Editing Saint George (section)

===History===
[[File:Paolo Veronese 023.jpg|thumb|left|''Martyrdom of Saint George'', by [[Paolo Veronese]], 1564]]
A [[titular church]] built in [[Lydda]] during the reign of [[Constantine the Great]] ({{Reigned|306|337}}) was consecrated to "a man of the highest distinction", according to the ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Church History]]'' of [[Eusebius]]; the name of the {{Lang|la|titulus}} "[[Patron saint|patron]]" was not indicated. The [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr]] located in the city is believed to have housed his [[relics]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walter |first=Christopher |date=1995 |title=The Origins of the Cult of Saint George |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/rebyz.1995.1911 |journal=Revue des études byzantines |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=295–326 |doi=10.3406/rebyz.1995.1911 |issn=0766-5598}}</ref>

The veneration of George spread from [[Syria Palaestina]] through Lebanon to the rest of the [[Byzantine Empire]] – though the martyr is not mentioned in the Syriac ''[[horologion|Breviarium]]''<ref name="Butler" /> – and [[Georgia (country)|the region]] east of the [[Black Sea]]. By the 5th century, the veneration of George had reached the Christian [[Western Roman Empire]], as well: in 494, George was canonised as a [[saint]] by [[Pope Gelasius I]], among those "which are known better to God than to human beings."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gélase |title=The Letters of Gelasius I (492–496): Pastor and Micro-Manager of the Church of Rome |last2=Neil |first2=Bronwen |last3=Allen |first3=Pauline |date=2014 |publisher=Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-55299-6 |series=Adnotationes |location=Turnhout |pages=160}}</ref>

The early cult of the saint was localised in [[Lod|Diospolis (Lydda)]], in modern day [[Israel]]. The first description of Lydda as a pilgrimage site where George's relics were venerated is ''[[De Situ Terrae Sanctae]]'' by the archdeacon Theodosius, written between 518 and 530. By the end of the 6th century, the center of his veneration appears to have shifted to [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]]. The ''Life'' of [[Saint Theodore of Sykeon]], written in the 7th century, mentions the veneration of the relics of the saint in Cappadocia.<ref>Christopher Walter, "The Origins of the Cult of Saint George", ''Revue des études byzantines'' 53 (1995), 295–326 (p. 296) ([https://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_0766-5598_1995_num_53_1_1911 persee.fr] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528183624/https://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_0766-5598_1995_num_53_1_1911 |date=28 May 2019 }})</ref>

By the time of the [[early Muslim conquests]] of the mostly Christian and [[Zoroastrian]] Middle East, a [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr|basilica in Lydda]] dedicated to George existed.<ref>{{citation | first = Denys | last = Pringle | title = The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-521-39037-0 | page = 25}}.</ref> A new church was erected in 1872 and is still standing, where the feast of the translation of the relics of Saint George to that location is celebrated on 3 November each year.<ref>Eastern Christian Publications, ''Theosis: Calendar of Saints'' (2020), pp. 75–76.</ref> In England, he was mentioned among the martyrs by the 8th-century monk [[Bede]]. The ''[[Georgslied]]'' is an adaptation of his legend in [[Old High German]], composed in the late 9th century. The earliest dedication to the saint in England is a church at [[Fordington, Dorset]], that is mentioned in the will of [[Alfred the Great]].<ref>Samantha Riches, ''St. George: Hero, Martyr and Myth'' (Sutton, 2000), {{ISBN|0750924527}}, p. 19.</ref> George did not rise to the position of "patron saint" of England, however, until the 14th century, and he was still obscured by [[Edward the Confessor]], the traditional patron saint of England, until in 1552 during the reign of [[Edward VI]] all saints' banners other than George's were abolished in the [[English Reformation]].<ref>McClendon 1999, p .6</ref><ref>Perrin, ''British Flags'', 1922, p.  38.</ref>
[[File:Cornelis Schut - The beheading of Saint George.jpg|thumb|The martyrdom of Saint George, by [[Cornelis Schut]], 1643]]

