| by 
      David Woods 6th-Century 
      Sources/Events  
        Theodosius, The Topography of the 
        Holy Land 4
          
            | From Emmaus to 
            Diospolis it is twelve miles, where St. George was martyred: there 
            too is his body, and at it many miracles take place.   |  Source of Translation: 
      J. Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades (Warminster, 
      1977), 65. Commentary: Writing c.518, 
      a certain Theodosius, about whom nothing more is known, describes the 
      famous shrine of St. George at Diospolis. The text is dated by its 
      references to the emperor Anastasius (491-518).  
        Greek Inscription
          
            | The abode of
            daimones has become the house of God. The light of salvation 
            shines where darkness caused concealment. Where sacrifices to idols 
            occurred, now there are choirs of angels. Where God was provoked, 
            now He is propitiated. A certain Christ-loving man, the town-councillor 
            John, son of Diomedes, offered a gift to God from his own property, 
            a beautiful building, after installing within it the worthy body of 
            the martyr George, who appeared to this John not in a dream, but 
            manifestly. |  Source of Translation: 
      F. Trombley, Hellenic Religion and Christianization c.370-529 II (Leiden, 
      1995), 363. Commentary: This is the 
      lintel inscription from an octagonal shrine to St. George built in 515 at 
      Zorava in the late Roman province of Arabia. As it reveals, the shrine was 
      built over a pagan temple.  
        Greek Inscriptions
          
            | (1) O Lord God 
            of the holy and glorious martyr Georgius, remember for good Thy 
            servant Demetrius the deacon who built this holy building, and 
            Georgius (his) son and all their household. (2) For the salvation of 
            Demetrius the deacon and of Georgius (his) son and of all of their 
            household, the whole work was completed in the month of April of the 
            year 582, indiction 12.  (3) For the salvation of 
            Demetrius the deacon and of Georgius (his) son, and for the rest of 
            Somas (his) father and of Demetrius and of Theodora (his) children.
             (4) O Lord God of Saint 
            Sergius, have pity on Thy servant Demetrius the deacon and on George 
            his son and on all their household.  |  Source of Translations: 
      L. di Segni,"Horvath Hesheq: The Inscription"' in G.C. Bottini, L. di 
      Segni, and E. Alliata (eds.) Christian Archaeology in the Holy Land New 
      Discoveries: Essays in Honour of Virgilio C. Corbo, OFM (Studium 
      Biblicum Franciscanum Collectio Maior 36: Jerusalem, 1990), 379-87. Commentary: These 
      inscriptions prove the dedication of the church at Horvath Hesheq in 
      northern Israel to the martyr St. George in April 519. The dedication in 
      April suggests that the church was dedicated on the feast of the martyr. 
      It is interesting to note a dedication to the military martyr St. Sergius 
      in the same church. Three reliquaries in total have been discovered in the 
      church. The excavation is described by M. Aviam,"Horvath Hesheq - A Unique 
      Church in Upper Galilee: Preliminary Report", 351-78, in the same volume 
      above.  
        Gregory of Tours, Glory of the 
        Martyrs 100
          
            | I know many 
            miracle stories about the martyr Georgius, of which I will narrate a 
            few. Some people were carrying his relics along with the relics of 
            other saints. When these couriers came to a place in the territory 
            of Limoges where a few clerics had already constructed an oratory 
            from wood planks and were constantly praying to the Lord, they 
            requested lodging. They were received with kindness and they spent 
            the night chanting psalms with the other brothers. At daybreak they 
            took the reliquary but could not lift it at all. Since they 
            completely refused to travel without the holy relics, a great grief 
            came into their hearts. They understood, by the inspiration of God, 
            that they ought to leave some of the relics in this place. They 
            searched in the fastenings [around the relics] and cut off some 
            pieces; they presented them to the elder [cleric] who presided at 
            the oratory. By leaving a part of their protection they received the 
            opportunity of departing to where they wished to go. There are relics of 
            Georgius in the village [of Saint-Martin-des-Bois in the territory] 
            of Le Mans, where often many miracles are revealed. For the blind, 
            the lame, those with chills, and other ill people are often there 
            rewarded with the favor of health.  |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Van Dam, Gregory of Tours: Glory of the Martyrs (Liverpool, 
      1988), 123-24. Commentary: Writing in the 
      590s, bishop Gregory of Tours (573-94) reports the power of the relics of 
      St. George in Gaul.  
        Cyril of Scythopolis, Life of John 
        the Hesychast 4
          
