De correctione rusticorum ('on the correction of rural people'), also known as Pro castigatione rusticorum ('for the castigation of rural people') is a letter by Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580 CE), written in Gallaecia. The text begins with a letter from Martin to Bishop Polemius of Astorga, indicating that Polemius had asked Martin to write a piece on the origin of idols. Compared with Caesarius of Arles, Martin seems to take a gentler stance on how to accommodate non-Christian traditions in the course of missionary work in the region.[1]
The De correctione drew on De catechizandis rudibus by Augustine of Hippo[2]
It was in turn a major influence on Pirmin of Reichenau's Scarapsus,[3] and a source for several of Ælfric of Eynsham's sermons, not least his famous De falsis diis.[4][5][6] The text may also have been referred to directly by the writer of the Old Norse Um þat hvaðan ótrú hófsk ('how false belief began'), whose text is, however, more strongly influenced by Ælfric's De falsis diis.[7]