The name MARTIN is very old, dating back to the 3rd century (316). The name was made very popular by St Martin of Tours. St Martin was born at Sabaria, Pannonia (in an area that is now known as Hungary), the son of pagan army officer, he was taken to Pavia when his parents moved there, and then when he was fifteen he was inducted into the army against his will. About the 337 A.D. occurred the famous incident at Amiens where he was stationed. He cut his cloak in half and gave half of it to a poorly clad beggar in the freezing cold. During the night he had a vision of Christ clad in his half cloak. He became a convert to Christianity. While in the army he refused to fight, and was discharged soon after. He returned to Pannonia, converted his mother and others. He was very active in the spread of Christianity and vigorously opposed paganism. Many times he was in great danger and was always saved from harm by seemingly miraculous occurrences. Martin made a visit to Rome and then went to Candes in Touraine, where he established a religious center. He died on November 8. Martin was one of the great saints of Gual and outstanding pioneer of Western Monasticism before St Benedict. St Martin's shrine at Tours became on of the most popular pilgrim center in Europe, and he is one of the patron saints of France. Celebrated on November 11th. St Martin is the parton Saint of Beggars, tavern keepers, and publicans. His festival in the Roman and Anglican churches is November 11th. Martinamas is the name given to the day in England" It is the time when cattle are killed for the winter use, and the new wine is drawn from the lees and tasted. The celebration was very common over most of Christendom, and it has been a somewhat jovial occasion which everyone looks forward to celebrating. Five Popes have had the name Martin. Martin the 1st was a bishop at Todi, on the Tiber River, Italy in the Crimea, Sept 16, 665. He was canonized and made a Saint. Then there was Martin the 2nd who was incorrectly ascribed to a Pope Marinus 1st. Pope Martin 3rd was incorrectly ascribed to as Marinus 2nd. The last two were Martin the 4th and Martin the 5th. If you are wondering why I am discussing the name Martin instead of Martinez it's because in Spanish the ez, es, is, and iz all mean the son of ......... In the case of Martinez, it's MARTIN + EZ, which means the father was Martin and the son or sons were Martinez. Other examples of Spanish names with the ending are: Rodrigo + ez = Rodriguez, Ramiro + ez = Ramirez, Muno + iz = Muniz, Nuno + ez = Nunez, Alan + Iz = Alaniz, Lope + ez = Lopez, Fernando + ez = Fernandez, Hernando + ez = Hernandez, ect. The name MARTIN is found all over Europe, in Spanish, English, Scots, Irish, French, German, Czech, Flemish/Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Hungarian, Poland, Italy, ect.. For Example: Italy: Martini, Martino, Martina (fem), Prov: Marti, Marty. Spain: Martin, Cat: Marti. Portuguese: Martinho. Low German: Mar(h)en; Merten. Sweden: Morton, Hungarian: Marton. England: the name varies to the spelling of Marten, Martyn. In France: Martine, Lamartine (fem form). Dims. France: Martineau, Martinet, Martinon, Martino; Tinot (an aphetic form).German: Martl, Mertel, Mortel (Bavaria); Switzerland: Marti, Marty. Italy: Martello, Martinelli, Martinetto, Martinol (latin) Martinotti, Martinuzzi. Flemish Dutch: Meer. Lovw German: Mertgen, Tienke. German (of slavic orgin) Martsch (ke), Martischik, Mertscing, Ukrainian: Martinyul, Martinets. Czechoslovakia: Martinek, Marek. Poland: Martynka, Marciek. The Martinez name is found all over the Spanish peninsula. I chose this coat of arms because it is from Galicia, Spain. I could also have selected the coat of arms from Asturias, because these are the two areas where I found my Martinez roots, however this does not mean that it is my coat of arms. It only means that this the coat of arms belonging to the Martinez family in Galicia. In fact, Asturias has two coat of arms listed which I could have selected. Many people think that because a coat of arms bears their last name that they entitled to use it. This is not the case, unless you are able to connect to the family that owns it. However, it is possible to make the connection to these titled families. One never knows, it could be the crowning achievement of ones research. As I researched the name Martinez and coat of arms I found that Alberto Garcia Carraffa's books list about 31 Martinez coat of arms. Carraffa is the authority on Spanish Heraldry. This list did not include the Martin coat of arms or the female side of these marriages. Since nobility married nobility, the female may have had her own family coat of arms when she married a Martinez. The Spanish nobility, unlike their European counterparts, was based almost entirely on military service. Very few eminent families came from medicine, law, commerce or the church. The great families of Spain fought their way to their rank. But the descendants of Spanish arms and titles differ from their European counterparts, in that they can be inherited through females. Also, illegitimacy is no bar to descendants of arms and titles. The great Spanish families believed that a family pedigree could be more damaged by misalliance then by illegitmacy.
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