The Ancients24 Apr 2022

Saint George

The 23rd of April marks Saint George's Day - but who are we actually celebrating? Is there any truth behind the myth of the man who slew the dragon and rescued the princess - and where does the Patron Saint of England actually come from? Spoiler alert - it's not where you think.

In this episode Tristan travelled to the Lancashire Archives to talk to Dr Sam Riches, from Lancaster University, about all things Saint George. Religious origins, centuries old cults, and farm animals going on a day out to the local church - there's more to Saint George than the well known myth.

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

To download, go to Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(621)

Antonine Wall

In c.142 AD the Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered the construction of a new wall in Northern Britain. Situated between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde it stretched the neck of modern day centra...

12 Juli 202047min

Housesteads and Hadrian's Wall

Housesteads Roman Fort is one of the great, surviving treasures of Roman Britain. Once an auxiliary fort, it occupied a dominant position on Hadrian’s Wall. The Fort has proven vital in helping archae...

5 Juli 202046min

Origins of Biological & Chemical Warfare

The origins of biological and chemical warfare stretch far back; modern technology has not brought about these terrifying weapons. Throughout antiquity we have cases of societies using poisonous gases...

2 Juli 202030min

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

In the late 4th century and early 5th centuries two massive largely-Germanic confederations arrived on Roman borders, having been uprooted from their homelands by the Huns. These were the Goths and th...

26 Juni 20201h 2min

Plague of Athens

Plague in the ancient world was nothing unusual. Bouts of illness were common occurrences, but we do have accounts of some exceptional outbreaks: epidemics that brought powerful empires and city-state...

24 Juni 202035min