St George's Day - Patron Saint of England

Died on this day 303AD - executed for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

A Roman soldier of Greek origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, he died a martyr and became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity, most venerated by the Crusaders.

His parents were both Greek and Christian.

A number of countries, organisations etc claim St George as their patron - including England; George is said to have visited England alongside (future) Emperor Constantine. George allegedly visited Glastonbury.

George's father died when he was 14 and his mother returned to Syria where she was born. When George was 17, his mother died and he joined the Roman army.

From Wiki:

On 24 February 303, Diocletian, influenced by Galerius, issued an edict that every Christian soldier in the army should be degraded and every soldier required to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods.
Seeing the edict, George freed his slaves, distributed his wealth to the poor, and prepared to meet his fate. He confronted the emperor about the edict and declared himself to be a Christian.
Diocletian attempted to convert George, offering gifts of land, money, and slaves if he would sacrifice to the gods, but the tribune refused.
Recognising the futility of his efforts and insisting on upholding his edict, Diocletian ordered that George be arrested. In an effort to undermine his resolve, the emperor sent a woman to the prison to spend the night with George, who having little time for earthly concerns, managed to convert her instead.
George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on 23 April 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra of Rome to become a Christian as well, so she joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.

St George's fame (English version) stems from George and the Dragon.

The dragon lived in a pond near a city (said to be Silene in Libya). The dragon spewed its venom to poison the countryside and the townspeople tried to placate it by giving it two sheep every day.

Now, if you know what stray animals are like, if you feed them, they'll keep coming back. Feeding the dragon was no way to get rid of it

Of course, the dragon grew rather than leave and soon the townspeople had to give the beast more - at first a man and a sheep, progressing to children and teens who were chosen by lottery - not one I'd like to win.

The lottery was supposed to include all children but the king's daughter had always been excluded from the lottery. The day she found out about the deception, she had all the names replaced by her own and of course, the king drew out her name. He refused to accept the name he drew and put his hand into the pot again and again.

Once he realised what she had done, he begged the townspeople to release his beloved daughter from her commitment, offering gold and silver as payment. The townspeople refused and the king's daughter, dressed as a bride, went to her fate.

Saint George (or just George as he was known then) arrived. The Princess tried to make him leave but he refused and stayed with her.

The dragon appeared. George made the sign of the cross and charged at the fearsome beast, wounding it with his lance, named Ascalon (after the Levantine city of Ashkelon, today in Israel).

The princess threw her girdle to George and he put it around the dragon's neck. The garment seemed to placate the beast and it followed the princess around like a meek beast, or pet.

From Wiki:

The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the populace. Saint George offered to kill the dragon if they consented to become Christians and be baptised. Fifteen thousand men, including the king of Silene converted to Christianity.
George then killed the dragon, beheading it with his sword, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. The king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George on the site where the dragon died, and a spring flowed from its altar with water that cured all disease.

That's a bit of a betrayal for the poor dragon, I think. It's wounded and agrees to be nice and then gets beheaded anyway.

There is a Russian and Bulgarian variation of the legend. Richard Johnson, an English, Elizabethan writer Seven Champions of Christendom (1596) took great liberties with the story, twisting it to make the princess marry George and give birth to English children - one of whom becomes Guy of Warwick.

I'm not entirely sure how a Roman soldier from Greece could produce English children, but there you go.

The first story involving St George doesn't arrive on the scene until 6th century AD so it's not exactly 'on the scene' reporting 'as it happens'. Things are likely to have been a little blown out of proportion...

Still, today is St George's Day in England. In 1415 the day was declared an official feast day and we should have a bank holiday in celebration of it... but we don't. Not sure why not, especially as St Patrick's day is a holiday in Ireland and St Andrew's day is one in Scotland.

So today, you can wear a red rose, fly the St George's flag and sing Jerusalem - or not.

Images from Google free to use search