The story of St George and the dragon is one of many stories of the saints preserved in the Golden Legend.

The Golden Legend (Latin: Legenda Aurea) by Jacobus de Voragine is a collection of fanciful hagiographies, lives of the saints, that became a late mediaeval best seller. It was probably compiled around 1260. Saint George versus the dragon by Gustave Moreau, around 1880 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Saint George versus the dragon by Gustave Moreau, around 1880 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... For alternate uses, see Saint George (disambiguation) Saint George (c. ... Saint George versus the dragon, Gustave Moreau, c. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... Jacobus de Voragine (c. ... Hagiography is the study of saints. ... In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Fukakusa of Japan Emperor Kameyama ascends to the throne of Japan September 3 - Mongols defeated by Mameluks at Battle of Ain Jalut Samogatians and Curonians defeats Teutonic knights in Battle of Durbe Births Maximus Planudes, Byzantine grammarian and theologian Deaths Monarchs/Presidents...

A mediaeval best seller

Initially titled simply Legenda Sanctorum, Latin for "Readings on the Saints," its popularity gained it the title by which it is best known. More than a thousand manuscript copies of the work survive, and when printing was invented in the 1450s, editions appeared quickly, not only in Latin, but also in every major European language. It is said that no book other than the Bible was so widely read during the late Middle Ages. It was one of the first books William Caxton printed in the English language; Caxton's version appeared in 1483. Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The folder of newspaper web offset printing press Printing is an industrial process for reproducing copies of texts and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. ... Events March - French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege the English commander in France, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Caen April 15 - Battle of Formigny. ... The holy jewish scripture: The Torah. ... William Caxton (c. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Events The São Tomé settlement is founded. ...

Fanciful etymologies

The book sought to compile traditional lore about all of the saints which were officially held up for veneration at the time of its compilation. De Voragine typically begins with a fanciful etymology for the saint's name. An example (in Caxton's translation) shows his method: (Latin veneratio, Greek δουλια dulia) In traditional Christian churches (for example, Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy), veneration, or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a dead person who has been identified as singular in the traditions of the religion, and through them honoring God who made them and... In historical linguistics, etymology is the study of the origins of words. ...

Silvester is said of sile or sol which is light, and of terra the earth, as who saith the light of the earth, that is of the church. Or Silvester is said of silvas and of trahens, that is to say he was drawing wild men and hard unto the faith. Or as it is said in glossario, Silvester is to say green, that is to wit, green in contemplation of heavenly things, and a toiler in labouring himself; he was umbrous or shadowous. That is to say he was cold and refrigate from all concupiscence of the flesh, full of boughs among the trees of heaven.

As a Latin author, de Voragine must have known that Silvester, a relatively common Latin name, simply meant "from the forest." The "correct" derivation in modern eyes is alluded to in the text, but set out in parallel to fanciful ones that lexicographers would consider quite wide of the mark. Even the "correct" explanations (silvas, "forest", and the mention of green boughs) are used as the basis for an allegorical interpretation. De Voragine's etymologies had different goals from modern etymologies, and cannot be judged by the same standards. De Voragine's etymologies have parallels in Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae, in which linguistically accurate derivations are set out beside allegorical and figurative explanations. Silvester I (or Sylvester), pope (January, 314 – December 31, 335), succeeded Miltiades and was followed by Marcus. ... Lexicography is either of two things Practical lexicography is the art or craft of writing dictionaries. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ... Saint Isidore of Seville (560 - April 4, 636) was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and has the reputation of being one of the great scholars of the early middle ages. ... Etymologiae (or Etymologiæ) is an encyclopedia written by Isidore of Seville, devoted to transmitting much of the learning of antiquity. ...

Lives of the saints

De Voragine then moves on to the saint's life, compiled with reference to the readings from the Roman Catholic Church's liturgy commemorating that saint; then embellishes the biography with supernatural tales of incidents involving the saint's life from less reliable sources. More than 130 sources have been identified for the tales related of the saints in the Golden Legend; in addition to the Bible, these sources include apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Nicodemus, the histories of Gregory of Tours and John Cassian, and the Speculum historiale by Vincent de Beauvais. Many of his stories have no other known source. A typical example of the sort of story related, also involving St Silvester, shows the saint receiving miraculous instruction from Saint Peter in a vision that enables him to exorcise a dragon: The Roman Catholic Church is the largest denomination of Christianity with over 1. ... From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as leitourgia, meaning the work of the people, a liturgy comprises a prescribed religious ceremony, according to the traditions of a particular religion; it may refer to, or include, an elaborate formal ritual (such as the Catholic Mass), a daily activity... The supernatural (Latin:super- exceeding+nature) comprises forces and phenomena that cannot be perceived by natural or empirical senses, and whose understanding may be said to lie with religious, magical, or otherwise mysterious explanation —yet remains firmly outside of the realm of science. ... The holy jewish scripture: The Torah. ... In Judeo-Christian theology, the word apocrypha (Greek απόκρυφα, neuter plural of απόκρυφος, hidden) refers to texts that are not considered canonical, part of the Bible, but are of roughly similar style and age as the accepted Scriptures. ... The Acts of Pilate, also known as the Gospel of Nicodemus, is a book of the New Testament apocrypha. ... Gregory of Tours (c. ... John Cassian (c. ... The Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais (ca 1190 - 1264?) wrote the main encyclopedia that was used in the middle ages. ... Saint Peter, portrayed by Peter Paul Rubens in a papal chasuble and pallium holding keys, was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. ... In religion, visions comprise inspirational renderings, generally of a future state and/or of a mythical being, and are believed (by followers of the religion) to come from a deity, directly or indirectly via prophets, and serve to inspire or prod believers as part of a revelation or an epiphany. ... Exorcism is the practice of evicting or destroying demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or a building. ... Chinese dragon, colour engraving on wood, Japanese Chinese school, 19th Century The Dragon, typically depicted as a large and powerful reptile or serpent with magical or spiritual qualities, is one of the few, if not the only mythological creature to be known around the globe. ...

