Monday 21 November 2016

St Michael and Britain - from William Wildblood

The patron saint of England is St George who was a Roman soldier of Greek origin born in Palestine, a strange choice for a national hero you might think. However Edward III adopted him for his courage in combating adversity and as an example of the triumph of good over evil, demonstrated by his killing of the dragon. Now the only other saintly dragon killer I am aware of is St Michael who crushed Satan and threw him down to earth after the great rebellion in heaven. So I am led to wonder whether St George is actually a human representative of the archangel and whether England might not, in some way, be also under the patronage of St Michael. Of course, many other places would be too but Michael was apparently the most popular saint in medieval England after St Peter, and before the Reformation many churches were dedicated to him, often on hilltops such as the one on Glastonbury Tor.

http://albionawakening.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/le-mont-saint-michel.html

2 comments:

Mercurius Aulicus said...

Sir, you might also wish to consider St. Margaret of Antioch who was quite popular in Britain prior to the Reformation. See http://blog.cnbeyer.com/history/medieval-history/st-margaret-of-antioch-or-the-teenager-who-destroys-dragons/

Mercurius Aulicus said...

Also this site may be of interest: http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/reames-middle-english-legends-of-women-saints-margaret-of-antioch-introduction