Who was St George and the way did he grow to be patron saint of England? 23 April is St George’s Day. But who was St George and why is he patron saint of England? This is the story …
St George
George was born within the third century AD in Cappadocia in Asia Minor, then within the Roman Empire. This is now in modern-day Turkey, nevertheless it can be improper to call him Turkish since this was before the Turks settled in that area.
George was a soldier and rose to be a commander within the Roman Army. He was known for his courage and he also became a Christian. At this time the Roman Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians. George went to the Emperor and spoke out against the persecutions. Diocletian asked him to recant but George refused.
Even when he was chained and tortured, he refused to surrender his faith. It is claimed that many individuals followed Christ consequently of his witness, including Queen Alexander, the wife of Diocletian. He was beheaded and thus became a martyr for the gospel. This happened in Lydda, within the holy land, probably in AD 303. The story of George rescuing a princess from a dragon is a later legend, which first appears in a book within the Thirteenth century.
George’s Tomb
George’s tomb became a centre of Christian pilgrimage, and church was built over it through the time of Emperor Constantine. Lydda is in modern Israel, and is now referred to as Lod, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The current church dates from 1872 and incorporates parts of previous Byzantine churches. The tomb is in a chapel in an underground crypt.
Sainthood
In AD 494 George was canonised as a saint by Pope Galasius. Saints were normally marked on their day of death, so twenty third April, the anniversary of his execution, became his saint’s day.
St George’s fame spread from the Middle East throughout the Christian world and he continues to be revered as a fantastic saint across the Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican world. Many churches are named after him in England, but additionally in Orthodox countries like Ethiopia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia – where there are said to be 365 churches dedicated to him.
Patron Saint
As well as England, St George is patron saint of Ethiopia, Portugal, Moldova, Bosnia, and the regions of Aragon and Catalonia in Spain, in addition to towns and cities corresponding to Moscow, Genoa and Freiburg im Breisgau within the Black Forest.
How he became Patron Saint
St George was not English and never got here to England. How St George became the patron saint of England is linked to the time of the Crusades. During the Crusades, visiting European knights would visit ancient churches and have become more aware of the Orthodox saints of the east. St George who had been a courageous soldier who tried to defend Christianity, was seen as a superb role model.
In pre-Reformation times it was more common for Christians to hope to deceased saints with the concept they’d intercede for them. So it was that in 1199, through the Third Crusade, on the eve of battle, King Richard the Lion Heart visited the tomb of St. George in Lydda and prayed for victory. The next day he won a fantastic victory, which he partly ascribed to St George. Following his victory, King Richard adopted St. George as his personal patron.
In an identical war in 1346, St George was credited with helping England to win the Battle of Crécy in France. In 1348, King Edward III now back in England, created a recent order of chivalry called the Noble Order of the Garter, which still exists today. King Edward III made St George the patron of the Order, and likewise declared him Patron Saint of England.
In William Shakespeare’s play Henry V, set on the early 1415, Shakespeare has the ultimate line of the king’s rousing speech as “Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'”
In 1552, under king Edward VI, all religious banners were banned in England, apart from those of St George.
St George’s Flag
The red cross on a white background was originally used as an emblem worn by crusaders within the Middle East. It later became related to St George. After 1348 it was used because the flag of England. Flags were originally naval ensigns called jacks. The City of London used the St George’s flag, with the addition of a red sword in the highest left corner. St George’s flag also flies because the flag of Genoa, which was a former maritime city state, although now a constituent town of Italy. This will not be a coincidence because one theory is that St. George’s flag was adopted by the City of London and England in 1190, for his or her ships entering the Mediterranean so as to profit from the protection of the Genoese fleet, which was using the identical flag.
In 1606, after the crowns of England and Scotland were united, the jack of St George’s cross utilized in England, and the jack of St Andrew’s cross utilized in Scotland were combined to create the Union Jack. In 1801, after the union with Ireland, the jack with St Patrick’s cross was added to create the present version of the Union Jack. Thus the flag of the UK has the St George’s cross in the center, and this also appears within the canton (top left hand quarter) of the flags of Australia and New Zealand.
Today St George’s flag is best known from sporting events, where England plays individually from the opposite nations of the United Kingdom, notably in football, rugby and within the Commonwealth Games.
St George’s Day
twenty third April became Saint George’s Day in England and most countries, even though it doesn’t fall on that day in all places. In the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, Saint George’s Day comes on twenty fourth April. In Georgia, Serbia and Bulgaria, St. George’s Day is twenty third April within the ecclesiastical Gregorian calendar which is sixth May, within the civil Julian calendar. Since the Reformation when saints’ days became less celebrated, St George’s Day has not been particularly marked in England.
Scouting
When Robert Baden-Powell developed Scouting he made Saint George the patron saint of the movement. Many cub and scout groups used to carry St George’s Day live shows to lift money for his or her huts, or events. Since the Nineteen Thirties, Scouts and Guides all around the world have held Saint George’s Day parades and services, on the closest Sunday to St George’s Day, when additionally they renew their Scout Promise. In the past, an annual St George’s Day service was held in a central town church, when Scouts and Guides would parade through town to the service, although that is less common as of late.
St George’s Day events
Outside the Scouting movements, St George’s Day can pass by unnoticed. St George has no personal connection to England, and so doesn’t have the identical significance to the English, in comparison with the importance of St David to the Welsh and St Patrick to the Irish. Sometimes organisations have used St George’s Day as an excuse for a patriotic event.
St George’s Day will not be a public holiday in England, and for a lot of it passes unexpectedly. The principal tradition in England has simply been to fly St George’s flag from the local town hall, and the Anglican parish church tower. Many Anglican churches mark St George’s Day with the Revised Common Lectionary readings Psalm 95; 1 Chronicles 11:1-9 and Revelation 7:13-17.
