11 November, the feast of Saint Martin, is one of the most important dates in the European farming calendar. In many parts of Italy it marked the end of the agricultural year and the start of the new one: accounts were closed, contracts expired, the wine was tasted, and the land was prepared for its winter rest. Around this date a set of traditions, proverbs and images took shape that make it a true seasonal threshold, suspended between the autumn that is ending and the winter that is approaching.
The saint of the cloak
Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier of the fourth century, later a monk and bishop. The most famous legend about him tells that, on a freezing day, he met a nearly naked poor man at the gates of the city of Amiens. Having nothing else to give, Martin cut his military cloak in two with his sword and gave half to the beggar. The following night, according to tradition, Christ appeared to him in a dream wrapped in that half cloak.
The gesture of the divided cloak is a powerful symbol: one does not give what is left over, one shares what one has, even at the cost of being left with less. It is a perfect image for the start of the cold season, when solidarity becomes a concrete necessity.
Saint Martin's summer
According to tradition, after the gift of the cloak the sky cleared and the cold gave way to a few days of warmth, so that the saint would not suffer from the frost. Hence the expression Saint Martin's summer, which denotes a brief spell of mild, sunny weather that often occurs in the first half of November.
Symbolically, Saint Martin's summer is a gift of light before the dark. It is the memory of the warm season returning for a moment, like a farewell. It does not last, and for that very reason it is precious: it invites us to enjoy what is there without pretending it is permanent.
Fare San Martino: the end of the farming year
In many Italian regions 11 November coincided with the expiry of farm contracts. Sharecroppers and labourers who had to leave a farm moved in those days with their families and their few belongings. From this custom comes the popular Italian expression "fare San Martino", "to do Saint Martin", which still means to move house.
This usage explains why Saint Martin's Day was perceived as a farmers' new year. The cycle of work in the fields was complete: wheat, grapes and olives had been harvested or were about to be, the autumn sowing had been finished. The year's accounts were drawn up, debts paid, agreements renewed or closed.
The new wine and chestnuts
Saint Martin's is also the feast of the new wine. The Italian proverb "At Saint Martin's every must becomes wine" indicates that by this date the fermentation of the must is complete and the wine can be tasted. In the countryside the barrels were opened, wine was offered to friends and accompanied by roasted chestnuts, the typical fruit of the season.
This convivial moment symbolically closes the cycle begun with the grape harvest. What was gathered at the end of summer, after weeks of hidden transformation, is finally revealed in its finished form.
Carducci's poem
In Italian literature the feast is tied to Giosuè Carducci's famous poem San Martino, which opens with the line "La nebbia agl'irti colli piovigginando sale", "The mist rises, drizzling, to the bristling hills". In a few lines Carducci describes the foggy autumn landscape and the stormy sea, then the village enlivened by the smell of wines fermenting in the vats, by the lit fire and by the hunter watching the flocks of black birds at sunset.
The poem perfectly conveys the ambivalence of the feast: outside cold and fog, inside warmth, wine and community.
Saint Martin's as an inner threshold
Read symbolically, Saint Martin's Day offers three lessons for the beginning of winter:
| Theme | Image | Question for oneself |
|---|---|---|
| Sharing | The divided cloak | What can I share with those who have less? |
| Gratitude | Saint Martin's summer | What light do I still receive, even in a hard period? |
| Reckoning | The end of contracts | Which agreements, commitments or habits should be renewed or closed? |
A small rite for 11 November
- Take stock of the year just ended, as the farmers did: what you have harvested, what remains pending.
- Close an open account: a promise to keep, a debt to settle, a matter to resolve.
- Share something with someone in need: a warm garment, food, time.
- Celebrate the passage to the new cycle with a simple dinner, perhaps with chestnuts and a toast.
In short
- Saint Martin's Day, 11 November, was the new year of the farming calendar in many parts of Italy.
- The legend of the cloak divided with the poor man is a symbol of sharing.
- Saint Martin's summer is the brief autumn warmth, a gift of light before winter.
- "Fare San Martino" means to move house, because farm contracts expired on that date.
- The feast of the new wine closes the cycle begun with the grape harvest.
