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Here There Be Dragons – The Legend of Saint George

Writer: Scholastica Joycors
Scholastica Joycors
May 1, 2023
8 min read

By Lady Scholastica Joycors

Portrait of St. George by Hans von Kulmbach, circa 1510

THE MERE MENTION of the name of Saint George brings forth visions of an epic battle

between man and a dragon, but is this just another time when a man who stands against the evils of his time and dies a martyr is immortalized by legend —perhaps. The record of George's existence appeared in the works of the Bollandists Daniel Papebroch, Jean Bolland, and Godfrey Henschen's Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca. George was one of several names listed in the historical text, and Pope Gelasius claimed George was one of the saints "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God."


George or Georgios was born about 280 A.D. in the city of Capadocia, a city of the Eastern Empire, in Asia Minor into a Christian family of wealth and noble origin. His father Gerontios was a Roman officer and his mother and Polychronia a Greek native of Lydda. When George was in his late 20s he joined Diocletian's army. A popular youth with charm and abilities gave rise to quick promotions and the attention of the Emperor who then made him a tribune or an officer in the Imperial Guard.


In some writings we are told that George traveled with his friend, Constantine (later to become the first Christian emperor) to Britain where they visited some holy places in Glastonbury and Caerleon. On his return to Nicomedia, the capital of the Eastern Empire where Diocletian settled, he met with a fierce storm of persecution.


Diocletian gave orders for a formal edict against the Christians on 23 February 303 A.D. at the feast of Termhllia. The provisions of this edict were published the next day in posted in the marketplace, stating that: "All churches should be leveled to the ground. All sacred books to be burned. All Christians who hold any honorable rank are not only to be degraded, but to be deprived of civil rights. Also, All Christians who are not officials are to be reduced to slavery".


After the edict was posted it is said that George pushed his way through the crowd and after reading the edict pulled it off the post and tore it up. This act angered Diocletian because of the great friendship that he had with George's father. In an effort to save George, he offered him land, money and slaves in exchange for making an a sacrifice to the Roman gods, but every attempt was met with refusal.


In another attempt to change George's mind he was invited the Emperor's palace to entertain him. He offered to appoint him as a prince if only he would make a sacrifice to one of Rome's idols, his reply was, "Tomorrow you will see the powers of your gods."

At the palace George met with Empress Alexanefra who had a fair understanding of the Christian god. She spoke to him at length about the advantages of worship the Roman gods but the ebb of the conversation changed as George began to preach about Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and by the end of the night he had converted her.


The next day when the people went to the temple to witness George making a sacrifice to the idols what they saw was a man with outstretched hands and eyes looking towards heaven and in that moment all of the idols collapsed to the ground. This outrages Diocletian who then has him arrested and tortured in an attempt to make him renounce his god and his religion, including being lacerated on a wheel of swords where they had to resuscitate him three times, but he would not turn away from his God.


On April 23, 303 A.D. George was decapitated before Nicomedia's outer wall. George was buried in his mother's home on the seashore at Lydda, in Palestine. Before long his fame was spread all over the world. King Constantine, who took over after Diocletian, he believed that George was the true model of a young Christian man, and ordered a church to be built over his grave. In Egypt, the Coptic Orhodox Church of Alexandrica call him, "The Prince of Martyrs", and built over 200 churches named after him and hold a celebration in his name on May 1st. Moreover he is a personal friend of the majority of the Copts, who believe in the power of his prayers for them. The Greeks call him "the Great Martyr." Saint George stands out among other saints and legends because he is known and revered by both Muslims and Christians.


Over the following centuries, St George became a hero figure, symbolizing courage and strength. In his book Gesta Regnum, the historian William of Malmesbury recorded a vision of St George joining English knights in the Battle of Antioch in 1098. The description inspired a vigorous cult of St George among the crusading knights.


A shrine was erected for Saint George at Lydda, supposedly the place where the Greek hero Perseus rescued Princess Andromeda from an evil sea serpent. Perhaps that’s why the saint’s story became intertwined with the legend of killing a ferocious creature. The shrine soon became a special place for crusading knights on their way to the Middle East.


By the thirteenth century, Saint George the Dragon Slayer was being portrayed with the red cross of the crusader. He symbolized the victory of good over evil, and became one of medieval Europe’s greatest legends.


