1611, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S 'THE TEMPEST' PREMIERE

Today, The Fosters & The Grandma have been reading The Tempest, a play written by William Shakespeare that was premiered at Whitehall Palace in London in 1611.

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610-1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. 

After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where Prospero, a complex and contradictory character, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants: Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit.

The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes, including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In Act IV, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-a-play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language.

Although The Tempest is listed in the First Folio as the first of Shakespeare's comedies, it deals with both tragic and comic themes, and modern criticism has created a category of romance for this and others of Shakespeare's late plays.

The Tempest has been put to varied interpretations, from those that see it as a fable of art and creation, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero's renunciation of magic signaling Shakespeare's farewell to the stage, to interpretations that consider it an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands.

It is not known for certain exactly when The Tempest was written, but evidence supports the idea that it was probably composed sometime between late 1610 to mid-1611. It is considered one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone. Evidence supports composition perhaps occurring before, after, or at the same time as The Winter's Tale. Edward Blount entered The Tempest into the Stationers' Register on 8 November 1623. It was one of 16 Shakespeare plays that Blount registered on that date.

There is no obvious single origin for the plot of The Tempest; it appears to have been created with several sources contributing, chiefly William Strachey's Letter to an Excellent Lady. Since source scholarship began in the eighteenth century, researchers have suggested passages from Naufragium (The Shipwreck), one of the colloquies in Erasmus's Colloquia Familiaria (1518), and Richard Eden's 1555 translation of Peter Martyr's De orbo novo (1530).

The Tempest may take its overall structure from traditional Italian commedia dell'arte, which sometimes featured a magus and his daughter, their supernatural attendants, and a number of rustics. The commedia often featured a clown known as Arlecchino (or his predecessor, Zanni) and his partner Brighella, who bear a striking resemblance to Stephano and Trinculo; a lecherous Neapolitan hunchback who corresponds to Caliban; and the clever and beautiful Isabella, whose wealthy and manipulative father, Pantalone, constantly seeks a suitor for her, thus mirroring the relationship between Miranda and Prospero.

The Tempest first appeared in print in 1623 in the collection of 36 of Shakespeare's plays entitled, Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies; Published according to the True and Original Copies, which is known as the First Folio. The plays, including The Tempest, were gathered and edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell.

More information: Spark Notes

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

 Hell is empty and all the devils are here.

Ariel, The Tempest (Act 1, Scene 2)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S 'OTHELLO' FIRST PERFORMING

Today, The Fosters & The Grandma have been enjoying William Shakespeare's Othello, the tragedy that was performed for the first time, at Whitehall Palace in London, in November 1604.

 

Othello or The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman-Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyprus, since 1489 a possession of the Venetian Republic. The port city of Famagusta finally fell to the Ottomans in 1571 after a protracted siege. The story revolves around two characters, Othello and Iago.

Othello is a military commander of Moorish race who was serving as general of the Venetian army in defense of Cyprus against invasion by Ottoman Turks.  

He has recently married Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy Venetian lady much younger than himself, against the wishes of her father. Iago is Othello's malevolent ensign, who maliciously stokes his master's jealousy until the usually Stoic Moor kills his beloved wife in a fit of blind rage.

Due to its enduring themes of passion, jealousy and race, Othello is still topical and popular and is widely performed, with numerous adaptations.

Othello is an adaptation of the Italian writer Cinthio's tale Un Capitano Moro, "A Moorish Captain" from his Gli Hecatommithi (1565), a collection of one hundred tales in the style of Boccaccio's Decameron.

No English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare's lifetime, and verbal echoes in Othello are closer to the Italian original than to Gabriel Chappuy's 1584 French translation. Cinthio's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508.

More information: Shakespeare

It also resembles an incident described in the earlier tale of The Three Apples, one of the stories narrated in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights).

Desdemona is the only named character in Cinthio's tale, with his few other characters identified only as the Moor, the Squadron Leader, the Ensign, and the Ensign's Wife (corresponding to the play's Othello, Cassio, Iago and Emilia).

