Every year on April 23 we celebrate St George's Day in honour of England's patron saint. As children we were taught to believe in him as a great knight taking on a fire breathing dragon.
Yet, as with many things, it's a case of why let the facts get in the way of a good story. The dragon slaying was a myth, he wasn't even English and never actually visited the country.
And, this might be news to some, St George wasn't even England's first choice patron saint.
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So who was St George and how did he become England's patron saint? Here are some St George's Day facts.
He never visited England
Unlike Ireland and St Patrick who is said to have converted the Emerald Isle to Christianity, St George has no obvious connection to England.
St George was not the first patron saint of England
That honour was originally held by St Edmund, or Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia in the 9th century AD. He fought alongside King Alfred of Wessex against the pagan Vikings until 869/70 when his forces were defeated and Edmund was captured.
He was ordered to renounce his faith and share power with the Vikings, but he refused. He was then bound to a tree, shot through by arrows and beheaded.
During the Third Crusade in 1199, King Richard I visited the tomb of St. George in Lydda on the eve of battle. The next day he won a great victory. Following this triumph, Richard adopted St. George as his personal patron and protector of the army.
So he become England's patron saint then?
No, King Edward III made him the Patron Saint of England when he formed the Order of the Garter in St. George’s name in 1350, and the cult of the Saint was further advanced by King Henry V, at the battle of Agincourt in northern France.
An event made famous by William Shakespeare. The playwright and St George have something else in common don't they?
That's right, they share the same date of death - April 23.
So who was St George?
There are two popular theories about St George’s origins, but the consensus is that he was born the Middle East. Some say his birthplace was in what is now modern day Turkey, others say he came from Palestine.
Thought to be born to Christian parents, he was a soldier in the Roman Army but was said to have been persecuted and tortured for refusing to ditch his faith in favour of Roman paganism. According to legend, George was both boiled and sandwiched between two wheels of spikes.
He was executed on April 23, 303AD after he refused Emperor Diocletian’s order to renounce Christianity. It is claimed St George was dragged through the streets of Lydda and beheaded.
What about the dragon?
While not likely to have actually killed a dragon, many paintings feature him slaying one. It is likely this is to represent him defeating the devil or evil, or reflects his bravery in refusing to bow down to Roman persecution.
Jacobus de Voragine first came up with the dramatic back story for St George in his book ‘Golden Legend’. In it, George kills a dragon which was guarding a well, just before villagers planned to sacrifice a woman to keep it happy.
St George was a saint for 1,000 years before the holiday
He was canonised in AD 494 by Pope Gelasius, who claimed he was one of those 'whose names are justly revered among men but whose acts are known only to God'.
A feast day of St George has been celebrated in England for hundreds of years on April 23. Following the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, St George's Day became one of the most important feast days in the English calendar.
He's a popular lad
St George is truly an international saint and England is not the only country or region to claim him as its patron.
England shares St George with Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Ethiopia and Catalonia - among others as their patron saint and many of these places have their own celebrations and ceremonies in his honour.
St George represents those we honour
The Order of the Garter (founded by Edward III in 1348) is the highest order of chivalry in the country and Queen Elizabeth II is at the helm as Sovereign of the Garter. To this day St George’s cross still appears on the Garter badge and his image is the pendant of the Garter chain.
In 1940 King George VI created a new award for acts of the greatest heroism or courage in circumstance of extreme danger. The George Cross, named after the king, bears the image of St George vanquishing the dragon. The image of St George also adorns many of the memorials built to honour those killed during World War One.
