It is St George's Day today. St George is the Patron Saint of England and is famous for his dragon slaying. I had a quick browse for relevant pictures, but on most, the dragon was only the size of a carry-on bag, which I found somewhat disappointing. I expect that is why the Catholic Church demoted St George to a third-class, minor saint in the first half of the twentieth century.
After I wrote this, I noticed craziequeen has a good description of St George's day. Only in the year 2000 was George elevated once again to the role of 'national saint' and awarded his "day of solemnity" by the Pope. If little is known about the man, the myth is legendary - a maiden-rescuing hero triumphs over evil in a punch-up with a dragon.
Some say this goes back to the story of Perseus (son of Zeus) who fell in love with fair Andromeda. She had been chained to a rock as appeasement to insulted deities who sent a dragon-like sea monster to take revenge. Perseus (already slayer of the Gorgon Medusa) turned into an eagle and then caught out the winged monster and rescued Andromeda.
And back to George - as an historical figure, he was a soldier who destroyed Diocletian's edict against Christianity, which led to martyrdom following his execution in Lydda, Palestine (in AD 303).
So, circa nine hundred years later, at the Council of Oxford in 1222, St George's Day was declared a public holiday. Then later Edward III instituted the Order of St George and encouraged the battle cry 'England and St George!'
Tag: england, St George, dragon
No comments:
Post a Comment