographical history. New York: Hawthorn Books.
   Pope St. Martin I - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09723c.htm
   Pope Martin I - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Martin_I
   Landry of Paris - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landry_of_Paris