St George is the
patron saint of England and among the most famous of Christian figures. But of
the man himself, nothing is certainly known. Our earliest source, Eusebius of
Caesarea, writing c. 322, tells of a soldier of noble birth who was put to
death under Diocletian at Nicomedia on the 23 April, 303, but makes no mention
of his name, his country or his place of burial. According to the apocryphal
Acts of St George current in various versions in the Eastern Church from the
fifth century, George held the rank of tribune in the Roman army and was
beheaded by Diocletian for protesting against the Emperor's persecution of
Christians. George rapidly became venerated throughout Christendom as an
example of bravery in defence of the poor and the defenceless and of the
Christian faith.
George
was probably first made well known in England by Arculpus and Adamnan in the
early eighth century. The Acts of St George, which recounted his visits to
Caerleon and Glastonbury while on service in England, were translated into
Anglo-Saxon. Among churches dedicated to St George was one at Doncaster in
1061. George was adopted as the patron saint of soldiers after he was said to
have appeared to the Crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098. Many
similar stories were transmitted to the West by Crusaders who had heard them
from Byzantine troops, and were circulated further by the troubadours. When
Richard I was campaigning in Palestine in 1191-92 AD he put the army under the
protection of St George.
Because
of his widespread following, particularly in the Near East, and the many
miracles attributed to him, George became universally recognized as a saint
sometime after 900. A lesser holiday in honour of St George, to be kept on 23
April, was declared by the Synod of Oxford in
1222; and St George had become acknowledged as Patron Saint of England by the
end of the fourteenth century. In 1415, the year of Agincourt, Archbishop
Chichele proclaimed St George's Day as a great feast and ordered it to be observed
like Christmas Day. In 1778 the holiday reverted to a simple day of devotion
for English Catholics.
The
banner of St George, the red cross of a martyr on a white background, was
adopted for the uniform of English soldiers possibly in the reign of Richard 1,
and later became the flag of England and the White Ensign of the
Royal Navy. The fame of St George throughout Europe was greatly
increased by the publication of the Legenda Sanctorum (Readings on the Saints),
later known as the Legenda Aurea (The Golden Legend) by James of Voragine in
1265. The name 'golden legend' does not refer to St George but to the whole
collection of stories, which were said to be worth their weight in gold. It was
this book which popularized the legend of George and the Dragon. The legend may
have been particularly well received in England because of a similar legend in
Anglo-Saxon literature. St George became a stock figure in the secular miracle
plays derived from pagan sources which continued to be performed at the
beginning of spring. The origin of the legend remains obscure. It is first
recorded in the late sixth century and may have been an allegory of the
persecution of Diocletian, who was sometimes referred to as 'the dragon' in
ancient texts. The story may also be a Christianised version of the Greek
legend of Perseus, who was said to have rescued the virgin Andromeda from a sea
monster at Arsuf or Jaffa, near Lydda (Diospolis), where the cult of St George
grew up around the site of his supposed tomb.
In 1348,
George was adopted by Edward 111 as Principal Patron of his new order of
chivalry, the Knights of the Garter. Some believe that the Order took its name
from a pendant badge or jewel traditionally shown in depictions of Saint
George. The insignia of the Order include a Collar and Badge Appendant, known
as the George. The badge is of gold and presents a richly enamelled
representation of St George on horseback slaying the dragon. A second medal,
the Lesser George, also depicting George and the dragon, is worn attached to
the Sash. The objective of the Order was probably to focus the efforts of
England on further Crusades to reconquer the Holy Land. The earliest records of
the Order of the Garter were destroyed by fire, but it is believed that either
in 1348 or in 1344 Edward proclaimed St George Patron Saint of England.
Although the cult of St George was suppressed in England at the Reformation, St
George's Chapel, Windsor, completed in stages from 1483 to 1528, has remained
the official seat of the Order, where its chapters assemble. The Monarch and
the Prince of Wales are always members, together with 24 others and 26 Knights
or Ladies Companion.
Much
later, in 1818, the Prince Regent, later George IV, created the Most
Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George to recognize exemplary service
in the diplomatic field. The Order was founded to commemorate the British
protectorate of the Ionian Islands and Malta, which had begun in 1814.
Originally membership was limited to inhabitants of the islands and to Britons
who had served locally. In 1879 membership was widened to include foreigners
who had performed distinguished service in Commonwealth countries. The Order
was reorganized by William 1V into three classes: Knight Grand Cross (GCMG);
Knight Commander (KCMG); and Companion (CMG). Nowadays there are women members
of each class with the title 'Dame'. The medal of the Order shows St George and
the Dragon on one side, and St Michael confronting the Devil on the other with
the inscription,'auspicium melioris aevi' ('augury of a better age'). The
Chapel of the Order is St Paul's Cathedral.
The legend of St
George and the dragon took on a new lease of life during the Counter
Reformation. The discoveries in Africa, India and the Americas, in areas which
maps had previously shown as populated by dragons, presented vast new fields
for Church missionary endeavour, and St George was once again invoked as an
example of danger faced and overcome for the good of the Church.
In 1940,
when the civilian population of Britain was subjected to mass bombing by the
Luftwaffe, King George V1 instituted the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest
heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'.
The award, which is second only to the Victoria Cross, the highest military
decoration, is usually given to civilians and can be given posthumously. The
award consists of a silver cross. On one side St George is depicted slaying the
dragon, with the inscription, 'For Gallantry'; on the other side appears the
name of the holder and the date of the award. For lesser, but still outstanding
acts of courage, the King created the George Medal. This also is a silver
cross, with on one side the reigning monarch and on the other St George slaying
the dragon. The island of Malta was awarded the George Cross for its heroism in
resisting attack during World War 11.
St
George is also, of course, venerated in the Church of England, by the Orthodox
churches and by the Churches of the Near East and Ethiopia. The supposed tomb
of St George can still be seen at Lod, south-east of Tel-Aviv; and a convent in
Cairo preserves personal objects which are believed to have belonged to George.
St
George is still venerated in a large number of places, by followers of
particular occupations and sufferers from certain diseases. George is the
patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal,
Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to St
Mark). He is patron of soldiers, cavalry and chivalry; of farmers and field
workers, Boy Scouts and butchers; of horses, riders and saddlers; and of
sufferers from leprosy, plague and syphilis. He is particularly the patron
saint of archers, which gives special point to these famous lines from
Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1, l. 31:
'I see you stand like greyhounds in the
slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry God for Harry, England and St George!'
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit; and, upon this charge
Cry God for Harry, England and St George!'
