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When did St George\u2019s Day begin? What date is it celebrated on? And why did St George kill a dragon? Professor\u00a0Jonathan Good brings you 11 lesser-known facts about England\u2019s patron saint\u2026<\/strong> Despite popular belief, St George is not English. Very little is known about the actual man.<\/p>\n If he ever existed (and there\u2019s no proof he did), George would likely have been a soldier somewhere in the eastern Roman empire<\/a>, probably in what is now Turkey.<\/p>\n According to legend, he was martyred for his faith under Emperor Diocletian in the early fourth century, and his major shrine is located in Lod, Israel.<\/p>\n Yet the Roman church had its doubts. In the sixth century it declared that George was \u201cone\u00a0of the saints who were rightly reverenced by men, but whose deeds were known only to God\u201d. However, this intervention had little effect and legends associated with St George spread through Europe.<\/p>\n St George\u2019s Day is on 23 April each year. In 2022, this is a Saturday.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Early Christians were known to exaggerate the tortures endured by their martyrs, but St George is in a league all of his own.<\/p>\n According to one source, St George was torn on the rack, hit on the head with hammers until his brains oozed out, forced to drink poison, torn on a wheel, boiled in lead, and much else besides \u2013 all over a period of seven years.<\/p>\n A fifth-century decree attributed to Pope Gelasius declared that, lest it give rise to mockery, the details were not be read out in church.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> \u00a0 Others included Theodore, Demetrius, and Mercurius. All of these saints had been soldiers when alive, and continued their patronage of the Byzantine army in death \u2013 especially St George, who became the most popular.<\/p>\n Crusaders<\/a> to the Holy Land in 1099 adopted this tradition of military saints, and brought the veneration of St George back to Western Europe.<\/p>\n Although St George was well known in early medieval England, Edmund the Martyr, Gregory the Great and Edward the Confessor were<\/a> chief contenders for the title of the country\u2019s patron saint.<\/p>\nDid St George really exist? Not necessarily\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
St George\u2019s Day 2022: when is St George\u2019s Day this year?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
St George\u2019s earliest legends were so outlandish that the Pope condemned them<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
More patron saints history:<\/h4>\n
St George was one of several military saints honoured in the Byzantine empire<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
St George had some competition\u2026<\/h3>\n<\/div>