Happy St George's Day but why St George? The English are notoriously indifferent to their patron saint but two symbols connected to him are very dear to their hearts.
The Rose of England
The rose is the symbol of a different saint entirely - St Alban, the first Christian martyr in Britain. According to legend when he was executed roses burst into bloom on Holmfirth Hill and St Albans is still appropriately the home of the National Rose Garden. On St Alban's Day (20th June - which is also St John's Day - I have long campaigned for a bank holiday on Midsummer's Eve, 23rd April is hopeless as like this year it often falls on the same date as Easter) the Abbey hold a special commemorative service in which they scatter rose petals all along the nave of the ancient church.
The second symbol is the Flag of St George with its familiar red cross on a white background. No matter how indifferent an Englishman may be to St George his (or her) heart swells with pride to see the white flag with a red cross fluttering over the parish church and other public buildings. The flag and St George as England's patron saint was introduced to England in the 14th century by Edward III. But why did he choose St George who has no known connection with England?
The flag's design is much older than the fourteenth century, older even than St George. It is the device on Galahad's shield. According to legend the white shield was given by Joseph of Arimathea, the uncle of Jesus, to King Mistletoe (Evelake/Afallach), the Celtic sun-god Lud, to help him win a battle to protect Arras in Northern France. After the battle was won Lud, Joseph and his son Simeon came to Britain bringing not only the white shield but also Christianity with them. This was said to be around 60 AD just before the main thrust of the Roman invasion. When Joseph lay dying, seeing how upset his friend and ally was, he asked him to bring the shield to him and marked it with the sign of the cross with his own blood as a form of remembrance. The shield is not just a symbol of the nation but also of the Celtic Church and its fusion of Druid and Christian ideals. After Joseph's death the shield was left in the White Abbey where he was laid to rest (Glastonbury) for Galahad to find. (The story is told in The Wonderful History of The Sword in the Stone - see yesterday's blog for details).
The red cross on the white background is therefore the symbol of the perfect knight. Edward III was passionate about the Knights of the Round Table. He tried to revive the ideals of the fellowship by building a round table (and a round tower at Windsor to hold it) and founding a fellowship of his own, the Order of the Garter. He knew perfectly well the associations that the flag would evoke in English hearts and minds and still does. However, mindful no doubt that the Roman Catholic Church which held sway in England in his time would take a dim view of a flag dedicated to a Celtic sun-god, he cast around for a saint with the same symbol and came up with the Greek/Turkish knight St George who has nothing to do with England at all.
He had another reason for disguising the true character of the new flag. It was also the symbol of another fellowship of perfect knights - the Knights Templar. During his father's reign the French King with the connivance of a compliant Pope contrived the destruction of the powerful Order of the Knights Templar. Edward II, as Philip's son-in-law, was obliged to go along with this and destroy all the 'Temples' in England. This he did with great reluctance. Only a handful of the knights were arrested in England. Some of those made homeless were rehoused with the Knights of St John (the 'Hospitallers') but during his reign Edward II also founded fourteen Dominican priories which were probably also used to rehouse the homeless Templars.
Edward's ostensible reason was to honour his Spanish mother. In Spain his cousin Alfonso IX, also charged with destroying the Order, took no action at all against the Knights Templar and many of the french knights must have found a refuge with the Dominicans in Spain.
By the time Edward III who was such an admirer of knighthood introduced the new flag he was at war with France and must have taken great delight in flaunting in the face of the French army the flag of the disgraced and persecuted Knights Templar.
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