Cinthio drew a moral (which he placed in the mouth of Desdemona) that it is unwise for European women to marry the temperamental men of other nations. Cinthio's tale has been described as a partly racist warning about the dangers of miscegenation.

While Shakespeare closely followed Cinthio's tale in composing Othello, he departed from it in some details. Brabantio, Roderigo, and several minor characters are not found in Cinthio, for example, and Shakespeare's Emilia takes part in the handkerchief mischief while her counterpart in Cinthio does not.

Unlike in Othello, in Cinthio, the Ensign (the play's Iago) lusts after Desdemona and is spurred to revenge when she rejects him. Shakespeare's opening scenes are unique to his tragedy, as is the tender scene between Emilia and Desdemona as the lady prepares for bed. Shakespeare's most striking departure from Cinthio is the manner of his heroine's death.

In Shakespeare, Othello suffocates Desdemona, but in Cinthio, the Moor commissions the Ensign to bludgeon his wife to death with a sand-filled stocking. Cinthio describes each gruesome blow, and, when the lady is dead, the Ensign and the Moor place her lifeless body upon her bed, smash her skull, and cause the cracked ceiling above the bed to collapse upon her, giving the impression its falling rafters caused her death.

In Cinthio, the two murderers escape detection. The Moor then misses Desdemona greatly, and comes to loathe the sight of the Ensign. He demotes him, and refuses to have him in his company. The Ensign then seeks revenge by disclosing to the Squadron Leader the Moor's involvement in Desdemona's death. The two depart Cyprus for Venice, and denounce the Moor to the Venetian Seigniory; he is arrested, taken to Venice, and tortured. He refuses to admit his guilt and is condemned to exile. Desdemona's relatives eventually find and kill him. The Ensign, however, continues to escape detection in Desdemona's death, but engages in other crimes while in Venice. He is arrested and dies after being tortured. Cinthio's Ensign's Wife (the play's, Emilia), survives her husband's death to tell her story.

Cinthio's Moor is the model for Shakespeare's Othello, but some researchers believe the poet also took inspiration from the several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England circa 1600.

More information: Interesting Literature

Another possible source was the Description of Africa by Leo Africanus. The book was an enormous success in Europe, and was translated into many other languages, remaining a definitive reference work for decades, and to some degree, centuries, afterwards.

An English translation by John Pory appeared in 1600 under the title A Geographical Historie of Africa, Written in Arabicke and Italian by Iohn Leo a More... in which form Shakespeare may have seen it and reworked hints in creating the character of Othello.

While supplying the source of the plot, the book offered nothing of the sense of place of Venice or Cyprus. For knowledge of this, Shakespeare may have used Gasparo Contarini's The Commonwealth and Government of Venice, in Lewes Lewkenor's 1599 translation.

Othello possesses an unusually detailed performance record. The first certainly known performance occurred on 1 November 1604, at Whitehall Palace in London, being mentioned in a Revels account on Hallamas Day, being the first of Nouembar, 1604, when the Kings Maiesties plaiers performed A Play in the Banketinge house at Whit Hall Called The Moor of Venis. The play is there attributed to Shaxberd.

Subsequent performances took place on Monday, 30 April 1610 at the Globe Theatre, and at Oxford in September 1610.

On 22 November 1629, and on 6 May 1635, it played at the Blackfriars Theatre. Othello was also one of the twenty plays performed by the King's Men during the winter of 1612, in celebration of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V, Elector Palatine.

Othello as a literary character has appeared in many representations within popular culture over several centuries.

There also have been over a dozen film adaptations of Othello.

Download Othello by William Shakespeare

When I think of Othello, I think of a poet-warrior.
Let me say that again -a romantic warrior.
And I think I have those qualities in common with him.

Laurence Fishburne

'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'. HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

Today, The Grandma has read Hamlet, one of the most incredible plays written by William Shakespeare.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play with 30,557 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet's mother.

Hamlet is Shakespeare's longest play and is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others.

