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103-469: The first of the Orders of Knighthood were the military orders of crusaders who used red, green or black crosses of velvet on their mantles , to distinguish their brotherhoods. Later the members of knightly orders used rings, embroidered dragons and even garters as the symbol of their order. In the late Middle Ages the knights wore their insignia ever more prominently and medaillons, crosses and jewels in

206-557: A basilica in Lydda dedicated to George existed. 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. 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

309-455: A festum duplex 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, 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

412-468: A medal decoration. In fact, these decorations themselves often came to be known informally as orders . These institutions in turn gave rise to the modern-day orders of merit of sovereign states. An order of knights is a community of knights composed by order rules with the main purpose of an ideal or charitable task. The original ideal lay in monachus et miles (monk and knight), who in the order – ordo (Latin for 'order' / 'status') –

515-426: A ribbon . Typically these insignia are worn from a sash in the case of the senior ranks, around the neck for the middle ranks (see also neck decorations ), and on the left chest for the lower grades. Many orders use insignia in the form of a cross, but there may also be stars, and military awards may have crossed swords added onto the insignias. Ladies may wear the badge on a bow on the left chest. In orders following

618-518: A Christian church or Druze maqam is dedicated to either one of them. According to scholar Ray Jabre Mouawad the Druzes appreciated the two saints for their bravery: Saint George because he confronted the dragon and Saint Elijah because he competed with the pagan priests of Baal and won over them. In both cases the explanations provided by Christians is that Druzes were attracted to warrior saints that resemble their own militarized society. George

721-550: A church dedicated to him in Kyiv , c.  1054 . In Bulgaria , George's day ( Bulgarian : Гергьовден ) is celebrated on 6 May, when it is customary to slaughter and roast a lamb. George's day is also a public holiday . In Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina , the Serbian Orthodox Church refers to George as Sveti Djordje ( Свети Ђорђе ) or Sveti Georgije ( Свети Георгије ). George's day ( Đurđevdan )

824-747: A consequence of being not an order of chivalry but orders of merit or decorations , some republican honours have thus avoided the traditional structure found in medieval orders of chivalry and created new ones instead, e.g. the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany , the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria , or the Legion of Merit of the United States . Following

927-531: A martyr of monotheistic faith. In hagiography , as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalized in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon . His feast day, Saint George's Day , is traditionally celebrated on 23 April. Historically, the countries of England , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Georgia , Ukraine , Malta , Ethiopia ,

1030-464: A modern-day order is the Order of the British Empire . The French Legion of Honour democratised the honour systems of orders of chivalry and merit in the sense of formally omitting both the expectations of nobility on admittees while also no further implying the same status on previously non-noble conferees. Yet some orders may still expect noble ancestry on the part of recipients, such as

1133-465: A soldier saint from early times had its centre in Palestine at Diospolis, now Lydda . St George was apparently martyred there, at the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century; that is all that can be reasonably surmised about him. The saint's veneration dates to the 5th century with some certainty, and possibly even to the 4th, while the collection of his miracles gradually began during

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1236-549: A state or a reigning monarch. The answer to the question of whether an order is legitimate or not varies from nation to nation, François Velde wrote an "order of knighthood is legitimate if it is defined as legal, recognized and acknowledged as such by a sovereign authority. Within its borders, a sovereign state does as it pleases. Most, if not all, modern states have honorific orders and decorations of some kind, and those are sometimes called orders of knighthood." Exactly what makes one order legitimate and another self-styled or false

1339-652: A very common confusion between n and l , from Dagon , whose name two neighbouring villages bear to this day, while one of the gates of Lydda used to be called the Gate of Dagon." Due to the Christian influence on the Druze faith , two Christian saints have become amongst the Druze 's most venerated figures: Saint George and Saint Elijah . Thus, in all the villages inhabited by Druze and Christians in central Mount Lebanon

1442-486: 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 . The Life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon , written in the 7th century, mentions the veneration of the relics of the saint in Cappadocia. By the time of the early Muslim conquests of the mostly Christian and Zoroastrian Middle East,

1545-585: Is a Baronial Order and the Ordre de la Pomme d'Or was founded by 14 knights in Auvergne in 1394. Saint George This is an accepted version of this page Saint George ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Γεώργιος , translit.   Geṓrgios ; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda , was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity . According to tradition, he