            | After arriving 
            there and securing the interests of his church with the assistance 
            of Archbishop Euphemius of Constantinople, towards the end of the 
            reign of Zeno, he conceived the plan pleasing to God of withdrawing 
            to the holy city and living by himself in isolation from the affairs 
            of this life. Sending the priests and clerics with him on their way 
            with the imperial decrees he had obtained, he gave them all the 
            slip, embarking in a ship on his own, and came to Jerusalem, where 
            he lodged just outside the holy city in the hospice founded by 
            blessed Eudocia, the hospice in which there is a chapel of the holy 
            martyr George. |  Source of Translation: 
      R.M. Price and J.Binns (eds.), Cyril of Scythopolis: The Lives of the 
      Monks of Palestine (Kalamazoo, 1991), 223. Commentary: Writing about 
      555, the priest Cyril of Scythopolis, a monk of the Great Laura in 
      Palestine, reports that John Hesychast had rejected his life as bishop of 
      Colonia in Armenia and used the occasion of a mission to Constantinople to 
      flee to Palestine. He stayed briefly at a guesthouse founded by the 
      empress Eudocia (c.457-60 ) before entering the Great Laura in 491. Note 
      that Cyril's words do not require that Eudocia had constructed the chapel 
      of St. George during her construction of the hospice itself c.457, nor 
      even that this chapel had existed whenJohn stayed there c.491, only that 
      there was a chapel there at the time at which he was writing c.555. The 
      hospice, and chapel, were on the road to Jaffa, about two miles west of 
      Jerusalem.  
        Anonymous, Life of Bathild 18
          
            | Indeed, we 
            recall that other queens in the kingdom of the Franks have been 
            noble and worshippers of God: Clothild, queen of the late King 
            Clovis of old and niece of King Gundobad, who, by her holy 
            exhortations, led both her very brave and pagan husband and many of 
            the Frankish nobles to Christianity and brought them to the Catholic 
            faith. She also was the first to construct the churches in honour of 
            St. Peter at Paris and St. George in the little monastery for 
            virgins at Chelles, and she founded many others in honour of the 
            saints in order to store up her reward, and she enriched them with 
            many gifts. |  Source of Translation: 
      P. Fouracre and R.A. Gerberding (eds.), Late Merovingian France: 
      History and Hagiography 640-720 (Manchester, 1996), 131. Commentary: Writing about 
      690, the anonymous author of the life of queen Bathild (d. 680) reports 
      that queen Clothild (d. 544) had built a church at Chelles in honour of 
      St. George.  7th-Century Sources/Events
       
        Greek Inscriptions
          
            | (1) By 
            offering of the donor. God, you know who he is. Have mercy on him. 
            At the time of the Archbishop Theodore [the Church] of St. George 
            was paved with mosaics by the care of Kasiseus, deacon and 
            paramonarius. (2) In the month of 
            Artemisius at the time of the tenth indiction of the year 5[32]. O 
            Lord, have mercy and protect this village from the little one to the 
            big one from now forever.  |  Source of Translation: 
      M. Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan (Amman, 1992), 306. Commentary: Two 
      inscriptions have been discovered among the mosaics in a church in modern 
      Khirbat al-Samra, ancient Hatita or Adeitha in the Roman province of 
      Arabia, which prove that it was dedicated to St. George. Number (1) occurs 
      in a square panel in the nave, while number (2), which allows us to date 
      the production of the mosaics to AD637 (year 532 in a provincial era 
      beginning in AD105), was located just before the chancel step.  
        Khuzistan Chronicle
          
