St George essays

St George essays Saint George of Cappadocia was known as a great soldier, and a martyr. Much of Saint Georges life was surrounded in myth and legend, so much so that there isnt much truth to be told about Saint George, and what is known is hard to decipher what is fact and what is fiction. The reason for this is Acta Sancti Georgii Gelasius, or the acts of Saint George were outlawed by the Pope in 496 AD. However, it is known that he was a very strong martyr and he eventually died because of his strong belief in Christianity. St. George was born in Cappadocia, which was the first kingdom of Anatolia. Although the year of his birth is not known, the estimated year of his death is 305 AD. At one point in his life he served as a high ranking officer in the Roman army. There are several legends that surround Saint George; however the most well known one is about George and the Dragon. The dragon was terrorizing the people near the town of Dilena, Libya. He ate the towns sheep when mutton was scarce. After all the sheep were devoured, the dragon substituted people for the sheep. The townspeople decided to sacrifice the princess to the dragon with hopes of satisfying him. When St. George heard of this he rode to the princesss rescue and murdered the dragon with a single thrust of his mighty lance and returned the princess to the king. As a reward the king gave him a large amount of gold which he distributed to the poor people of the town. George was one determined martyr. Because he was a Christi an, he was subjected to all kinds of cruel tortures. He was thrown into prison; where Christ appeared to him and predicted a seven year tribulation. During his tribulation, he drank a cup of poison, had his head pulled off, was bound to a wheel which the angels broke, had 60 nails driven into his head, was quartered by horses, had his hands and feed cut off, he healed a man possessed by the devil, had his body sawn up, ...