Happy St George's day

"We know virtually nothing about the life of the real St George. Eusebius of Caesarea, writing in around AD322, tells of a soldier of noble birth who was put to death under Diocletian at Nicomedia on April 23 (St George's Day) AD303. Eusebius had no name for this gallant, much less a place of birth, nor even the site of his burial. The Crusaders believed this to be near what is now Tel Aviv. In the fifth-century Acts of St George, our hero was said not only to have defended Christians against Roman persecution, but to have visited Caerleon and Glastonbury while on active service in the imperial army. Before the Norman invasion, churches had been dedicated to St George. Adopted as the patron saint of soldiers, he was said to have appeared to the Crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098. Richard the Lionheart put his armies under the protection of St George when campaigning in Palestine in 1191-92.

The red-cross flag made its debut in 1284, and in the 14th century English soldiers donned their legendary red cross battle dresses. When Richard II invaded Scotland in 1385, every man was ordered to wear "a sign of the arms of St George", both before and behind, with death promised to enemy soldiers who dared to "bear the same cross or token of St George".

St George had become the acknowledged patron saint of England, and in 1415, the year of Agincourt, Archbishop Chichele declared St George's Day a feast to be observed like Christmas Day. One of St George's arms was delivered to Canterbury cathedral where it became a huge pilgrim attraction. In 1940, during the blitz, King George VI instituted the George Cross for acts of heroism; on one side of the medal St George is depicted slaying the dragon - at the time, of course, Adolf Hitler.

Despite this English devotion to St George, he was feted elsewhere. And here, perhaps, lies his strength and even his relevance today. For George is venerated not just by the Church of England, but by the Orthodox and Coptic churches. He is the patron saint of Aragon, Bavaria, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to St Mark). He is the patron saint 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 - remember Agincourt - the patron saint of archers."

- extract from an article in 'The Guardian', dated 20 June 2002, by Jonathan Glancey.