As is widely appreciated, St George owes much of his popularity in England to the enthusiasm of Edward III (1312-77). In 1348, when the king established the Order of the Garter, his super-select chivalric club, he picked George as its special patron, at the same time designating his birthplace, Windsor Castle, as the order’s spiritual headquarters and rededicating the chapel there (formerly devoted to St Edward) in the saint’s honour. Just three years later the king was pleased to refer to St George in his letters as ‘the most invincible athlete of Christ, whose name and protection the English nation invoke as that of their patron, especially in war’.
This was, it seems, an exaggeration. Recent historical writing, while still giving Edward III full credit for establishing George’s cult at court, has questioned the saint’s popularity with the English people as a whole. George may have been beloved of Edward and his knights, but it was not until the 15th century, in the wake of the victories of Henry V (1387-1422), that his cult really began to assume national status. Moreover, while it is clear that Edward was devoted to St George from an early age, it is also apparent that interest in the saint’s cult had been intensifying in royal and aristocratic circles for some time before the king’s accession.
