Knights of
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...
appear at different historical periods and in different countries as mutually independent bodies having nothing in common but the
veneration
Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Ety ...
of
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...
, the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...
.
Saint George of Lydda, a
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
of the persecution of
Diocletian in the 4th century, is one of those
military saints whom
Byzantine iconography
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...
represented as a horseman armed
wiktionary:cap-a-pie, like the flower of the
Roman armies after the military reform of
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
in the 6th century. The pilgrim knights of Europe, encountering in the East these representations of Saint George, recognised their own accoutrements and at once adopted him as the patron of their noble calling.
This popularity of Saint George in the West gave rise to numerous associations both secular and religious. Among secular orders of this name which still exist must be mentioned the English
Order of the Garter, which has always had Saint George for its patron. The
Kingdom of Aragon was placed under his
patronage, and in gratitude for his assistance to its armies King
Peter II of Aragon founded (1201) the Order of Saint George of Alfama in the district of that name. Nevertheless, this order received the
approbation
Approbation may refer to:
* Approbation (Catholic canon law), an act in the Catholic Church by which a bishop or other legitimate superior grants to an ecclesiastic the actual exercise of his ministry
* The process of granting a medical license
...
of the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
only in 1363 and had but a brief existence. With the approval of
antipope Benedict XIII
Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known as in Spanish and Pope Luna in English, was an Aragonese nobleman who, as Benedict XIII, is considered an antipope (see Western Schism) by the Catholic Church ...
, it was amalgamated with the Aragonese
Order of Montesa
The Order of Montesa ( va, Ordre de Montesa, Aragonese and es, Orden de Montesa) is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the old Crown of Aragon. It was named after the castle of Montesa, its headquarters.
Templar background
...
, and thereafter known as the Order of Montesa and Saint George of Alfama.
See also
*
Spanish military orders
This is a list of some of the modern orders, decorations and medals of Spain.
The bulk of the top current civil and military decorations granted by the Government of Spain in a discretionary manner trace their origins back to the 19th and 20th cen ...
{{Authority control
Jorge
Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker".
The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...
San Jorge d'Alfama, Order of
Military units and formations of the Reconquista
Catholic orders of chivalry
History of Catholicism in Spain