1648-435: Is a matter of debate with some arguing that any monarch (reigning or not) or even the descendants of such can create an order while others assert that only a government with actual internationally recognized authority has such power (regardless of whether that government is republican or monarchical in nature). Historically, nobility and knights have also formed Orders of Knighthood. The Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont

1751-411: Is a separate rank above that of Grand Cross, i.e.: * indicates that the insignia must be returned upon the death of the recipient † indicates that the order is now dormant but has not been formally abolished Orders of Knighthood An order of chivalry , order of knighthood , chivalric order , or equestrian order is an order of knights , typically founded during or inspired by

1854-616: Is also secondary, and inconsistent with the earliest cults of the saint being located in Diospolis . George was executed by decapitation on 23 April 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra of Rome to become a Christian as well, so she joined George in martyrdom. His body was buried in Lydda , where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr. The Latin Passio Sancti Georgii (6th century) follows

1957-451: Is celebrated on Easter Monday , instead. The Russian Orthodox Church also celebrates two additional feasts in honour of George. One is on 3 November, commemorating the consecration of a cathedral dedicated to him in Lydda during the reign of Constantine the Great (305–37). When the church was consecrated, the relics of George were transferred there. The other feast is on 26 November for

2060-547: Is celebrated on 6 May, and is a common slava (patron saint day) among ethnic Serbs . In Egypt , the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria refers to George ( Coptic : Ⲡⲓⲇⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲅⲉⲟⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ or ⲅⲉⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ ) as the "Prince of Martyrs" and celebrates his martyrdom on the 23rd of Paremhat of the Coptic calendar , equivalent to 1 May. The Copts also celebrate the consecration of the first church dedicated to him on

2163-485: Is dedicated to a Christian purpose. The first orders of knights were religious orders that were founded to protect and guide pilgrims to the Holy Land. The knightly orders were characterized by an order-like community life in poverty, obedience and chastity, which was linked with charitable tasks, armed pilgrimage protection and military action against external and occasionally internal enemies of Christianity. Examples are

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2266-552: Is described as a prophetic figure in Islamic sources. George is venerated by some Christians and Muslims because of his composite personality combining several biblical, Quranic and other ancient mythical heroes. In some sources he is identified with Elijah or Mar Elis, George or Mar Jirjus and in others as al-Khidr . The last epithet meaning the "green prophet", is common to Christian, Muslim, and Druze folk piety. Samuel Curtiss who visited an artificial cave dedicated to him where he

2369-525: Is equivalent to saying he has been sent to a madhouse. It is singular that the Moslem Arabs adopted this veneration for St George, and send their mad people to be cured by him, as well as the Christians, but they commonly call him El Khudder – The Green – according to their favourite manner of using epithets instead of names. Why he should be called green, however, I cannot tell – unless it is from

2472-461: Is granted. Al-Thaʿlabi states that George was from Palestine and lived in the times of some disciples of Jesus . He was killed many times by the king of Mosul, and resurrected each time. When the king tried to starve him, he touched a piece of dry wood brought by a woman and turned it green, with varieties of fruits and vegetables growing from it. After his fourth death, the city was burnt along with him. Ibn al-Athir 's account of one of his deaths

2575-406: Is identified with Elijah, reports that childless Muslim women used to visit the shrine to pray for children. Per tradition, he was brought to his place of martyrdom in chains, thus priests of Church of St. George chain the sick especially the mentally ill to a chain for overnight or longer for healing. This is sought after by both Muslims and Christians. According to Elizabeth Anne Finn 's Home in

2678-653: Is into: Confraternal orders are orders of chivalry with the presidency attached to a nobleman: Fraternal orders are orders of chivalry that were formed off a vow & for a certain enterprise: Votive orders are orders of chivalry, temporarily formed on the basis of a vow . These were courtly chivalric games rather than actual pledges as in the case of the fraternal orders. Three are known from their statutes: Cliental pseudo-orders are not orders of chivalry and were princes' retinues fashionably termed orders. They are without statutes or restricted memberships: Honorific orders were honorific insignia consisting of nothing but

