George was an early Christian martyr (died 23 April 303AD in Palestine) and is venerated as a saint. Of Middle Eastern heritage, he was born in Cappadocia - a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia - in modern central-eastern Turkey.

He became a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian but, when he refused to denounce his Christian faith, he was executed as part of the Diocletianic persecutions (a series of edicts that withdrew Christians' legal rights and demanded that they should comply with traditional religious practices and offer sacrifices to Roman gods).

He is one of the most venerated saints in Christianity and, as well as being the patron saint of England, he is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Ethiopia, Portugal and Palestine.

Saint George - pray for us 🙏