It is St George’s Day today, the patron saint of England. But who was he?
He seems to have some historical basis and is thought to have lived between around 275 to 303 CE. His father was a Greek, Gerondios, from Cappadocia, a city in Asia Minor, and his mother is thought to have come from Lydda which was situated in the Palestine and had become Hellenised following the invasion of Alexander the Great.
George served in the Roman army in the guard of the emperor, Diocletian. All went swimmingly for George until 302 CE when Diocletian issued an edict to the effect that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods. George objected and made his representations to the Emperor. Diocletian did not want to lose one of his best men but George put him in an impossible position by renouncing the Emperor’s edict and in front of his fellow soldiers declaring himself to be a Christian. Despite offers of wealth, land and other forms of largess, George refused to give way and the Emperor had no alternative but to execute him.
Before his execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared to meet his gruesome end. After a period of intense torture during which he was resuscitated three times, George was decapitated in front of the walls of Nicomedia. His body was returned to Lydda where Christians soon honoured him as a martyr.
Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox traditions. Eastern Orthodox iconography depicts him slaying a dragon – the dragon represents Satan (see Revelations 12: 3 – and there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads) and the Roman Empire.
The earliest dedication to St George in England is a church in Dorset, Fordington, which is mentioned in the wars of Alfred the Great. His feast day, which was established as April 23rd, became popular from the time of the Crusades and his flag – a red cross on a white background – was adopted by the English and the City of London in 1190 to gain the protection of the Genoese when sailing in the Mediterranean. Although the saint has no obvious connections with England, his association with the country and his adoption as its saint has a long pedigree. Indeed, although the Reformation in England put paid to a lot of Saints’ Days, St George’s was one of the very few to survive, testimony to the high regard in which this saint was held by the English. Perhaps the saint’s military background appealed to the bellicose English.
St George was also one of the Fourteen Helpers – a group of saints venerated together by the Catholics because their intercession was believed to be particularly effective against diseases. Their origin is thought to date back to the fourteenth century at a time when plague and pestilence – particularly the Black Death – were prevalent. St George was invoked to ensure the health of domestic animals – clearly dragons weren’t domesticated!
An odd saint to have as your patron but we seem to have been happy with him for long enough. Happy St George’s Day!
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