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| Sant Jordi in the Pati dels Tarongers, Barcelona |
Saint George (AD 275–281 to 23 April 303), according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Greek origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, who was ordered his death for failing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he later became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity and in particular the Crusades.
In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalised in the myth of Saint George and the Dragon. His memorial, Saint George's Day, is traditionally celebrated on April 23. Numerous countries, cities, professions and organisations claim Saint George as their patron: England, Catalonia, Georgia, Malta, Armenia, Belgium, Egypt, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Montenegro, Palestine, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Aragon, Castile and Leon, Syria and the United States.
More information: Independent
George's parents were Christians of Greek background, his father Gerontius was a Roman army official from Cappadocia, and his mother Polychronia was a Christian and a Greek native from Lydda in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. Accounts differ regarding whether George was born in Cappadocia or Syria Palaestina, but agree that he was raised at least partly in Lydda.
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| St George in the Houses of Parliament |
In the medieval romances, the lance with which Saint George slew the dragon was called Ascalon after the Levantine city of Ashkelon, today in Israel. The name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II, according to records at Bletchley Park.
In Sweden, the princess rescued by Saint George is held to represent the kingdom of Sweden, while the dragon represents an invading army. Several sculptures of Saint George battling the dragon can be found in Stockholm, the earliest inside Storkyrkan The Great Church in the Old Town.
Some evidence links the legend back to very old Egyptian and Phoenician sources in a late antique statue of Horus fighting a dragon. This ties the legendary George, though not necessarily the historical George, to various ancient sources using mythological and linguistic arguments. In Egyptian mythology, the god Setekh murdered his brother Osiris. Horus, the son of Osiris, avenged his father's death by killing Setekh. This iconography of the horseman with spear overcoming evil was widespread throughout the Christian period.
More information: Parliament UK
As a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, Saint George is connected with a large number of patronages throughout the world, and his iconography can be found on the flags and coats of arms of a number of cities and countries.
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| Church of Saint George, El Cairo |
Traces of the cult of St George predate the Norman Conquest, in 9th-century liturgy used at Durham Cathedral, in a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon martyrology, and in dedications to Saint George at Fordington, Dorset, at Thetford, Southwark and Doncaster. He received further impetus when the Crusaders returned from the Holy Land in the 12th century.
At the Battle of Antioch in 1098, St George, St Demetrius and St Maurice were said to have been seen riding alongside the crusaders, and depictions of this event can be seen in a number of churches. King Edward III (reigned 1327–77) was known for promoting the codes of knighthood and in 1348 founded the Order of the Garter.
During his reign, George came to be recognised as the patron saint of the English monarchy; before this, Saint Edmund had been considered the patron saint of England, although his veneration had waned since the time of the Norman conquest, and his cult was partly eclipsed by that of Edward the Confessor. Edward dedicated the chapel at Windsor Castle to the soldier saint who represented the knightly values of chivalry which he so much admired, and the Garter ceremony takes place there every year.
More information: Coptic Cairo
In the 16th century, Edmund Spenser included St. George, Redcross Knight, as a central figure in his epic poem The Faerie Queene. William Shakespeare firmly placed St George within the national conscience in his play Henry V, in which the English troops are rallied with the cry God for Harry, England and St George, and in Richard III, and King Lear.
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| Saint George Statue in Tbilisi, Georgia |
A late 17th-century ballad also claims St. George as an English patron. The ballad compares other mythic and historical heroes with the merit of St. George and concludes that all are less important than St. George.
Above the Palace of Westminster, there are six shields above each of the four clock faces of Big Ben, twenty-four in total, all depicting the arms of St George, representing the Flag of England, London as the capital city of England, and St. George as the patron saint of England. This symbolism is also repeated in the central lobby of the Houses of Parliament, in an enormous mosaic created by Sir Edward John Poynter in 1869, depicting St George and the Dragon with these arms, entitled St George for England.
Saint George, Sant Jordi in Catalan, is the patron saint of Catalonia. His cross appears in many buildings and local flags, including the one of the Catalan capital, Barcelona. The Catalan tradition usually locates the events of his legend in the town of Montblanc, near Tarragona.
By the 15th century Catalan men used to celebrate Saint George's Day by giving roses to women. Nowadays Saint George is not a public holiday anymore but is a very popular celebration. Women receive roses and books and, since the 20th century, men receive books and roses and the celebration is also used to celebrate Catalan national identity, culture and literature and romantic love.
One of the highest civil distinction awarded in Catalonia is the Saint George's Cross (Creu de Sant Jordi).
More information: The Culture Trip
A people without the knowledge of their past history,
origin and culture is like a tree without roots.
Marcus Garvey
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