2781-594: Is on 23 April. In the Tridentine calendar of 1568, it was given the rank of "Semidouble". In Pope Pius XII 's 1955 calendar this rank was reduced to "Simple", and in Pope John XXIII 's 1960 calendar to a "Commemoration" . Since Pope Paul VI 's 1969 revision , it appears as an "optional memorial ". In some countries such as England, the rank is higher – it is a Solemnity (Roman Catholic) or Feast ( Church of England ): if it falls between Palm Sunday and

2884-415: Is parallel to the crucifixion of Jesus , stating, "When he died, God sent stormy winds and thunder and lightning and dark clouds, so that darkness fell between heaven and earth, and people were in great wonderment." The account adds that the darkness was lifted after his resurrection. A titular church built in Lydda during the reign of Constantine the Great (reigned 306–337) was consecrated to "a man of

2987-479: Is seen as a guardian of the Druze community and a symbol of their enduring faith and resilience. Additionally, Saint George is regarded as a protector and healer in Druze tradition. The story of Saint George slaying the dragon is interpreted allegorically, representing the triumph of good over evil and the protection of the faithful from harm. In the General Roman Calendar , the feast of George

3090-644: The Archangel Gabriel . The medallion is surrounded by three intertwined Savoyan knots, decorated with small crosses fleury, and in the upper center, between two of the Savoyan knots , a cluster of rays with a dove, representing the Holy Spirit , is depicted also in gold. Animated by a similar Marian devotion , the fashion of these collars spread at the same time as the fashion of wearing rosaries as necklaces spread across Europe reaching England in

3193-634: The Austrian and Prussian orders, and several Portuguese orders had collars. In Portugal all the members of these orders of knighthood wear a collar, but the collars of the Grand Cross are more elaborate. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the collar has been used as the insignia of office of the Grand Master of the order. Napoleon I introduced the Grand aigle (Grand Eagle) to replace

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3296-769: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ." He asked the priest at the shrine "Do you get many Muslims coming here?" The priest replied, "We get hundreds! Almost as many as the Christian pilgrims. Often, when I come in here, I find Muslims all over the floor, in the aisles, up and down." The Encyclopædia Britannica quotes G. A. Smith in his Historic Geography of

3399-744: The English Reformation . Belief in an apparition of George heartened the Franks at the Battle of Antioch in 1098, 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 , Kingdom of Hungary (1326), and by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor . Edward III of England put his Order of

3502-700: The Golden Legend , would go on to become very influential, as it remains the most familiar version in English owing to William Caxton 's 15th-century translation. In the medieval romances, the lance with which George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, after the Levantine city of Ashkelon , today in Israel. The name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II, according to records at Bletchley Park . Iconography of

3605-472: The Knights Templar , Knights of the Holy Sepulchre officially called The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, founded in 1090, the Order of St. John and the Order of Malta . These communities only became orders in the sense of canon law through papal recognition of their own binding rules of order and through the dissolution of ecclesiastical diocesan organizations. In addition to

3708-498: The Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary , established in 1764), others would confer a title upon appointment (such as the Military Order of Max Joseph , established in 1806) while in yet other orders only the top classes were considered knights (such as in the Order of St Michael and St George , established in 1818). Orders of merit which still confer privileges of knighthood are sometimes referred to as orders of knighthood. As

3811-504: The Order of St. George , whose roots also go back to the so-called "last knight" Emperor Maximilian I , was reactivated by the House of Habsburg after its dissolution by Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, to this day, deserved personalities in republican France are highlighted by being awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour . In contrast, the knights of the ecclesiastical orders of knights such as

3914-740: The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George ), the " Order of Malta " (derived from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta ), and the " Order of the Temple " (derived from the historical Knights Templar ), the latter two featuring prominently in the York Rite . Most orders created since the late 17th century were no longer societies and fellowships of knights who followed a common mission but were established by monarchs or governments with

4017-621: The Sovereign Military Order of Malta and those of the Alliance of the Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem . Others may continue to imply conferral of nobility on any admittee, whether hereditary or personal, such as in some of the cases of dynastic orders conferred by the House of Bavaria or the House of Imperial Russia . Some organisations claim to be chivalric orders but are actually private membership organisations that have not been created by