It was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most performed, topping the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessors in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1879. It has inspired many other writers -from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Charles Dickens to James Joyce and Iris Murdoch- and has been described as the world's most filmed story after Cinderella.

The story of Shakespeare's Hamlet was derived from the legend of Amleth, preserved by 13th-century chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum, as subsequently retold by the 16th-century scholar François de Belleforest.

Shakespeare may also have drawn on an earlier Elizabethan play known today as the Ur-Hamlet, though some scholars believe Shakespeare wrote the Ur-Hamlet, later revising it to create the version of Hamlet we now have. He almost certainly wrote his version of the title role for his fellow actor, Richard Burbage, the leading tragedian of Shakespeare's time.

In the 400 years since its inception, the role has been performed by numerous highly acclaimed actors in each successive century.

 

More information: William Shakespeare

Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and entire scenes missing from the others. The play's structure and depth of characterisation have inspired much critical scrutiny.

One such example is the centuries-old debate about Hamlet's hesitation to kill his uncle, which some see as merely a plot device to prolong the action but which others argue is a dramatisation of the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge, and thwarted desire.

 

More recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires, while feminist critics have re-evaluated and attempted to rehabilitate the often-maligned characters of Ophelia and Gertrude.

Any dating of Hamlet must be tentative, cautions the New Cambridge editor, Phillip Edwards. The earliest date estimate relies on Hamlet's frequent allusions to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, itself dated to mid-1599.

 

More information: Open Source Shakespeare 

The latest date estimate is based on an entry, of 26 July 1602, in the Register of the Stationers' Company, indicating that Hamlet was latelie Acted by the Lo: Chamberleyne his servantes.

From the early 17th century, the play was famous for its ghost and vivid dramatisation of melancholy and insanity, leading to a procession of mad courtiers and ladies in Jacobean and Caroline drama.

Much of Hamlet's language is courtly: elaborate, witty discourse, as recommended by Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 etiquette guide, The Courtier. This work specifically advises royal retainers to amuse their masters with inventive language.

Written at a time of religious upheaval and in the wake of the English Reformation, the play is alternately Catholic or piously medieval and Protestant or consciously modern.

More information: Shakespeare On Line

Hamlet is often perceived as a philosophical character, expounding ideas that are now described as relativist, existentialist, and sceptical. For example, he expresses a subjectivistic idea when he says to Rosencrantz: there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

Sigmund Freud's thoughts regarding Hamlet were first published in his book The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), as a footnote to a discussion of Sophocles' tragedy, Oedipus Rex, all of which is part of his consideration of the causes of neurosis.

Freud does not offer over-all interpretations of the plays, but uses the two tragedies to illustrate and corroborate his psychological theories, which are based on his treatments of his patients and on his studies.

Hamlet is one of the most quoted works in the English language, and is often included on lists of the world's greatest literature.

More information: The New Yorker

One of the things that makes Hamlet

unique among Shakespeare's characters

is his courage to face up

to the darker elements of his personality.

Kenneth Branagh

RICHARD III OF ENGLAND, SHAKESPEARIAN ANTI-HERO

Today, The Grandma has read William Shakespeare's Richard III.Richard III (2 October 1452-22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at Bosworth Field, the last decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses, marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the protagonist of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare's history plays.

When his brother King Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's 

 eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V. Arrangements were made for Edward's coronation on 22 June 1483; but, before the young king could be crowned, the marriage of his parents was declared bigamous and therefore invalid, making their children officially illegitimate and barring them from inheriting the throne.

On 25 June, an assembly of Lords and commoners endorsed a declaration to this effect and proclaimed Richard the rightful king. The following day, Richard III began his reign, and he was crowned on 6 July 1483. 

The young princes, Edward and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, were not seen in public after August, and accusations circulated that the boys had been murdered on Richard's orders. 

There were two major rebellions against Richard during his reign. The first, in October 1483, was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham; but the revolt collapsed. 

