April 23rd 1471: St George’s Day

St George and the Dragon

(Bernt Notke; Stockholm Cathedral)

The Arrivall says of Edward ……. ‘he departed out of London, and went to Windsor, there to thank and honour God, and Saint George, where he kept also the feast of Saint George, tarrying somewhat the longer there for that he had commanded all the people, and those that would serve him in this journey, to draw unto him thither, and from thence, such way as should happen him take towards his enemies’.

St George had been adopted by English Kings since Edward III as their personal patron saint. He associated the saint with his Order of the Garter by dedicating the order’s chapel at Windsor Castle to him. King Henry VI’s foundation at Eton College was beautified with several images of St George, and maybe to assert his legitimacy Edward also adopted him as his saint, letting it be known that he regularly prayed to him. A window at Canterbury Cathedral depicts just this. In 1462, he was one of the audience at a re-enactment of the story of St George and the dragon at a pageant in Bristol.

Since the time of Edward III, there have been formal celebrations of St George’s day at Windsor and finding himself at the castle on the day, Edward himself celebrated before leaving to pursue Queen Margaret.

He delayed leaving for two other, practical, reasons. The first was that his troops were mustering there, and he needed to leave time for their arrival. The second was that he had to wait for news from his spies before he could make decisions about which direction to take.