4120-432: The medieval times. The story of the defeat of the dragon is not part of Saint George's earliest hagiographies, and seems to have been a later addition. The earliest text which preserves fragments of George's narrative is in a Greek hagiography which is identified by Hippolyte Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a palimpsest of the 5th century. An earlier work by Eusebius , Church history , written in

4223-571: The 4th century, contributed to the legend but did not name George or provide significant detail. The work of the Bollandists Daniel Papebroch , Jean Bolland , and Godfrey Henschen in the 17th century was one of the first pieces of scholarly research to establish the saint's historicity, via their publications in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca . Pope Gelasius I stated in 494 that George

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4326-538: The Companions of Honour and the Imperial Service Order are the exceptions. After the 17th century the heyday of the collar was over. They were worn only on ceremonial occasions and replaced in daily life by stars pinned to the breast, and badges suspended from ribbons. Many orders retained their collars and when orders were divided into several ranks or grades the collar was usually reserved for

4429-571: 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

4532-515: The Grand Cross as the highest rank in his Legion of Honour . Napoleon dispensed 15 such golden collars of the Legion among his kinsmen and the highest of his ministers. This collar did not survive his downfall and was abolished in 1815. He also introduced the Grand Collier de la Légion d'Honneur which was the first Grand Collar worn outside of a religious order. The president of France wears

4635-412: The Holy Land , p. 164, saying: "The Mahommedans who usually identify St. George with the prophet Elijah, at Lydda confound his legend with one about Christ himself. Their name for Antichrist is Dajjal , and they have a tradition that Jesus will slay Antichrist by the gate of Lydda. The notion sprang from an ancient bas-relief of George and the Dragon on the Lydda church. But Dajjal may be derived, by

4738-536: The Holy land (1866): St George killed the dragon in this country; and the place is shown close to Beyroot . Many churches and convents are named after him. The church at Lydda is dedicated to George; so is a convent near Bethlehem , and another small one just opposite the Jaffa gate , and others beside. The Arabs believe that George can restore mad people to their senses, and to say a person has been sent to St. George's

4841-647: The Knights Templar was not re-established, some orders were reactivated after the end of World War II and the fall of the Iron Curtain. There are repeated attempts to revive or restore old orders of knights. Often, old knight orders are used today to honor personalities. For example, the British Queen Elizabeth II regularly appointed new members to the Order of the British Empire in the 21st century. In Central Europe, for example,

4944-514: 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 in the West, that had captured the medieval imagination, was codified by the official elevation of his feast to

5047-678: The Second Sunday of Easter inclusive, it is transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter. George is very much honoured by the Eastern Orthodox Church, wherein he is referred to as a "Great Martyr", and in Oriental Orthodoxy overall. His major feast day is on 23 April (Julian calendar 23 April currently corresponds to Gregorian calendar 6 May). If, however, the feast occurs before Easter , it

5150-596: The Seljuk Sultan Mesud II and Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II are also named in the inscriptions. A shrine attributed to prophet George can be found in Diyarbakır , Turkey. Evliya Çelebi states in his Seyahatname that he visited the tombs of prophet Jonah and prophet George in the city. The reverence for Saint George, who is often identified with Al-Khidr, is deeply integrated into various aspects of Druze culture and religious practices. He

5253-758: The Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Order of St. John mainly devote themselves to social tasks, nursing and care. The Secretariat of the State of the Holy See – medieval pioneer of the original military orders – distinguishes orders in the following manner: In Dell'origine dei Cavalieri (1566), the Italian scholar Francesco Sansovino (1521–1586) distinguished knights and their respective societies in three main categories: Over time,

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5356-728: The above division became no longer sufficient, and heraldic science distinguished orders into: hereditary, military, religious and fees. In a more generous distribution proposed in The Knights in the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Late Medieval Europe (1987), the Canadian heraldist D'Arcy Boulton classifies chivalric orders as follows: Based on Boulton, this article distinguishes: Another occurrent chronological categorisation

5459-430: The badge: Together with the monarchical chivalric orders (see above) these honorific orders are the prime ancestors of the modern-day orders of knighthood (see below) which are orders of merit in character. The distinction between these orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that these honorific orders still implied membership in a group. Decorations have no such limitations and are awarded purely to recognize

