Who was St George?

St George’s Origins

St George was born sometime in the 3rd century, possibly around the year 270. His father was St Gerontios of Cappadocia and his mother St Polychronia of Lydda. Cappadocia was a region in modern day Turkey which lay within the confines of the Roman Empire where a population of ethnically Greek and Greek speaking people had settled. The Cappadocians were some of the early Christian converts as the religion spread following Christ’s death throughout the Roman Empire. St Gerontios was himself a Greek officer in the Roman Army and, according to some legends, was executed when his son George was just 10 years old for his refusal to renounce his faith during the Empire’s persecution of its Christian population.

His mother’s native Lydda lies to the northwest of Jerusalem in the city of Israel and was an important region in ancient Judea. During the life of Christ, Lydda had a thriving Jewish population, but following the death of Christ and the preaching of the apostles soon after, by the very early 2nd century, the population was almost entirely Christian. Some legends indicate that St George was born in Lydda whereas others propose Cappadocia as the place of his birth. However Lydda is the supposed site of St George’s burial.

The Life of St George

We have little information regarding St George’s life, we do not know the exact place or date of his birth but we do know that he was a General in the Roman army and a member of the Praetorian guard (the imperial guard of the Emperor) under the rulership of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). Numerous Christians can be found serving in high positions the Roman army at this time. These men undoubtedly experienced an inner turmoil between their civic duties, the basis of which were steeped in pagan rites and their religious sentiments which were in direct conflict to the polytheistic nature of the fabric of the Roman Empire. Late Antiquity saw a rise of anti-Christian sentiment.

The Death of St George

In 302-303, Diocletian’s advisers had urged him to eradicate the Christian population from the Roman Empire. Although these individuals were Roman citizens, their religious beliefs were perceived as a dangerous threat to the stability of the Roman Empire. And so in February 303, Diocletian authorised what would become known as the Great Persecution (303-312).¹ Emperors had ordered mass persecutions and more localised persecutions of the Christian population before, but Diocletian had decided to take out Christianity root and branch.² St George was one individual who was a victim of this Empire wide mass persecution. George refused to recant his Christian beliefs and was ultimately executed for his refusal.

In the 1960s a possibly 4th century text was discovered which remains the earliest know surviving account of the life and death of St George. In this version of events, attempts were made to encourage George to recant his faith by offering him riches and rewards but he stoutly refused. He was then tortured and eventually executed but was miraculously revived and once again his torturers attempted to dispatch him. After several attempts to execute him, George was eventually beheaded on 23rd April 303 and buried in Lydda. The story of St George’s martyrdom was known to the prolific writer Gregory of Tours writing in the sixth century and there is evidence of the veneration of George as a Saint from the 5th century.³ Miracles were attributed to him throughout the Middle Ages and he was venerated as a marytr Saint.

St George and the Dragon

The legend of St George slaying the Dargon was a later invention which can first be found in eleventh century in art and manuscript format.⁴ This narrative of St George became the central aspect of his tale in the Golden Legend, a late thirteenth century collection of hagiographies. The tales of his torturous prolonged death, for the sake of his faith, together with his association with the slaying of the dragon, symbolic of the devil made him a prime candidate for the personification of medieval ideals of chivalry and masculinity.

St George and the First Crusade

One participant of the First Crusade, the anonymous author of the text known as the Gesta Francorum claimed that St George appeared to the First Crusaders. During the siege of Antioch when the Crusaders found themselves besieged within the city, the army decided upon a suicidal cause of action when all hope was lost. Bearing their armour and mounting their horses, severely outnumbered by the Muslim forces amassed by Kerobgah, the Crusaders rode out to meet their foe. As they exited the city:

‘There came out from the mountains, also, countless armies with white horses, whose standards were all white. And so, when our leaders saw this army, they were entirely ignorant as to what it was,
and who they were, until they recognized the aid of Christ, whose leaders were St. George, Mercurius, and Demetrius. This is to be believed, for many of our men saw it’.⁵

St George then became part of the First Crusade narrative. As a soldier and a martyr Saint, buried close tot he Holy City of Jerusalem which was captured by the First Crusaders in July 1099, thereby fulfilling their mission, St George became synonymous with the Crusades. As a figurehead for the Crusade movement, his legend was spread by those Crusaders who returned home in the early twelfth century following their victory. His appearance in the Golden Legend brought further fame for St George.

Patron Saint of England

The English took St George as a patron Saint and the protector of the English Royal family by the fourteenth century. The chivalric order, the Order of the Garter founded in 1348 by King Edward III, who as a Prince participated in the 9th Crusade, placed the Order under then banner of St George. During the Hundred Years War with France, English soldiers were said to call upon St George in their battle cries. In one such encounter of the enduring conflict, the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, St George was said to have appeared before the English to strengthen their resolve and their victory was partially attributed to his intervention.

Today, St George is venerated throughout Christendom and remains the English patron saint, his feast day is celebrated on 23rd April, the anniversary of his martyrdom.

I hope you enjoyed this post ‘Who was St George?’ For something simialr from me, see Who Were the Knights Templar?

1. Schott, J.M., Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity, (2008), pp. 1-3. ↩︎
2. Gardner, A., “HISTORICAL REVISIONS. XI.—The Ecclesiastical Policy of Constantine and That of Diocletian.” History, vol. 4, no. 15, 1919, pp. 151–54 ↩︎
3. Miller II, Robert D.. Baal, St. George, and Khidr : A Study of the Historical Geography of the Levant, (2019), p. 18 ↩︎
4. Miller II, Robert D.. Baal, St. George, and Khidr : A Study of the Historical Geography of the Levant, (2019), p. 19 ↩︎
5. Peters, Edward. The First Crusade : The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Source Materials, (1998), p. 223 ↩︎