St George's  Day    

Most countries have a ‘Patron Saint.’  England is no exception.

But if you stopped them in the street and asked English people what is the date of St George's Day, only about 20% will know it is on 23 April.

Probably a quarter of all English people do not even know , or care, who their patron Saint is.

This indifference is quite recent.  

The original impact of St George on English life was when the Crusaders returned from their wars in Palestine. Included in the many soldier’s tales was the claim that St George appeared at a critical moment in battle.

This miracle appearance is today recalled by a stone carving over the south door of the church at Fordington, Dorset. 

The clear impact of the red cross on a white background is a strong simple design. It was adapted by English soldiers as a way of distinguishing themselves to each other and from their enemies in the ‘fog of war.’

They brought the design home from the Crusades and have used it ever since.

From those days St George was considered a special protector of English soldiers. They wore the emblem front and back.

Those days of military protection and heraldry are remembered in two modern flag designs of the British Union Flag and the Royal Navy ensign.

Soldier’s stories of how St George fought again on the English side at the Battle of Agincourt (1415) stimulated Archbishop Chicele to announce a day to celebrate the Feast of St George.

By interesting coincidence, this date is also significant as the birth in 1564  and death   in 1616 of William Shakespeare.

His play, Henry V, includes a famous speech rousing his troops in 1415 at the battle of Agincourt, urging them to make one last effort…..  ‘Cry God for Harry, England and St George….’

Depending on your choice of calendar, 23 April 1616 was the death of Miguel Cervantes, author of ‘Don Quixote.’ This is a special day in Catalan Spain.

For something non-fiction and written with authority,  we need to go  back to the 7^th century.

A French bishop, Arcuif, had been traveling in Palestine and repeated the St George story of protection for English soldiers to the Abbott of Iona. He notes a ‘Saint George’ in his writing, as does the other accepted author ‘the Venerable Bede.’

This attractive story was later taken up by many important powers.

The Council of Oxford formally named 23 April as St George's day In 1222.

King Edward (1327-1377) founded his Order of the Garter (1348)  as his First Order of Knighthood under the patronage of St George.

Edward IV and Henry V built the present Chapel of St George at Windsor castle for this important Order.

In 1940 by way of recognizing how civilians had now become directly involved in war. King George  VI inaugurated ‘The George Cross.’ Awarded for ‘acts of the greatest heroism or conspicuous courage in extreme danger’  it is the highest civilian recognition available.

The design shows St George killing a dragon.   

What does killing dragons have to do with English soldiers?

In contemporary pictures St George is shown sitting on a horse killing a dragon with his sword.  Sometimes he is carrying a shield with either a red rose or a red cross, both on a white background. This is what Knights did and how they behaved and how they dressed.

I have explained how, when and why English soldiers became involved. This idea of a St George on a horse goes very much deeper and longer into European history.

A date for the arrival of Spring was always a special day throughout the Celtic nations. Its importance as proof of nature’s continued presence with the promises of future nourishments has always been important to an agricultural society.

In the Baltics, and Estonia in particular, the arrival of a specific date in spring was an established legally recognized date. Many legal contracts such as property leases and taxpaying days were directly related to this date. It was named St Georges Day (juripaev)

The link to the Middle East came from Eastern Slavs of the Kiev-Russian power area  which then covered the area from the Black Sea to Lake Ladoga. Yuri Dolgoruki (1098- 1157) was expanding his territory into Finland and that part of Russia, spreading Christianity into the infidels of the area.

This martyrdom must have had more important associations then simply happening at Springtime.

The expanding church often seized a local date it could combine with one of its own to make it acceptable to the locals.

The date was important for other reasons all of interest to agriculture. This was the moment for the vernal equinox, the melting of the snow, the start of migrating streams of livestock, the end of ice fishing, the day to start sowing seeds.

The air temperature reaches 0 degrees C, encouraging plant life to regenerate. We mark this as Lady Day 25 March.   

Spawning migration of pike is noted today in the village of Lemmaku Estonia.

Snakes are important in our gatherings of myths. Many stories relate to snakes. Are snakes so far from dragons?

German based beliefs include that snakes are not poisonous before St Georges Day. After that poison enters their bodies from the earth.

Many nations, Poles, Germans, Hungarians, Russians, Latvians, have a St George as patron saint of horses. 

In those stories, St George was a knight (cavalryman) who was killed by the Roman emperor Diocletian in 303.

He was remembered as a brave fighter with miraculous powers. A very suitable symbol for soldiers.

He was not English. He never came to England.

But it is a very good design for a flag, don’t you think?

DOUG R. (England)

Published in Woman's Magazine Russian Woman Journal  www.russianwomanjournal.com - 18 April 2008