page_title: Saint George
section_title: Patronages
hierarchical_section_title: Saint George / Patronages
caption_attribution_description: St. George is Ethiopia's patron saint. The person in the tree directly in front of and above the horse's head is said to personify Ethiopia. As usual, the horse is looking very perky. I saw variations on this image in almost every church I visited in Ethiopia. This painting is unique in the number of lances St. George is deploying against the dragon. This is one corner of a larger canvas that depicts a number of stories that are important to the Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The date and provenance of painting are unknown to me.
context_page_description: Saint George, also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is accepted as a saint in Christianity and Islam. According to traditional rumors, he was a soldier in the Roman army. His parents were Christians of Greek origin. His father, Gerontius, was a Cappadocian serving in the Roman army. His mother Polikronya was a Christian from the city of Lod in Palestine. Saint George was a soldier of Cappadocian Greek origins, member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, who was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades.
  In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalised in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. His memorial, Saint George's Day, is traditionally celebrated on 23 April.
  England, Ethiopia, Georgia, and the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia and Aragon in Spain, and several other nation states, cities, universities, professions and organisations all claim George as their patron.
context_section_description: George is a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, and many Patronages of Saint George exist throughout the world.
  George is the patron saint of England. His cross forms the national flag of England, and features within the Union Flag of the United Kingdom and other national flags containing the Union Flag, such as those of Australia and New Zealand. By the 14th century, the saint had been declared both the patron saint and the protector of the royal family.
  George is the patron saint of Ethiopia. He is also the patron saint of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church; George slaying the dragon is one of the most frequently used subjects of icons in the church. 
  The country of Georgia, where devotions to the saint date back to the fourth century, is not technically named after the saint, but is a well-attested back-formation of the English name. However, many towns and cities around the world are. George is one of the patron saints of Georgia; the name Georgia (Sakartvelo in Georgian) is an anglicisation of Gurj, ultimately derived from the Persian word gurj/gurjān ("wolf"). Chronicles describing the land as Georgie or Georgia in French and English, date from the early Middle Ages, as written by the travellers John Mandeville and Jacques de Vitry "because of their special reverence for Saint George", but these accounts have been seen as folk etymology and are rejected by the scholarly community. Exactly 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia are named after George according to the number of days in a year. According to legend, George was cut into 365 pieces after he fell in battle and every single piece was spread throughout the entire country.
  George is also one of the patron saints of the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo. In a battle between the Maltese and the Moors, George was alleged to have been seen with Saint Paul and Saint Agata, protecting the Maltese. George is the protector of the island of Gozo and the patron of Gozo's largest city, Victoria. The St. George's Basilica in Victoria is dedicated to him.
  Devotions to George in Portugal date back to the 12th century. Nuno Álvares Pereira attributed the victory of the Portuguese in the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385 to George. During the reign of John I of Portugal (1357–1433), George became the patron saint of Portugal and the King ordered that the saint's image on the horse be carried in the Corpus Christi procession. The flag of George (white with red cross) was also carried by the Portuguese troops and hoisted in the fortresses, during the 15th century. "Portugal and Saint George" became the battle cry of the Portuguese troops, being still today the battle cry of the Portuguese Army, with simply "Saint George" being the battle cry of the Portuguese Navy.
  George, is also the patron saint of the region of Aragon, in Spain, where his feast day is celebrated on 23 April and is known as "Aragon Day", or 'Día de Aragón' in Spanish. He became the patron saint of the former Kingdom of Aragon and Crown of Aragon when King Pedro I of Aragon won the Battle of Alcoraz in 1096. Legend has it that victory eventually fell to the Christian armies when George appeared to them on the battlefield, helping them secure the reconquest of the city of Huesca which had been under the Muslim control of the Taifa of Zaragoza. The battle, which had begun two years earlier in 1094, was long and arduous, and had also taken the life of King Pedro's own father, King Sancho Ramirez. With the Aragonese spirits flagging, it is said that George descending from heaven on his charger and bearing a dark red cross, appeared at the head of the Christian cavalry leading the knights into battle. Interpreting this as a sign of protection from God, the Christian militia returned emboldened to the battle field, more energized than ever, convinced theirs was the banner of the one true faith. Defeated, the moors rapidly abandoned the battlefield. After two years of being locked down under siege, Huesca was liberated and King Pedro made his triumphal entry into the city. To celebrat
caption: Icon of George in a church in Lalibela, Ethiopia
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