St George's Day: 10 things you might not know about England's patron saint

1. Who was St George?

Very little is known about the actual man, but he is believed to have been an officer in the Roman Army, who was executed by the Emperor Diocletian for refusing to renounce his Christianity.

2. Was he English?

The one thing we can be certain of is that he was not from England and he probably never visited the country either. It is believed he was born in Cappadocia, in what is now Turkey, to Greek parents. There is a shrine, said to contain his body, in Lod, Israel.

3. So what was all that stuff about the dragon?

The earliest story about St George rescuing a princess from a dragon dates to the 11th century. It may have started simply as a metaphor for military saints slaying dragons, symbolising the triumph of good over evil. The 13th century publication of Golden Legend, a popular collections of saints' lives, cemented the story in the public consciousness.

4. How did St George die?

Again, nobody really knows, although there are plenty of colourful stories that were circulated by early Christians. One legend claims he was slowly tortured to death over a period of seven years, having been torn on a rack, battered about the head with hammers until his brains oozed out, forced to drink poison, torn on a wheel and boiled in lead.

It is generally thought that he died on April 23, 303AD.