Martin of Vertou was a hermit and abbot, born at Nantes in 527, who founded Vertou Abbey and evangelised the region around Nantes. Felix, Bishop of Nantes, ordained him and named him archdeacon at Nantes, with the task of bringing the people of the town and its surroundings to Christianity. In about 577 he withdrew into solitude on wasteland on the right bank of the Sèvre Nantaise. As people...