Saint Marinus

Who is Saint Marinus?

Saint Marinus is venerated as the founder of the Republic of San Marino, the world's oldest surviving republic, which takes its name directly from him. According to hagiographical tradition recorded centuries after his life, he was a stonemason by trade, born on the Dalmatian island of Arba (modern Rab, Croatia) within the Roman Empire. Fleeing the Diocletianic persecution of Christians, he crossed the Adriatic Sea to the Italian peninsula and worked as a stonecutter on the fortifications of nearby Rimini, where he was later ordained a deacon by Bishop Gaudentius. To escape a woman who mistakenly and publicly identified him as her long-lost husband, Marinus withdrew to the summit of Monte Titano, where he built a small chapel and lived as a hermit. A community of followers gradually settled around him, and this settlement, granted freedom from outside rule, grew over centuries into the self-governing state that bears his name. Tradition holds that his final words, spoken as he lay dying in the winter of 366 AD, were 'I leave you free from both men' (Relinquo vos liberos ab utroque homine), understood as freedom from any single secular or ecclesiastical ruler. Modern historians note that the earliest surviving manuscripts recounting his life date only to the 10th century, so the account blends historical fact with later legend, though an independent monastic community on Monte Titano is attested from the 5th or 6th century. Saint Marinus remains the patron saint of San Marino, and the republic's national motto, 'Libertas,' echoes his dying declaration.

Sources: Life of Saint Marinus, earliest surviving hagiographic manuscripts (10th century) · William Miller, "The Republic of San Marino," The American Historical Review, Vol. 6, No. 4 (1901) · Roman Martyrology, feast of Saint Marinus (4 September)