5562-500: The church. Intercession to George of Edathua is believed to be efficacious in repelling snakes and in curing mental ailments. The sacred relics of George were brought to Antioch from Mardin in 900 and were taken to Kerala, India, from Antioch in 1912 by Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril and kept in the Orthodox seminary at Kundara, Kerala. H.H. Mathews II Catholicos had given the relics to St. George churches at Puthupally, Kottayam District, and Chandanappally, Pathanamthitta district. George

5665-449: The collar is to be displayed. Normally it will entirely encircle the escutcheon (shield), or the collar may be partially hidden by it. Sometimes, only a part of the collar and the badge will extend below the escutcheon. Collars of different orders are often depicted in the heraldic achievement of various monarchs, encircling the escutcheon. Though the standard achievement used most often may depict specific collars, this does not preclude

5768-419: The collar of the Order of the Legion of Honour . Nowadays, the collar is often a rank above that of a Grand Cross and it is reserved for the president and foreign heads of state as it is in Brazil . In heraldry , most members of orders are permitted to display the collar of their order on their coat of arms (if they are in fact entitled to wear the collar). There are often very strict rules as to how exactly

5871-407: The collar of the Order of the Garter said to be  "a gold collar, coupled together by several pieces of links in fashion of garters, with a vermillion rose, and the image of Saint George hung thereat". Most of the British orders of knighthood now have collars and they are still worn on special occasions, known as collar days . The Distinguished Service Order , the Order of Merit , the Order of

5974-541: The colour of his horse. Gray horses are called green in Arabic. The mosque of Nabi Jurjis, which was restored by Timur in the 14th century, was located in Mosul and supposedly contained the tomb of George. It was however destroyed in July 2014 by the occupying Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant , who also destroyed the Mosque of the Prophet Sheeth ( Seth ) and the Mosque of the Prophet Younis ( Jonah ). The militants claimed that such mosques have become places for apostasy instead of prayer. George or Hazrat Jurjays

6077-430: The death of a member of the order, the collar and perhaps other insignia be returned to the issuing authority. Often, the requirement is that a male relative personally return the award to the order. Many orders also do have a chain as an ornament that is worn at more official ceremonial occasions (worn by knights of a single class order or members of the highest class of a multi-class order). However, in some orders Collar

6180-418: 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 , Madeira Island , Portugal, solemnly received the relics of George, patron saint of the parish. During the celebrations the 504th anniversary of its foundation,

6283-422: The example set by the French Legion of Honour , founded by Napoleon , most multi-level European orders comprise five ranks or classes. The highest is usually called the Grand Cross , then descending with varying titles. Alternatively, the ranks are referred to by number (for example "1st class" instead of "Grand Cross"). Typical rankings are: Each of these ranks wear insignia, usually badge (often enamelled) on

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6386-423: The example set by the French Legion of Honour, the two highest classes also wear a star (or plaque ) on the chest. In special cases the senior class may wear the badge on a collar , which is an elaborate chain around the neck. In certain countries with feudal heritage the higher ranks (usually at least the Grand Cross) may have vestments proper to them, including a robe or mantle and a hat . An example of such

6489-490: The fifteenth century. Collars of various devices are worn by the knights of some of the European orders of knighthood . The custom was begun by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy , who gave his Knights of the Golden Fleece badges depicting a golden fleece : it was composed of "gold filigree plaques, simulated black and white enamel firestones, and golden fleece pendant". Following this new fashion, Louis XI of France , when instituting his Order of St. Michael in 1469, gave

6592-430: The general course of the Greek legend, but Diocletian here becomes Dacian, Emperor of the Persians . His martyrdom was greatly extended to more than twenty separate tortures over the course of seven years. Over the course of his martyrdom, 40,900 pagans were converted to Christianity, including the Empress Alexandra. When George finally died, the wicked Dacian was carried away in a whirlwind of fire. In later Latin versions,

6695-404: The greater arms of Sweden, the collar of the Order of Seraphim is used. The collar of the Order of Leopold is also depicted in the national arms of Belgium. When a member of an order dies, they are not usually buried with the collar, but it may be displayed on a pillow placed on the coffin (along with other decorations that the member may have) during the funeral. Many orders require that after

6798-424: The highest distinction", according to the church history of Eusebius ; the name of the titulus "patron" was not indicated. The Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr located in the city is believed to have housed his remains. 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 Breviarium – and

