April 23rd

 

April 23^rd

Saint George slaying the dragon

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

April 23^rd is St George’s Day, England’s national day, though this Christian Roman soldier never visited England. He lived and died in or near present-day Israel. He was a Greek-speaking officer in the Roman army, and was executed for his beliefs around 303 AD. By the 8^th century AD, he had become known and revered in England for his courage and piety.

During the Crusades (1095-1291) soldiers invoked his name on the battlefield as they fought to defend the Holy Land, or regain it from Muslim rule. He was adopted as a martyr by Edward III, who made him the patron of the Order of the Garter in 1348. The dragon he was alleged to have slain made its appearance in St George’s story several hundred years after his death.

 The dragon represented paganism, evil, and chaos. The beautiful damsel/princess the dragon had captured and who St George saved, was the personification of purity and innocence.

St George is honoured in many other countries, including Ethiopia, Hungary, Greece, and Catalonia.

April 23^rd is also remembered as William Shakespeare’s birth (1564) and death date (1616). The precise date of his birth was not recorded, but he was baptised on 26^th April 1564. 

At that time, babies were typically baptised three days after birth. Infant death was common in the 16^th century, and the prevalent belief was that baptism washed away the original sin in which they were born and granted them salvation.