52 Facts About Saint George

Saint George, George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity.

Saint George became one of the most venerated saints, heroes, and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades.

Saint George is respected by Christians, Druze, as well as some Muslims as a martyr of monotheistic faith.

Bishop Saint George was slain by Gentile Greeks for exacting onerous taxes, especially inheritance taxes.

Saint George adds that "the connection of St George with a dragon-slaying legend does not relegate him to the region of the myth".

Herbert Thurston in The Catholic Encyclopedia states that, based upon an ancient cultus, narratives of the early pilgrims, and the early dedications of churches to Saint George, going back to the fourth century, "there seems, therefore, no ground for doubting the historical existence of St Saint George", although no faith can be placed in either the details of his history or his alleged exploits.

St Saint George was apparently martyred there, at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century; that is all that can be reasonably surmised about him.

The earliest text which preserves fragments of Saint George's narrative is in a Greek hagiography which is identified by Hippolyte Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a palimpsest of the 5th century.

An earlier work by Eusebius, Church History, written in the 4th century, contributed to the legend but did not name Saint George or provide significant detail.

Pope Gelasius I stated in 494 that George was among those saints "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God".

Saint George went on to become a soldier in the Roman army; but, because of his Christian faith, he was arrested and tortured, "at or near Lydda, called Diospolis"; on the following day, he was paraded and then beheaded, and his body was buried in Lydda.

In later versions of the Greek legend, this name is rationalised to Diocletian, and Saint George's martyrdom is placed in the Diocletian persecution of AD 303.

Saint George's body was buried in Lydda, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.

Saint George's martyrdom was greatly extended to more than twenty separate tortures over the course of seven years.

When Saint George finally died, the wicked Dacian was carried away in a whirlwind of fire.

Saint George saved the girl by slaying the dragon with a lance.

The king was so grateful that he offered him treasures as a reward for saving his daughter's life, but Saint George refused it and insisted he give them to the poor.

Saint George is included in some Muslim texts as a prophetic figure.

Saint George is described as a rich merchant who opposed the erection of Apollo's statue by Dadan, the king of Mosul.

Saint George is able to convert the queen but she is put to death.

Saint George then prays to God to allow him to die, which is granted.

Saint George was killed many times by the king of Mosul, and resurrected each time.

The first description of Lydda as a pilgrimage site where Saint George's relics were venerated is De Situ Terrae Sanctae by the archdeacon Theodosius, written between 518 and 530.

Belief in an apparition of Saint George heartened the Franks at the Battle of Antioch in 1098, and a similar appearance occurred the following year at Jerusalem.

Saint George is the patron saint of Lebanese Christians, Palestinian Christians and Syrian Christians.

Saint George is described as a prophetic figure in Islamic sources.

Saint George is venerated by some Christians and Muslims because of his composite personality combining several biblical, Quranic and other ancient mythical heroes.

St Saint George killed the dragon in this country; and the place is shown close to Beyroot.

The church at Lydda is dedicated to Saint George; so is a convent near Bethlehem, and another small one just opposite the Jaffa Gate, and others beside.

The Arabs believe that Saint George can restore mad people to their senses, and to say a person has been sent to St Saint George's is equivalent to saying he has been sent to a madhouse.

The reverence for Saint George, who is often identified with Al-Khidr, is deeply integrated into various aspects of Druze culture and religious practices.

Saint George is seen as a guardian of the Druze community and a symbol of their enduring faith and resilience.

Additionally, Saint George is regarded as a protector and healer in Druze tradition.

The story of Saint George slaying the dragon is interpreted allegorically, representing the triumph of good over evil and the protection of the faithful from harm.

Saint George is very much honoured by the Eastern Orthodox Church, wherein he is referred to as a "Great Martyr", and in Oriental Orthodoxy overall.

The sacred relics of Saint George were brought to Antioch from Mardin in 900 and were taken to Kerala, India, from Antioch in 1912 by Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril and kept in the Orthodox seminary at Kundara, Kerala.

George is a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, and many patronages of Saint George exist throughout the world.

Exactly 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia are named after Saint George according to the number of days in a year.

Saint George is the patron saint of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; George slaying the dragon is one of the most frequently used subjects of icons in the church.

Saint George is the protector of the island of Gozo and the patron of Gozo's largest city, Victoria.

The flag of Saint George was carried by the Portuguese troops and hoisted in the fortresses, during the 15th century.

Additionally, George is the patron saint of the Scouts and Cavalry of the Brazilian Army.

Saint George is revered in several Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Umbanda, where it is syncretized in the form of the orisha Ogun.

Saint George became the patron saint of the former Kingdom of Aragon and Crown of Aragon when King Pedro I of Aragon won the battle of Alcoraz in 1096.

Legend has it that victory eventually fell to the Christian armies when Saint George appeared to them on the battlefield, helping them secure the conquest of the city of Huesca which had been under the Muslim control of the Taifa of Zaragoza.

The Cross of St Saint George, known in Aragon as the Cross of Alcoraz, continues to emblazon the flags of all of Aragon's provinces.

In Valencia, Catalonia, the Balearics, Malta, Sicily and Sardinia, the origins of the veneration of St Saint George go back to their shared history as territories under the Crown of Aragon, thereby sharing the same legend.

Saint George's cross appears in many buildings and local flags, including the flag of Barcelona, the Catalan capital.

In 1469, the Order of St Saint George was founded in Rome by Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg in the presence of Pope Paul II in honour of St Saint George.

The term "Saint George's cross" was at first associated with any plain Greek cross touching the edges of the field.

Saint George is most commonly depicted in early icons, mosaics, and frescos wearing armour contemporary with the depiction, executed in gilding and silver colour, intended to identify him as a Roman soldier.

Eastern Orthodox iconography permits Saint George to ride a black horse, as in a Russian icon in the British museum collection.