6901-501: The highest rank. The notable exception is Portugal . At the end of the 18th century, most of the European orders had only one rank, that of knight, and although they usually had collars, the cross or badge was now worn on a ribbon around the neck or over the right shoulder. When the orders became more democratic, several ranks were introduced and only the highest grade, the "Grand Commanders" or "Grand Crosses", wore collars. The Netherlands never had collars, but several Belgian , most of

7004-480: The historical existence of St. George", although no faith can be placed in either the details of his history or his alleged exploits. The Diocletianic Persecution of 303, associated with military saints because the persecution was aimed at Christians among the professional soldiers of the Roman army , is of undisputed historicity. According to Donald Attwater , No historical particulars of his life have survived, ... The widespread veneration for St George as

7107-443: The horseman with spear overcoming evil was widespread throughout the Christian period. George ( Arabic : جرجس , Jirjis or Girgus ) is included in some Muslim texts as a prophetic figure. The Islamic sources state that he lived among a group of believers who were in direct contact with the last apostles of Jesus . He is described as a rich merchant who opposed erection of Apollo 's statue by Mosul 's king Dadan. After confronting

7210-409: The king, George was tortured many times to no effect, was imprisoned and was aided by the angels. Eventually, he exposed that the idols were possessed by Satan, but was martyred when the city was destroyed by God in a rain of fire. Muslim scholars had tried to find a historical connection of the saint due to his popularity. According to Muslim legend, he was martyred under the rule of Diocletian and

7313-632: The knights collars composed of scallop shells linked on a chain, most famously honouring Raoul de Lannoy after the siege of Quesnoy. The chain was doubled by Charles VIII . The first official portrait of a King of France wearing the collar of the order was that of King Louis XII in 1514 and since then, all other Kings have followed that tradition until the order lapsed in 1830; the Order of Liberation claimed to be its continuation in 1945 and it had its own grand collar made by master goldsmith Gilbert Poillerat, which President Charles de Gaulle wore on his official portrait, preferring its Cross of Lorraine to

7416-532: The late fifteenth century," Muriel C. McClendon has written, "and his did not become closely identified with a particular occupation or with the cure of a specific malady." In the wake of the Crusades, George became a model of chivalry in works of literature, including medieval romances . In the 13th century, Jacobus de Voragine , Archbishop of Genoa, compiled the Legenda Sanctorum , ( Readings of

7519-531: The literature in 1999, tells us that J. E. Hanauer in his 1907 book Folklore of the Holy Land: Muslim, Christian and Jewish "mentioned a shrine in the village of Beit Jala , beside Bethlehem , which at the time was frequented by Christians who regarded it as the birthplace of George and some Jews who regarded it as the burial place of the Prophet Elias . According to Hanauer, in his day

7622-423: The merit or accomplishments of the recipient. Both orders and decorations often come in multiple classes. The orders have influenced organizations which are completely separate and distinct from them. Since at least the 18th century, Freemasonry has incorporated symbols and rituals of several medieval military orders in a number of Masonic bodies , most notably, in the " Red Cross of Constantine " (derived from

7725-640: The monastery was "a sort of madhouse. Deranged persons of all the three faiths are taken thither and chained in the court of the chapel, where they are kept for forty days on bread and water, the Eastern Orthodox priest at the head of the establishment now and then reading the Gospel over them, or administering a whipping as the case demands." In the 1920s, according to Tawfiq Canaan 's Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine , nothing seemed to have changed, and all three communities were still visiting

7828-597: The new order were associated to instructions for fifty devout maidens and all virtuous souls, in order to renew Marian devotion and encourage the holiness of women active in the Catholic Church in France . Until the reign of Henry VIII , the Order of the Garter , like most ancient of the great knightly orders, had no collar. But the Tudor king wished to match the continental sovereigns in all things as described in

7931-536: The original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( c. 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concepts of ideals of chivalry . Since the 15th century, orders of chivalry, often as dynastic orders , began to be established in a more courtly fashion that could be created ad hoc . These orders would often retain the notion of being a confraternity , society or other association of members, but some of them were ultimately purely honorific and consisted of