Belief in an apparition of George heartened the [[Franks]] at the [[Battle of Antioch (1098)|Battle of Antioch]] in 1098,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Runciman|first1=Steven|title=A History of the Crusades I: The First Crusade|date=1951–1952|publisher=Penguin Classics|isbn=978-0-14-198550-3|pages=204–205}}</ref> and a similar appearance occurred the following year at Jerusalem. The chivalric military [[Order of Sant Jordi d'Alfama]] was established by king [[Peter the Catholic]] from the [[Crown of Aragon]] in 1201, [[Republic of Genoa]], [[Order of Saint George (Kingdom of Hungary)|Kingdom of Hungary]] (1326), and by [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor]].<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13350a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' 1913, ''s.v.'' "Orders of St. George"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022221745/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13350a.htm |date=22 October 2021 }} omits Genoa and Hungary: see David Scott Fox, ''Saint George: The Saint with Three Faces'' (1983:59–63, 98–123), noted by McClellan 999:6 note 13. Additional Orders of St. George were founded in the eighteenth century (''Catholic Encyclopedia'').</ref> [[Edward III of England]] put his [[Order of the Garter]] under the banner of George, probably in 1348. The chronicler [[Jean Froissart]] observed the English invoking George as a battle cry on several occasions during the [[Hundred Years' War]]. In his rise as a national saint, George was aided by the very fact that the saint had no legendary connection with England, and no specifically localised shrine, as that of [[Thomas Becket]] at Canterbury: "Consequently, numerous shrines were established during the late fifteenth century," Muriel C. McClendon has written,<ref>McClendon 1999:10.</ref> "and his did not become closely identified with a particular occupation or with the cure of a specific malady."
[[File:Igreja Matriz de São Jorge 20190812 184815 BURST002.jpg|left|thumb|[[Relics]] of George at [[São Jorge parish church]], [[São Jorge (Santana)|São Jorge]], [[Madeira Island]], Portugal]]

In the wake of the Crusades, George became a model of [[chivalry]] in works of literature, including [[medieval romance]]s. In the 13th century, [[Jacobus de Voragine]], Archbishop of Genoa, compiled the ''Legenda Sanctorum'', (''Readings of the Saints'') also known as ''Legenda Aurea'' (the ''Golden Legend''). Its 177 chapters (182 in some editions) include the story of George, among many others. After the invention of the printing press, the book became a best seller.

The establishment of George as a popular saint and protective giant<ref>[[Desiderius Erasmus]], in ''[[The Praise of Folly]]'' (1509, printed 1511) remarked "The Christians have now their gigantic St. George, as well as the pagans had their [[Hercules]]."</ref> in the West, that had captured the medieval imagination, was codified by the official elevation of his feast to a ''festum duplex''<ref>Only the most essential work might be done on a ''festum duplex''</ref> at a church council in 1415, on the date that had become associated with his martyrdom, 23 April. There was wide latitude from community to community in celebration of the day across late medieval and early modern England,<ref>Muriel C. McClendon, "A Moveable Feast: Saint George's Day Celebrations and Religious Change in Early Modern England" ''The Journal of British Studies'' '''38'''.1 (January 1999:1–27).</ref> and no uniform "national" celebration elsewhere, a token of the popular and vernacular nature of George's ''cultus'' and its local horizons, supported by a local guild or confraternity under George's protection, or the dedication of a local church. When the [[English Reformation]] severely curtailed the saints' days in the calendar, Saint George's Day was among the holidays that continued to be observed.

In April 2019, the parish church of São Jorge, in [[São Jorge (Santana)|São Jorge]], [[Madeira Island]], Portugal, solemnly received the [[relic]]s of George, patron saint of the parish. During the celebrations the 504th anniversary of its foundation, the relics were brought by the new Bishop of Funchal, D. [[Nuno Brás]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jornaldamadeira.com/2019/04/29/d-nuno-bras-presidiu-a-festa-em-honra-de-sao-jorge/|title=D. Nuno Brás presidiu à Festa em honra de São Jorge |journal= Jornal da Madeira|last=Gonçalves|first=Luisa|language=pt-PT|date=29 April 2019|access-date=3 September 2019}}</ref>