In August 1485, Henry Tudor and his uncle, Jasper Tudor, led a second rebellion. Henry Tudor landed in southern Wales with a small contingent of French troops and marched through his birthplace, Pembrokeshire, recruiting soldiers. Henry's force engaged Richard's army and defeated it at the Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. Richard was slain in the conflict, making him the last English king to die in battle. Henry Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII.

 More information: University of Leicester

After the battle, Richard's corpse was taken to Leicester and buried without pomp. His original tomb monument is believed to have been removed during the English Reformation, and his remains were lost for more than five centuries, believed to have been thrown into the River Soar. 

In 2012, an archaeological excavation was commissioned by the Richard III Society on a city council car park on the site once occupied by Greyfriars Priory Church.

The University of Leicester identified the skeleton found in the excavation as that of Richard III as a result of radiocarbon dating, comparison with contemporary reports of his appearance, and comparison of his mitochondrial DNA with that of two matrilineal descendants of Richard III's eldest sister, Anne of York. Richard's remains were reburied in Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.

Richard III is a historical play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written around 1593. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of King Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified as such. Occasionally, however, as in the quarto edition, it is termed a tragedy. Richard III concludes Shakespeare's first tetralogy, also containing Henry VI parts 1–3.

 

More information: CNN

It is the second longest play in the canon after Hamlet and is the longest of the First Folio, whose version of Hamlet is shorter than its Quarto counterpart. The play is often abridged; for example, certain peripheral characters are removed entirely. In such instances, extra lines are often invented or added from elsewhere in the sequence to establish the nature of characters' relationships. 

A further reason for abridgment is that Shakespeare assumed that his audiences would be familiar with his Henry VI plays and frequently made indirect references to events in them, such as Richard's murder of Henry VI or the defeat of Henry's queen, Margaret.

Richard III is believed to be one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, preceded only by the three parts of Henry VI and perhaps Titus Andronicus and a handful of comedies. It is believed to have been written c. 1592–1594. 

Although Richard III was entered into the Register of the Stationers' Company on 20 October 1597 by the bookseller Andrew Wise, who published the first Quarto (Q1) later that year, with printing done by Valentine Simmes, Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, which cannot have been written much later than 1592, Marlowe died in 1593, is thought to have been influenced by it. A second Quarto (Q2) followed in 1598, printed by Thomas Creede for Andrew Wise, containing an attribution to Shakespeare on its title page. Q3 appeared in 1602, Q4 in 1605, Q5 in 1612, and Q6 in 1622, the frequency attesting to its popularity. The First Folio version followed in 1623.

More information: Shakespeare Theatre

One of the central themes of Richard III is the idea of fate, especially as it is seen through the tension between free will and fatalism in Richard's actions and speech, as well as the reactions to him by other characters. 

There is no doubt that Shakespeare drew heavily on Sir Thomas More's account of Richard III as a criminal and tyrant as inspiration for his own rendering. This influence, especially as it relates to the role of divine punishment in Richard's rule of England, reaches its height in the voice of Margaret.

Download The Life and Death of Richard The Third by W.Shakespeare

 

 

 Amongst other our secular businesses and cures, our principal intent and fervent desire is to see virtue and cleanness of living to be advanced, increased, and multiplied, and vices and all other things repugnant to virtue, provoking the high indignation and fearful displeasure of God, to be repressed and annulled. 

Richard III of England

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, THE GREATEST WRITER EVER

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have continue celebrating Saint George's week, and have talked about William Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English language, and probably, the most universal one, who died on Saint George's Day, four centuries and eight years ago.

William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564–23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the Bard of Avon (or simply the Bard). 

His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. 

At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

More information: Shakespeare

Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: not of an age, but for all time.

Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover (glove-maker) originally from Snitterfield in Warwickshire, and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning family. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was baptised on 26 April 1564. His date of birth is unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, Saint George's Day. This date, which can be traced to William Oldys and George Steevens, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on the same date in 1616. He was the third of eight children, and the eldest surviving son.

Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616, at the age of 52. He died within a month of signing his will, a document which he begins by describing himself as being in perfect health. No extant contemporary source explains how or why he died.

More information: William Shakespeare

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, 
and some have greatness thrust upon them.

William Shakespeare

SAINT GEORGE'S LEGEND, WHEN PAST BECOMES ETERNAL

The day before yesterday was Saint George and today, The Fosters and The
Grandma have decided to know more about his legend and his origins, which are very controversial.

They have been reading a wonderful and interesting legend about Saint George/Sant Jordi in Montblanc.

Once upon ago, there was a town with a castle named Montblanc. Inhabitants were farmers and makers. They lived happily. But, near the village, lived a terrible Dragon with sharp nails and a long tail.

Every morning, he hunted farm animals, ate two by two and then went to his cave. The dragon ate all the animals and the people decided by lottery to offer him a person to eat it.

Every day was sadder, Dragon visited them furious and hungry again and again. People gave him food so he wouldn't be angry anymore until one day, the princess, that she was young a pretty simple and very educated, was chosen to surrender to the dragon. People were terrified and all of them wanted to take her place, but the King said sadly that her daughter was like any other.

The next morning, the princess left the castle wearing a white dress, she crossed the village while the people were watching her sadly.

Suddenly, the princess heart how a knight arrived on a white horse. The Princess, very worried, stopped and recommended him that he should leave so he wouldn't eat it. The knight, who was named Saint George, told her that he would save the city of Montblanc from the Dragon.

Next, the Dragon flew over the heads of the princess, it descended and it and Saint George fought for their lives. Sant Jordi killed the dragon and he and the princess dragged his body to the town.

Meanwhile, the people greeted Saint George and they were very happy because he won the bad Dragon. The dragon died, and they said that from the blood of his wounds, was born to a rose, that Sant Jordi gave to the princess.

After, the King offered the hand of the princess, but the knight rejected it to continue fighting other battles (he made a cobra in Medieval style).

Then, the people were happy again. Sant Jordi rode his horse. He mysteriously disappeared and the Montblanquins, in gratitude, decided to let the world know this story.

Finally, they had a party for a week, dancing, eating and wearing their best clothes.

Today, Saint George is a special day in Catalonia. People bring roses and books to commemorate love and culture.

More information: Montblanc Medieval

 

Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey.
What fairy tales give the child is
his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey.
The baby has known the dragon intimately
ever since he had an imagination.
What the fairy tale provides for him is
a St. George to kill the dragon.

G.K. Chesterton

SAINT GEORGE, THE TRADITION BECOMES POPULAR

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have continued celebrating Saint George, and preparing their A2 Cambridge Exam working some aspects like reading, writing and listening.

Download A2 Cambridge Model

 

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.

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.

 

More information: Independent

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.

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.

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.

 

More information: Parliament UK

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.

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.

 

More information: Coptic Cairo

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

APRIL 23-SAINT GEORGE, BOOKS & ROSES IN CATALONIA

Today is Saint George, the favourite Grandma's day. It is a beautiful festivity, especially if you live in Catalonia, because Catalan people pay homage to their patron (Sant Jordi) with books and roses. It is the greatest Catalan culture day.

 

The Fosters and The Grandma have celebrated this beautiful day, which is also a National Day in England, visiting Notting Hill.

Saint George's Day, also called the Feast of Saint George, is the feast day of Saint George as celebrated by various Christian Churches and by the several nations, old kingdoms, regions, states, countries and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Cáceres, Alcoi, Aragon and Catalonia. The saint also has his state holiday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the difference that St. George is not the patron saint of the region, but with his populism and the day of local festivals and masses, in addition to being part of the history of the suburb of Rio by syncretism, made the saint the most venerated in the city.

Saint George's Day is normally celebrated on 23 April. However, Church of England rules denote that no saints' day should be celebrated between Palm Sunday and the Sunday after Easter Day, so if 23 April falls in that period the celebrations are transferred to after it. 23 April is the traditionally accepted date of the saint's death in the Diocletian Persecution of AD 303.