8034-531: The persecutor is the Roman emperor Decius , or a Roman judge named Dacian serving under Diocletian. The earliest known record of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon occurs in the 11th century, in a Georgian source, reaching Catholic Europe in the 12th century. In the Golden Legend , by 13th-century Archbishop of Genoa Jacobus de Voragine , George's death was at the hands of Dacian , and about

8137-583: 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 canonized as a saint by Pope Gelasius I , among those "which are known better to God than to human beings." The early cult of the saint was localized in Diospolis (Lydda) , in Palestine. The first description of Lydda as a pilgrimage site where George's relics were venerated

8240-489: The region of the myth". Saint George in all likelihood was martyred before the year 290. There is little information on the early life of George. Herbert Thurston in The Catholic Encyclopedia states that, based upon an ancient cultus , narratives of the early pilgrims, and the early dedications of churches to George, going back to the fourth century, "there seems, therefore, no ground for doubting

8343-554: The regions of Catalonia and Aragon , and the city of Moscow have claimed George as their patron saint, as have several other regions, cities, universities, professions, and organizations. The Church of Saint George in Lod (Lydda), Israel , has a sarcophagus traditionally believed to contain St. George's remains. Very little is known about George's life. It is thought that he was a Roman military officer of Cappadocian Greek descent, who

8446-503: The relics were brought by the new Bishop of Funchal, D. Nuno Brás . George is renowned throughout the Middle East, as both saint and prophet. His veneration by Christians and Muslims lies in his composite personality combining several biblical, Quranic and other ancient mythical heroes. Saint George is the patron saint of Lebanese Christians , Palestinian Christians and Syrian Christians . William Dalrymple , who reviewed

8549-534: The religious orders of knights, courtly orders of knights emerged in many European royal houses from the middle of the 14th century. This enabled the monarchs and princes to create a reliable household power independent of the church and to combine their court life with knightly virtues. During this time, the Burgundian court culture was leading and so the Order of the Golden Fleece , founded there in 1430,

8652-520: The saint in England is a church at Fordington, Dorset , that is mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great . 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

8755-808: The seventh of the month of Hatour of the Coptic calendar usually equivalent to 17 November. In India, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church , one of the oriental catholic churches ( Eastern Catholic Churches ), and Malankara Orthodox Church venerate George. The main pilgrim centres of the saint in India are at Aruvithura and Puthuppally in Kottayam District, Edathua in Alappuzha district, and Edappally in Ernakulam district of

8858-686: The shape of animals began to be worn on chains around the neck, known as livery collars. In the fourteenth century, Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy (1343–1383) instituted the Order of the Collar. The order was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary The primary and oldest insignia of the order is its collar. It consists of a solid gold medallion of the collar, which portrays the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by

8961-603: The shrine and praying together." Dalrymple himself visited the place in 1995. "I asked around in the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem , and discovered that the place was very much alive. With all the greatest shrines in the Christian world to choose from, it seemed that when the local Arab Christians had a problem – an illness, or something more complicated – they preferred to seek the intercession of George in his grubby little shrine at Beit Jala rather than praying at

9064-422: The southern state of Kerala . The saint is commemorated each year from 27 April to 14 May at Edathua. On 27 April after the flag hoisting ceremony by the parish priest, the statue of the saint is taken from one of the altars and placed at the extension of the church to be venerated by devotees till 14 May. The main feast day is 7 May, when the statue of the saint along with other saints is taken in procession around

9167-417: The specific purpose of bestowing honours on deserving individuals. In most European monarchies, these new orders retained some outward forms from the medieval orders of chivalry (such as rituals and structure) but were in essence orders of merit, mainly distinguished from their republican counterparts by the fact that members were entitled to a title of nobility . While some orders required noble birth (such as

9270-497: The statues signed on January 5, 1508, by the Register of the Order, and sent to the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian . The present collar of the Garter knights, with its golden knots and its buckled garters enclosing white roses set on red roses , has its origin in the Tudor age. In 1672, British antiquary Elias Ashmole , described a change from the original collar worn prescribed by King Henry VIII for

9373-608: The symbols attached to the Grand Collier of the Legion of Honour. While the order of Saint Michael was exclusively male, Queen Anne of Austria with the help of her chaplain French Dominican friar François Arnoul established the Order of the Celestial Collar of the Sacred Rosary in 1647, proving once again the connection between the collar and the rosary as an instrument of devotion. The statues of

