Crusade to oust St George will be debated in Parliament
Posted by Ellee on Sep 28, 2006 in updates | 9 commentsThe crusade to oust St George as England’s patron saint is gathering momentum and will be heard in Parliament.
Conservative MP David Ruffley also believes it is time to restore the title to St Edmund (see pic). He plans to raise it as a debate in the House of Commons on behalf of his constituency.
He said:
“I’m going to be reading the petition to the speaker and the members of parliament in the House of Commons.
“I believe, as a Cambridge University historian, that the true and first patron saint of England is not St George but St Edmund.
“About four decades before St George we had our own martyr – St Edmund.
“If we can get a really big petition from right across East Anglia, I’m sure it will get the fur flying.â€?
Whatever the outcome, I’m sure the Sicilians will want to keep St George, who is also patron saint of the town of Modica, where there are some splendid statues dedicated to him. Many thanks to Welshcakes Limoncello for this fascinating info.
I’m afraid I agree with West Suffolk MP Richard Spring, who does not believe St George will be toppled, that St Edmund is a great figure of local history – and should be celebrated as such.
And Croydonian raises an interesting question, why not St Alban, the first martyr of Britain? So many worthy saints to choose from, but I think St George is safe for now…
I’ve just read in today’s Times that St George is also patrol saint of Georgian, he was obvioulsy a very popular guy.
I think St George would be delighted to know he was so reverred, I would bet he is here to stay.
No Surrender!
Let’s have an English Parliament and English First Minister then we English can decide who we want for our patron saint. The House of Commons is British. The debate over making St Andrew’s Day a public holiday was held in the Scottish Parliament!
http://www.thecep.org.uk
Arrgh – WCLC beat me to it….
I’ll have to content myself with noting that he is also the patron saint of Georgia.
St George will always be recognised as patron saint, no matter who tries to change it.
It is no business of the British Parliament who the English Saint is that is a matter for an English Parliament to decide.
Welshcakes Limoncello, thanks again, St George is obviously very popular.
If Georgy is ousted, “Henry V” will never sound the same again! San Giorgio is also the patron saint of nearby Ragusa Ibla, the ancient part of Ragusa, and there is a Cathedral in his name there too. According to “Wikipedia” at least 31 Italian towns are called San Giorgio and many more “San-Giorgio-of-somewhere/something.”