Thursday 19 April 2012

Folksy Friday - St George!


St George's Day!

St George's Day is celebrated by several nations, kingdoms, countries and cities of which Saint George is the Patron Saint, but for English peeps, he is most commonly associated as an English Patron Saint, slaying the dragon.  According to legend, he was a soldier in the Roman army, who killed a dragon, saving a Princess and releasing the people from the dragons threat. 

St Georges Day is celebrated on the 23rd of April.

In Brief!

A bit of history, it is believed that Saint George was born around the year 280 in what is now Turkey, he was a soldier in the Roman army, who rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a personal guard to the Emperor Diocletian.

He was executed for being a Christian on April 23rd 303 and  is buried in the town of Lod in Israel!

Saint George is renowned for slaying a dragon, according to legend, a town, Silene, was guarded by a dragon, who controlled access to the peoples water supplies, in order to get water, the towns folk had to offer a human sacrifice every day, this person was chosen by lots, on the day that Saint George visited the town, it was a Princess who had been selected to be sacrificed, but Saint George killed the dragon, not only saving the Princess, but giving the people of the town free access to their water once more.

In gratitude, the towns people converted to Christianity.

How Saint George became associated with England is a mix of politics and romantic legend, in 1190 the then King of England started paying the powerful Doge of Genoa to protect England's shipping sailing in the Mediterranean and the maritime Republic of Genoa had the recognisable red cross of St George on a white background as their flag.  And  during the Crusades, the Knights Templar used the flag as part of their uniform, so Saint George and his Cross have been symbols associated with England for Centuries.

St George Related Gallery!

The Folksy artisans have decided to dedicate April to St George and challenged each other to create items to symbolise the month, here are a few of my favourites, although there are many other gorgeous items I could have featured too.

Please click on the items pictured, to wing your way across to the shops in question, for more beautiful photographs that will slay you, fire your imagination and make you reach for your purse, hopefully without seeing red, as they are so reasonably priced.









I do hope you have enjoyed my St George gallery and will Fly the Flag proudly in the 23rd of April!

13 comments:

  1. Hi Natalie, Super blog. Just missed being chosen as I only listed my entry today!! Beautiful selection and very informative...
    Edwina:-)

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  2. I have just added yours too, so you have not missed out at all! LOL! xxx

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    1. Thanks Natalie so kind of you to add my purse.
      Edwina

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  3. It all looks gorgeous Natalie, I really love those earrings from Deborah Jones and your cute tie cross is very clever

    Kate x

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  4. Thanks for including my earrings in your choises Natalie, they all make for a very patriotic page.
    The beaded bookmark has to be my fav. .

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  5. Thank you Natalie for including my rose. Love the history bit too. Very informative!!

    Pat :)

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  6. Love all the information about St George. The selection looks great and thank you for including mine :)

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  7. Thank you for including my dragon bookmark!

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  8. Some lovely choices Natalie.
    Shirley x

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  9. beautiful collection of items :)

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  10. Don't they look great together. Very patriotic. Jo : )

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  11. Wow! The beaded bookmark is stunning - I too love the tiny beads and that is outstanding.

    Stephanie

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  12. Lovely post and stunning items. The bookmark is incredible!

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