Saint George became the patron saint of the former Crown of Aragon, when King Pere I won the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096 commending his army and people to the auspices of the saint. He is also patron of several former territories under the Crown of Aragon, including Valencia, Catalonia, Sicily, Sardinia, and several regions of Italy.

In most cases, the reason for those cities' adoption of the Saint as their holy Patron and shared flag is linked to the Aragonese colonial influence and various battles that occurred throughout the Mediterranean during the Reconquista. The international expansion of the Reconquista that followed over the next two centuries across the Mediterranean also led to the adoption of the cross of Saint George as a coat of arms by Christian Crusaders.

More information: English Heritage

The Catalan version of the legend of Sant Jordi says that after a fierce battle between the knight and the dragon, the beast fell through the sharp iron and that from the drops of blood that reached the ground a rose was born that bloomed profusely every April. This is the explanation that the oral tradition gives to the custom of giving roses on St. George's Day, April 23.

Legends and imaginary stories aside, we know that the tradition of giving roses to lovers comes from afar. St. George's bond with the world of chivalry and courtly love may have been the germ of tradition. We also know that in the 15th century the so-called Fira dels Enamorats was held in Barcelona and that sellers of this flower settled around the Palau de la Generalitat. At the same time, it was customary to present with a rose the women who attended the Eucharist officiated in the chapel of St. George in the palace. And finally, there are those who say that the custom of giving roses has Roman roots, specifically the festivals in honour of the goddess Flora, which were later Christianized.

In the symbolic universe, the red rose, the colour of passion, is the flower of female love, while the carnation is reserved for male love. The decoration of the rose, for Sant Jordi, is also quite curious and mixes elements from different sources. On the one hand, female love represented by the rose of red, velvety and fragile petals, and sometimes accompanied by a spike representing fertility, gives rise to a very ancient interpretation of cereal seeds. But there are also those who make a more prosaic reading of it and relate it to the arrival of good weather. On the other hand, the flower of Sant Jordi is also usually decorated with elements that evoke Catalan culture, such as ties or ribbons with the flag, which recall the vindictive content of the day.

Today, florists, corners, avenues, streets and squares become points of sale and distribution of thousands and thousands of roses that are given to loved ones, as tradition dictates, but also to friends, girlfriends, parents, co-workers and clients. Because this flower has transcended the original meaning of love and has also become a gift of courtesy and friendship. As you can see, the rose has become the protagonist of the festival, to the point that domestic production does not cover the demand, so it is necessary to resort to imports from other parts of the world far away.

In the 15th century, a rose fair was held in Barcelona on the occasion of Sant Jordi. It was attended mainly by grooms, fiancés and young couples, and this suggests that the custom of giving a rose has its origins in this festival, which was held at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. It was proposed to turn this date into a precept festival for the first time in 1436, when the proposal was formulated in the Catalan Parliament. The proposal would take effect in 1456.

More information: GenCat (Catalan Version)

Since the 15th century, in Catalonia, St. George's Day has been a special day, and it is customary for couples to give each other a red rose like blood and a book. The monarchs Pere the Catholic, Jaume I or Pere the Ceremonious contributed to the saint's popularity. Despite being traditional, the popularization of giving roses was actively restored in 1914, thanks to the impetus of the Commonwealth.

Sant Jordi has been declared a National Day of Catalonia by the Generalitat, but this day is not a work holiday: it is a work and school day for students. For Sant Jordi, official receptions are held at the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya and in the world of education, where Floral Games are held, it is a day of big celebration and participation in which the printed and recited word has all the prominence.

The town of Montblanc, according to the Catalan Customs of the folklorist Joan Amades, was the place in Catalonia where Saint George killed the dragon and saved the princess. That is why, since 1987, the people of Montblanc have been reviving the Medieval Week of the Legend of Sant Jordi. The high point of the celebration is the representation of the legend of the noble horseman, hero and saviour of princesses, in the scenes picked up by the popular tradition.

