April 23rd: Saint George's Day

Today is Saint George's Day. Saint George is the patron saint of England. Here are 10 things you might not know about Saint George.

1. England isn't the only country Saint George is patron of. He is also revered in Georgia, Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iraq,  Israel, Lebanon, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia, Macedonia,  Ukraine, Russia and Syria. Among the cities which have adopted him as patron saint are Genoa, Beirut, Preston, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Moscow and Victoria.
2. He is also the patron of farmers, soldiers, horses, the Italian Cavalry, boy scouts, the Church of England, the Order of the Garter, Romani people in Eastern Europe, and people suffering from leprosy, plague, herpes and syphilis.
3. Saint George probably never set foot in England. He was born in Palestine, to Christian parents. His father was a distinguished soldier, and at 17, George followed suit and enlisted with the Roman army. He quickly rose through the ranks until he was commanding a thousand men. He was a favourite of the emperor of the time, Diocletian. However, Diocletian hated Christians so much that George's reputation could not save him when he took a stand against the Emperor's anti-Christian edicts. He was tortured and executed in front of crowds, which included Diocletian's wife, who is said to have been so moved that she became a Christian herself. For the record, her status as the Emperor's wife didn't save her either. She was martyred, too.
4. The name George means "worker of the land", or farmer.
5. The dragon story is a romanticised myth, of course, but I'll tell it anyway. It happened in the city of "Silene", which is probably in either Libya or the Holy Land, where the dragon terrorised the city's main source of water. At first, the people appeased it with sheep, but eventually they ran out of sheep and had to find an alternative. So they started sacrificing virgins to the dragon, choosing them by a lottery. One day, the name of the King's daughter was drawn. The King tried to pull rank and save her, but the people refused, and the Princess bravely went off to the spring to await her fate. Cue Saint George, who happened to be riding past. Seeing the plight of the Princess, he protected himself with the sign of the cross and attacked the dragon. At first, he only wounded it. In some versions of the story, the dragon's scales were so hard that they shattered his spear. He asked the Princess for her girdle, which he used to make a leash to lead the dragon back to the city to show the people. His killing it was conditional upon the people of the city converting to Christianity. Which, of course, they did.
6. The lance used to slay the dragon was called Ascalon, after a Middle Eastern city. During World War II, Winston Churchill named his personal aeroplane Ascalon after it.
7. The association with England began in 1099, when a vision of Saint George is said to have appeared and led the Crusaders into battle. Despite this legend, Saint George is known and respected by Muslims, too.
8. Saint George did not become the patron saint of England until the Reformation in 1552. Before that, Edward the Confessor held the position.
9. The flag of Saint George, the red cross on the white background, was flown by the greatest British seafarers - Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and John Cabot. It was also the flag which flew from the Mayflower when it sailed into Plymouth, Massachusetts.
10. There isn't a huge celebration in England on Saint George's Day. Although it is said to be England's national day, it's not even a public holiday, although there are campaigns to make it so. Wearing a red rose in the lapel is the traditional custom. Churches would traditionally sing the hymn Jerusalem on the day, or the nearest Sunday to it. Order of the Garter medals are awarded by the Queen on this date.