St George is the patron saint of England and Georgia. He was born in the third century in Cappadocia, Turkey, and became a high-ranking soldier in the Roman army.
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After converting to Christianity, St George protested against the army’s harsh treatment of Christians, which led to him being sentenced to death.
It seems that Emperor Diocletian had St. George tortured to make him deny his faith in Christ.
However, despite some of the most terrible torture even for that time, St George showed incredible courage and faith and was finally beheaded near Lydda in Palestine.
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His head was later taken to Rome where it was interred in the church dedicated to him.
Stories of his strength and courage soon spread throughout Europe.
The best-known story about St. George is his fight with a dragon, but it is highly unlikely that he ever fought a dragon, and even more unlikely that he ever visited England, however his name was known there as early as the eighth century.
St. George, so the story goes, killed a dragon on the flat-topped Dragon Hill in Uffington, Berkshire, and it is said that no grass grows where the dragon’s blood trickled down!
It was probably the 12th-century Crusaders however who first invoked his name as an aid in battle.
King Edward III made him the Patron Saint of England when he formed the Order of the Garter in St. George’s name in 1350, and the cult of the Saint was further advanced by King Henry V, at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.
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