The day has a vindictive aspect of Catalan culture and many balconies are decorated with the flag of Catalonia. There are stops with political demands, to help humanitarian organizations, to raise funds for schools or just to get some extra money. The media broadcast live from the most emblematic points. But above all it is necessary to emphasize the festive atmosphere that generates the day. There are activities in libraries and concerts in the streets that add to the busy Catalan cultural agenda.

Books and roses are sold all over Catalonia, but it is on the Rambla de Barcelona where the event reaches its maximum expression. Storms are added to the usual stops on the Rambla. There are also readings of poems or excerpts from books and theatres and performance halls do special promotions.

More information: Casa Batlló

Cavaller, bon cavaller,
alerta al drac,
que s'amaga rere els núvols
ran d'aquest llac.

Knight, good knight,
dragon alert,
which hides behind the clouds
ran of this lake.

Gabriel Janer Manila

JOAN FOSTER EXPLAINS THE SAINT GEORGE'S LEGEND

Tomorrow is Saint George. The Fosters and The Grandma have been talking about this incredible figure, unknown and almost a legend. Joan Foster has explained the legend because he knows it very well.

More than a thousand years ago, there was a knight named George. Riding on a white horse and, wearing a breast date as bright as silver, he went over the lands in the country. His mission, as other knights who lived in that time, was taking justice and liberty to those who lacked them for one reason or another.

One day, George the knight arrived in a village where nobody could be seen in the street. He went to the blacksmith’s house as his horse needed a horseshoe, but like rest of the houses it was also closed.

After knocking on the door insistently, it was half opened and the blacksmith let him in quickly baring the door again.

-Milord, milord! Misfortune has befallen us. The upset blacksmith told him. 

-Explain everything to me, answered the knight, as he had never seen so much sadness and devastation anywhere else like that. 

-Milord, for some time there’s a heartless dragon who has been devastating the region. His breath of fire has burnt our crops and what’s more, he has been eating every animal he’s found in his way.

In time, the blacksmith went on explaining to George the knight, as there were so few animals left, the hungry dragon demanded to be offered a person every day to satisfy his greedy appetite.

Saint George

The king called a meeting, and very angrily all the people decided to face up to the dragon and they got ready to fight. They made big spears, palisades and a big moat in the hope of killing the dragon. When the dragon appeared, everybody fought against him in despair. But everything was useless and they were defeated.

The next day, in the presence of the dragon and with a threat of devastating everything if they did not give him what he asked for, they drew lots to see who would have to be handed over.

Fate willed that it was the princess Anabelda, the king’s daughter. The king and the queen were paralyzed as if a ray had passed through them, and both of them tried to trick the dragon saying that it had fallen to their lot. But the shrewd and wicked dragon was not tricked and, he took the princess Anabelda between his paws.

Knight George, after having listened to the terrible story told by the blacksmith, said: 

-I’ll have that dragon choke on his food!

 

And riding on his horse, he left as fast as he could to look for the captive princess. At nightfall the knight found the dragon’s cave and the princess, who was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. Suddenly the dragon appeared.

-How lucky I am today, I’ve got a double portion for dinner.

Saint George

He said laughing while he closed his eyes and smelt them with appetite. George took advantage of the occasion, and, as fast as a ray, he cut his head right off with his sword. The dragon’s blood soaked the earth and a rosebush with lovely red roses bloomed immediately. 

George released the princess and he gave her a flower so that she would calm down.

You’re so brave and generous having rescued me from that monster – said Anabelda, in love with that handsome knight.

When they returned all the people went out to welcome them cheering and hailing. The king and the queen could not believe that their beloved daughter was safe and sound. And as George the knight was now tired of adventures and, besides he was pleased with the princess’ company, they married and were happy forever.

Damunt el cel veig un drac
brodat de foc,
un drac que guarda una jove
en estrany lloc.

Above the sky I see a dragon
embroidery in fire
a dragon that keeps a young woman
in strange place.

Cançó del Cavaller Sant Jordi, Maria del Mar Bonet