9476-525: The use of or substitution with other collars to which someone may be entitled to. Some achievements depict multiple collars while others depict only one; The coat of arms of the Norwegian monarch only depicts the collar of the Order of St. Olav encircling the shield while that of Denmark's depicts the collars of the nation's two chivalric orders: the Order of the Elephant and the Order of Dannebrog . In

9579-436: The year 287. The tradition tells that a fierce dragon was causing panic at the city of Silene, Libya , at the time George arrived there. In order to prevent the dragon from devastating people from the city, they gave two sheep each day to the dragon, but when the sheep were not enough they were forced to sacrifice humans, elected by the city's own people. Eventually, the king's daughter was chosen to be sacrificed, and no one

9682-634: Was a soldier in the Roman army . Of Cappadocian Greek origin, he became a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian , but was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. He became one of the most venerated saints, heroes, and megalomartyrs in Christianity, and he has been especially venerated as a military saint since the Crusades . He is respected by Christians, Druze , as well as some Muslims as

9785-515: Was among those saints "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God." The most complete version, based upon the fifth-century Greek text but in a later form, survives in a translation into Syriac from about 600. From text fragments preserved in the British Library , a translation into English was published in 1925. In the Greek tradition, George

9888-599: Was born to noble Christian parents, in Cappadocia . After his father died, his mother, who was originally from Lydda , in Syria Palaestina (a part of the Byzantine Empire), returned with George to her hometown. He went on to become a soldier for the Roman army ; but, because of his Christian faith, he was arrested and tortured, "at or near Lydda, also called Diospolis "; on the following day, he

9991-447: Was for many a model in the sense of a princely order based on the ideals of Christian chivalry. In the course of time, many orders of knights have been dissolved due to a lack of people or the field of activity has changed. So in many areas the charitable aspect and nursing came to the fore. There were also dissolutions for political reasons, such as the Knights Templar in 1312 or many orders of knights as opposition by Nazi Germany. While

10094-432: Was he who in time became George of England. This identification is seen as highly improbable. Bishop George was slain by Gentile Greeks for exacting onerous taxes, especially inheritance taxes. J. B. Bury , who edited the 1906 edition of Gibbon's The Decline and Fall , wrote "this theory of Gibbon's has nothing to be said for it". He adds that "the connection of St. George with a dragon-slaying legend does not relegate him to

10197-457: Was killed three times but resurrected every time. The legend is more developed in the Persian version of al-Tabari wherein he resurrects the dead, makes trees sprout and pillars bear flowers. After one of his deaths, the world is covered by darkness which is lifted only when he is resurrected. He is able to convert the queen but she is put to death. He then prays to God to allow him to die, which

10300-427: Was martyred under Roman emperor Diocletian in one of the pre-Constantinian persecutions of the 3rd or early 4th century. Beyond this, early sources give conflicting information. Edward Gibbon argued that George, or at least the legend from which the above is distilled, is based on George of Cappadocia , a notorious 4th-century Arian bishop who was Athanasius of Alexandria 's most bitter rival, and that it

10403-524: Was paraded and then beheaded, and his body was buried in Lydda. According to other sources, after his mother's death, George travelled to the eastern imperial capital, Nicomedia , where he was persecuted by one Dadianus . In later versions of the Greek legend, this name is rationalised to Diocletian , and George's martyrdom is placed in the Diocletian persecution of AD 303. The setting in Nicomedia

10506-462: Was the patron saint of Mosul. Along with Theodosius , he was revered by both Christian and Muslim communities of Jazira and Anatolia . The wall paintings of Kırk Dam Altı Kilise at Belisırma dedicated to him are dated between 1282 and 1304. These paintings depict him as a mounted knight appearing between donors including a Georgian lady called Thamar and her husband, the Emir and Consul Basil, while

10609-424: Was willing to take her place. George saved the girl by slaying the dragon with a lance. The king was so grateful that he offered him treasures as a reward for saving his daughter's life, but George refused it and insisted he give them to the poor. The people of the city were so amazed at what they had witnessed that they all became Christians and were baptized. Saint George's encounter with a dragon , as narrated in

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