In this time it happed that there was at Rome a dragon in a pit, which every day slew with his breath more than three hundred men. Then came the bishops of the idols unto the emperor and said unto him: O thou most holy emperor, sith the time that thou hast received christian faith the dragon which is in yonder fosse or pit slayeth every day with his breath more than three hundred men. Then sent the emperor for S. Silvester and asked counsel of him of this matter. S. Silvester answered that by the might of God he promised to make him cease of his hurt and blessure of this people. Then S Silvester put himself to prayer, and S. Peter appeared to him and said: "Go surely to the dragon and the two priests that be with thee take in thy company, and when thou shalt come to him thou shalt say to him in this manner: Our Lord Jesu Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried and arose, and now sitteth on the right side of the Father, this is he that shall come to deem and judge the living and the dead, I commend thee Sathanas that thou abide him in this place till he come. Then thou shalt bind his mouth with a thread, and seal it with thy seal , wherein is the imprint of the cross. Then thou and the two priests shall come to me whole and safe, and such bread as I shall make ready for you ye shall eat."

Thus as S. Peter had said, S. Silvester did. And when he came to the pit, he descended down one hundred and fifty steps, bearing with him two lanterns, and found the dragon, and said the words that S. Peter had said to him, and bound his mouth with the thread, and sealed it, and after returned, and as he came upward again he met with two enchanters which followed him for to see if he descended, which were almost dead of the stench of the dragon, whom he brought with him whole and sound, which anon were baptized, with a great multitude of people with them. Thus was the city of Rome delivered from double death, that was from the culture and worshipping of false idols, and from the venom of the dragon.

Miracle tales of relics

Many of the stories also conclude with miracle tales and similar wonderlore from accounts of those who called upon that saint for aid or used the saint's relics. Such a tale is told of Saint Agatha; De Voragine has pagans in Catania repairing to the relics of St Agatha to supernaturally repel an eruption of Mount Etna: According to many religions, a miracle is an intervention by God in the universe. ... The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae (remains) and there are many pre-Christian instances of some bone or other part of the corpse, or some intimately associated object, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. ... Saint Agatha (died AD 251) is a Christian saint. ... Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism. ... Location within Italy Catania is the second largest city of Sicily with 306,464 inhabitants, has the second highest population density on the island and is the capital of the province which bears its name. ... For other uses of the term or name Magic, see Magic (illusion) or Magic (disambiguation). ... A volcano is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the earths interior made molten or liquid by high pressure and temperature) erupts through the surface of the planet. ... Mount Etna (or Aetna, also known locally as Mongibello) is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily (Italian Sicilia), close to Messina and Catania. ...

And for to prove that she had prayed for the salvation of the country, at the beginning of February, the year after her martyrdom, there arose a great fire, and came from the mountain toward the city of Catania and burnt the earth and stones, it was so fervent. Then ran the paynims to the sepulchre of S. Agatha and took the cloth that lay upon her tomb, and held it abroad against the fire, and anon on the ninth day after, which was the day of her feast, ceased the fire as soon as it came to the cloth that they brought from her tomb, showing that our Lord kept the city from the said fire by the merits of S. Agatha.

Invaluable to students of mediaeval culture

Written in simple, readable Latin, the book was read in its day for its stories; any one of which will be well told, but in mass they tend to become monotonous and blur together, with their repetitious accounts of martyrdoms and miracles. The book is the closest thing we have to an encyclopaedia of the lore of the saints in the late Middle Ages; as such it is invaluable to art historians and mediaevalists who seek to identify saints depicted in art by their deeds and attributes. Its repetitious nature is probably explained by the fact that de Voragine meant to write a compendium of saintly lore for sermons and preaching, not the popular entertainment it became. Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ... Art history usually refers to the history of the visual arts. ... Sermon is the name of 11th century ruler of Srem, vassal of Bulgarian emperor Samuel. ... Preaching is the most important element in the protestant churches. ...

In his history of The Reformation, Diarmaid MacCulloch observed that the Golden Legend inadvertently may have helped trigger the Protestant Reformation by arming scepticism about the cult of the saints, such as that exhibited by Erasmus in his Praise of Folly. By compiling such a thorough vade-mecum of saintly wonderlore, showing highly similar stories being attached to different saints and relics, questioning readers could conclude that these tales circulated by local churches were probably mythical. The Protestant Reformation was a movement which emerged in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe. ... Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... Hans Holbeins witty marginal drawing of Folly (1515), in the first edition, a copy owned by Erasmus himself (Kupferstichkabinett, Basle) The Praise of Folly (Latin title: Moriae Encomium, sometimes translated as In Praise of Folly, Dutch title: Lof der Zotheid) is an essay written in 1509 by Erasmus of...

Reference

A modern English translation of the Golden Legend has been published by William Granger Ryan, ISBN 0-691-00153-7 and ISBN 0-691-00154-5 (2 volumes).

External links:

• Selections from the Golden Legend (in Latin)
• The Golden Legend - William Caxton's Middle English version