MARTIAL, bishop of LIMOGES, saint — He is commemorated in the German Martyrology on June 30. According to St. Gregory of Tours, he would have been one of the seven bishops sent, around the middle of the 3rd century, from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel there.
To M. would have fallen the city of Limoges; there, together with two priests whom he had brought with him, he would have preached and converted many. After his death he would have been buried in a crypt together with his collaborators. In 852 his body was transferred to a new church.
According to a biography written in the 11th century, when in Gaul lively discussions were taking place to claim the apostolicity of the various dioceses, probably by Adémar of Chabannes, M. is said to be a disciple of St. Peter and sent by him to Limoges: this is evidently a legend manipulated with local pride.