Feast day of St George, 'The Great Martyr', patron of England
(Harebell, Hyacinthus non scriptus, was designated today’s plant by medieval monks. It is dedicated to St George, whose feast day this is.)

King Edward III (1312 - 1377) adopted St George as the patron of England, and today is the National Day of that nation. Ever since this saint supposedly came to the aid of English crusaders during their campaign at Antioch in 1098, he has been popular in England.

He was probably a Roman officer, a martyr who died at Diospolis, ie Lydda, in Palestine before the time of Constantine during the Diocletian persecution of Christians, according to hagiographer Alban Butler. The Greeks called him The Great Martyr. Pope Benedict XIV recognised him as Protector of the Kingdom of England and Edward III instituted the Order of the Garter under his name and ensign.

His legendary slaying of the dragon is an allegory for the triumph of good over evil. One day in Libya, St George came upon a swamp-dwelling dragon. The locals offered it two sheep each day in appeasement, but, having run out of sheep, had begun sacrificing humans selected by lot. When the lot fell on the daughter of the king, no one would take her place but St George saved the princess by slaying the creature.

St George may well be a version of the Greek chimera-slayer, Bellerophon, and the northern European hero, Sigurd the Dragonslayer, who is Siegfried in the Wagnerian opera. Possibly, too, the legend of St Michael and the slaying of his dragon might have been conflated with the story of St George ...

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