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St George’s Day

April 22, 2014 by  

St George’s Day, DESPITE efforts to whip England into a state of patriotic pride on St George’s Day, celebrations for the country’s patron saint have never really taken off.

Last year, London mayor Boris Johnson put on a cultural event in Trafalgar Square “to celebrate the very best of what England has to offer”, but, unlike St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, St George’s Day rarely prompts spontaneous celebration.

As it approaches once again, we examine what is known of England’s patron saint, and why the commemoration of his death is so subdued.

When is St George’s Day?
St George’s Day is on 23 April, but it is not a national holiday in England – unlike St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. The date was set by the Council of Oxford in 1222.

Who was St George?
Not much is known about St George, except that he wasn’t an Englishman. Historians believe he was born in Cappadocia, a part of modern Turkey, into a noble Christian family in the third century, and followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Roman army, the BBC says. Tradition suggests that when Emperor Diocletian ordered the systematic persecution of Christians, George refused to take part and was tortured and ultimately executed in Palestine. He was later recognised as an early Christian martyr. The legend of St George, clad in armour, slaying a dragon and rescuing a maiden, was a medieval invention.

Why is he associated with England?
According to historian Michael Collins, one of the earliest known British references to St George appears in an account by St Adamnan, the seventh-century Abbot of Iona who heard about St George from a French bishop named Arcuif. But his reputation began to grow only when returning crusaders said the saint had made a miraculous appearance and led them into battle at the siege of Antioch in 1098. They also passed on the legend of St George’s dragon slaying to the royal court.

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