The Life of Saint George

Why is Saint George So Important?

Saint George is a very important and well known Saint that appears in many places.  He is the patron saint of Anglicans, Ukrainians, the country of England and many other cities and cultures.  George was a soldier and warrior.  There are stories that even after his death body part of his were saved and taken into battle as good luck and sources of power.  The crusader army of Jerusalem was said to have at least one piece of Saint George that they used in battle.


Life

Saint George was a soldier that served in the Roman army when the ancient Roman empire occupied the Holy Land which includes Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.  Saint George was born in the Roman province of Syria Palestinia which encompassed all these territories.  The city where he was born was called Lyyda, modern day Lod.  He was born in 280 AD to a Greek father from
Cappadocia, which is modern day Turkey and a Palestinian mother which is modern day Israel.  Both parents were Christians.  George's Greek name was Georgius

George became an officer in the army and was then promoted to be in the personal guard of emperor Diocletian.  George's father Gerontios was also a well know Roman soldier who was known to Diocletian.  George seems to have served his entire career as a soldier in the holy land or Cappadocia.  While a soldier he rose to the rank of Tribune which is a rank above Centurion.  A tribune being one of six in an entire legion.

Saint George in full armour.

Death

Saint George met his end in 303 AD when he proclaimed he was a Christian in support of other Christians that were being targeted by the Roman army.  At this point in time the Roman empire controlled a massive amount of land and they didn't have just one emperor, they had three.  Each one controlled a different part of the empire.  Diocletian didn't care either way for the Christians but another emperor, Galarius had a great dislike for them and he still worshipped the old gods.  Galerius is mostly credited with pushing Diocletian to pronounce an edict that all Christian soldiers in the Roman army must be arrested and non-christians must reaffirm their commitment to the Roman gods by making a tribute.

It was at this time that Saint George spoke up and publicly announced that he was a Christian and actively worship Jesus Christ.  Saint George was hoping to convince Diocletian to reverse his edict but it didn't work.  Diocletian had to make an example of Saint George, either he renounce Christianity publicly or he would be executed.  Diocletian didn't want to execute Saint George even offering gifts for him to convert.  Saint George refused and was subsequently beheaded.

Diocletian

Galerius

Legend of the Dragon

Many depictions of Saint George show him astride a horse with a spear slaying a dragon.  There are two different theories on why he is credited with this legend.  First, that it is all symbolism.  The Dragon represents Satan and Saint George one of the great protectors of Christianity.  The other is that the dragon may have been a giant crocodile.  Saint George during his travels came upon the city of "Silene", modern day Cyrene that got their water from a spring but at that spring also lived a giant crocodile.  George of course went to the spring and killed the crocodile saving the village future problems.

Patron Saint

Saint George is the Patron Saint of many people, cities and countries, most famously being the patron saint of England.  This is illustrated clearly by the flag of England which is actually called the Saint George Cross.

Saint George Cross