Martin’s Cappa and What it Did

[The king will say,] “I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. … Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:36, 40, NRSV) 

Legend has it that once upon a time, in 300-something-CE Gaul, the unwilling soldier who would later become Martin of Tours was riding along in his Roman military outfit. Seeing a beggar shivering beside the road, he drew his sword, cut his own cloak in half, and gave half to the beggar. That night, he had a dream in which it turned out that the beggar was—surprise!—Jesus. Martin promptly got baptized, dropped out of the cavalry, and went on to do all sorts of holy things, including becoming Bishop of Tours and one of France’s favorite saints. 

The part of the cloak he kept would become a relic that kings would carry into battle. The Latin word for cloak being cappa, Martin’s half-cloak was sometimes diminutively called cappella, or “little cloak.” The priest who tended it, and eventually any priest that accompanied the military, would come to be called a cappellanu. The Latin cappellanu became the French chapelain, which then came to English as—you guessed it—“chaplain.” Meanwhile, any little shelter built to house Martin’s cappella came, metonymically, to be referred to as a cappella as well, then French chapele, and thence to English as “chapel.” And old chapels being too small and simple to house a bunch of instruments, singing without instrumental accompaniment came to be called a cappella, or “in the chapel style.” 

I just thought you’d like to know. 

Prayer
For stories that are interesting even if they don’t have a point, thank you. Amen.

About the Author
Quinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.