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St George's Day
St George's Day is a time to celebrate the patron saint of England and syphilis, who survived almost as many murder attempts as Rasputin. Here's our guide to the best sites on the dragon-slaying hero
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1. Today is St George's Day. George is the patron saint of England so, in a sense, this is England's national day.
2. Little is known about St George, but it is believed his father, a soldier in the Roman army, was from Cappadocia, now in modern-day Turkey, and his mother from Lydda, now Israeli Lod.
3. Like his father, George entered the military and swiftly rose through the ranks. His career, and life, was put to an end by the emperor Diocletian when he protested against the persecution of the Christians. He was entombed in Palestine, where he had lived with his mother after his father's death.
4. Around 1,000 years later, England, whose crusaders had heard the story of St George in the Holy Land, ditched Edward the Confessor for a new patron saint and, in 1415 (the anti-French year of the battle ofAgincourt), made April 23 a national feast day.
5. George was seen as a defender of the Christian faith. The fact that he had also become associated with the myth of a dragon slayer who gave his reward money to the poor did not count against him. Or that he survived being chopped to pieces, buried deep in the earth andconsumed by fire as Diocletian tortured him for his faith.
6. His militaristic and noble Christianity did not just appeal to the Medieval English. George is the patron saint of Portugal, Germany,Lithuania, Malta, soldiers and - less obviously - skin diseases andsyphilis (unless that is a disease you might expect one of Henry V's soldiers to have).
7. In Barcelona, where Jordi - to give him his local name - is the patron saint of Catalonia, women traditionally give their male lovers a book and, in return, receive a rose.
8. In a further literary twist, it would also have been William Shakespeare's 440th birthday if he had not died in 1616, as did Spain's literary colossus Miguel de Cervantes.
9. Back in England, there are some - notably publicans and brewers - who want to see St George's Day made a national holiday marked with greater ceremony and, let's face it, booze. If Patrick is the patron saint of Guinness, why not cry St George for English bitters?
10. Some final food for thought: this is the best time of year for St George mushrooms, a delicacy this website suggests that can also be found in Wales.