St George owes much of his popularity in England to the enthusiasm of Edward III (1312-77). In 1348, when the king established the Order of the Garter, his super-select chivalric club, he selected George to be the patron of England at the same time designating his birthplace, Windsor Castle, as the order's spiritual headquarters and rededicating the chapel there (formerly devoted to St Edward) in the saint's honor and it's insignia contains a badge of Saint George slaying a dragon. Just three years later the king was pleased to refer to Saint George in his letters as 'the most invincible athlete of Christ, whose name and protection the English nation invoke as that of their patron, especially in war'.


It has been said that Saint George’s military prowess made him popular amongst the knights of Medieval Europe, especially following the crusades. During the First Crusade, for example, an apparition of St. George is said to have aided the crusaders during their successful siege of Antioch in 1098. From the 14th century on Saint George was regarded as a special protector of the English. Soldiers were called to wear "a signe of Saint George" on chest and back which was the red cross on a white background.


In 1415 Archbishop Chicele promoted the feast of Saint George to principal status after Henry V's speech at the Battle of Agincourt invoking Saint George as England's patron saint. Many believed they saw him fighting on the English side.


Shakespeare made sure that nobody would forget St. George, and has King Henry V finishing his pre-battle speech with the famous phrase, ‘The game's afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry God for Harry, England and St. George!’ from Act 3, scene 1 of King Lear. An interesting piece of trivia – Shakespeare was born on St. George’s Day 1564, and if the story is to be believed, died on St. George’s Day 1616.


In England St. George’s Day is celebrated, and his flag flown, on his feast day, April 23rd.


George fighting the dragon, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502-1507

Now about that legendary dragon that Saint George fought. There are many versions but the most famous one is documented in a book called Legenda Aurea (1260), or The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine, a bishop of Genoa. It is said that this confrontation occurred when George was stationed with the Roman army near Silene in the province of Libya. In his records the dragon was described as a huge crocodile with scaled wings,

Silene was plagued by a venom-spewing dragon dwelling in a nearby pond, poisoning the countryside. To keep the beast out of the city itself, the people offered it two sheep daily, then a man and a sheep, and finally their children and youths, chosen by lottery. One time the lot fell on the king's daughter. The king offered all his gold and silver to have his daughter spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon. Saint George by chance arrived at the spot.


"Then said S. George: Fair daughter, doubt ye no thing hereof for I shall help thee in the name of Jesu Christ. She said: For God's sake, good knight, go your way, and abide not with me, for ye may not deliver me.


Thus as they spake together the dragon appeared and came running to them, and S. George was upon his horse, and drew out his sword and garnished him with the sign of the cross, and rode hardily against the dragon which came towards him, and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore and threw him to the ground. And after said to the maid: Deliver to me your girdle, and bind it about the neck of the dragon and be not afeard." The Golden Legend


The princess and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the populace until George told the people not to be afraid: "Ne doubt ye no thing, without more, believe ye in God, Jesu Christ, and do ye to be baptized and I shall slay the dragon." Saint George offered to kill the dragon if they consented to become Christians and be baptized. Fifteen thousand men including the king of Silene converted to Christianity. George then beheaded the dragon with his sword, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. The king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George on the site where the dragon died and a spring flowed from its altar with water that cured all disease.


This story seems to be exaggerated, which is perhaps true, and it could have started by a fight between St. George and an ordinary crocodile. However, it became very popular all over the world, because of its spiritual meaning that St. George defeated the devil by the Cross and his righteousness in Christ. The iconic images of Saint George slaying a dragon can be found all the way back to the 10th century not only in paintings, but sculpture and in over 21 countries coat of arms.


In 1940 King George VI inaugurated the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. The award is usually awarded to civilians. Saint George slaying the dragon is depicted on the silver cross.


Does it really matter how much of the heroics of Saint George is? He inspires courage and acts of heroism in the face of evil and isn't that what a really good legend is all about?



References:

Medieval Sourcebook: The Golden Legend: St. George; https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/goldenlegend/GL-vol3-george.asp

St George's Day: When is it, who is England's patron saint – and why isn't it a bank holiday?; https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/st-georges-day-when-is-it-who-is-englands-patron-saint-and-why-isnt-it-a-bank-holiday-10187608.html



© 2018 by MyLinda Butterworth . <scholastica.ppa@gmail.com>. This article first appeared in The Yeoman: April 2018

Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.

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