Martin of Soure


Martin of Soure or Martin Arias was a Portuguese captive canon and died in Córdoba.

Biography

Martinho de Soure or Martin Arias was the son of Manuel Aires and Argia and was offered by his father to the care of his cousin Bishop Maurice of Coimbra and after entered at your service and clerical life. Thus lived and trained in the house of the bishop. More late Martinho has professed as regular canon of the Cathedral of Coimbra and was ordained priest. Led an exemplary life and was admired for his virtue and charity for the needy. Around 1124 he was elected prior of the border town of Soure, with his brother Mendo, ecclesiastical chapter, with the aim of restoring the church and give them spiritual assistance to people who had been attacked by Muslims in 1117. Very dear to the people, in 1144, the Muslim governor of Santarém Abu Zakaria occupied and destroyed Soure, dislocating a large part of the population to Santarém. There, predicted the conquest of the city by Afonso I of Portugal and was sent to Évora, Seville 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 the Saint Martinho de Soure around 1150.