            | When the 
            Persian commander also heard that many riches were to be found in 
            the church of St. George at Lydda, he sent a large number of his 
            soldiers, but they were unable to enter, however, being held back by 
            divine power. But at last he (himself) went (forth) with great 
            anger, and when he reached the door of the church, he urged on his 
            horse to enter by force; but the hooves of the horse stuck to the 
            ground and he could neither move on forwards nor go backwards. 
            (Thus) God showed that although he had allowed him to enter 
            Jerusalem, (he had not done so because) his power was weak, but in 
            order to punish the Romans, who said that Khusro could not hold 
            power over Jerusalem. He (the Persian commander) vowed, 'If I 
            escape, I shall make an object of silver in the likeness of the 
            church of St. George'. And so it turned out, and, behold, this 
            miraculous object has hung in the church until now. |  Source of Translation: 
      G. Greatrex and S.N.C. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian 
      Wars. Part II, AD363-630 (London, 2002), 236. Commentary: This text is 
      so-called because its anonymous author is assumed to have been a Nestorian 
      christian from Khuzistan writing c.660. Here he describes an event which 
      occurred immediately following the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614.
       
        Adamnan, On the Holy Places 3.4
          
            | The holy 
            man Arculf, who told us all these things about the cross of the 
            Lord, which he saw with his own eyes, and kissed, brought us [p. 
            113] another story concerning a confessor, George by name. This 
            he learned in the city of Constantinople from some well-informed 
            citizens, who used tell it to him in the following terms: In the 
            city of Diospolis, in a certain house, the likeness of the confessor 
            George is depicted set on a marble column. He was bound to the 
            column and flogged during the time of persecution. After the 
            flogging, however, he was released from his bonds and lived for many 
            years. Now one day a hardhearted wretch, an unbeliever, entered that 
            house mounted on horseback, and on seeing the marble column he 
            questioned the inmates saying: 'Whose image is this depicted on the 
            marble column ?' They answered saying: 'It is the picture of the 
            confessor George who was bound to this column and flogged.' On 
            hearing this the stupid fellow became very angry with the insensible 
            object, and at the instigation of the devil struck at the likeness 
            of the holy confessor with his lance.And the lance of this adversary 
            easily penetrated the column, passing through the outer surface in a 
            wondrous fashion as if it were a soft mass of snow. Its point stuck 
            fast in the interior and could not possibly be withdrawn, while the 
            haft which had struck against the marble likeness of the holy 
            confessor was broken off on the outside. Simultaneously the 
            miserable fellow's horse too, on which he was mounted, fell dead 
            under him on the pavement of the house; and as he was falling 
            himself he placed his hands against the marble column , and his 
            fingers sank into it as if it were fine dust or mud and remained 
            fast. When the unfortunate fellow perceived this, that he was unable 
            to withdraw the ten fingers of his two hands, which remained stuck 
            fast in the marble likeness of the holy confessor, he did penance 
            and invoked the name of the eternal God and of the confessor, 
            begging with tears to be freed from the bond. The merciful God, who 
            does not wish the death of the sinner but that he be converted and 
            live, accepting this tearful repentance, released him not just from 
            the visible marble bond of the moment, but absolved him also from 
            the invisible fetters of sin, mercifully succouring him now saved by 
            faith. This clearly shows the character and magnitude of the honour 
            George, His confessor amid tortures, has before the Lord. The 
            figure, in a material [p. 115] naturally impenetrable, he 
            rendered penetrable by his power, and likewise the lance of the 
            adversary, impenetrable by nature, he wondrously made penetrable, 
            and the fellow's weak fingers he powerfully made to penetrate into 
            that substance by nature impenetrable. At first when the fingers 
            remained fast in the marble the hardened man was unable to withdraw 
            them; but he became instantly very frightened, and then softened and 
            penitent, and by the mercy of God he withdrew them. Wonderful to 
            relate, to this day there remain in the marble column the prints of 
            his ten fingers inserted up to the roots, and into their place the 
            holy Arculf inserted his own ten fingers, they likewise penetrating 
            up to the roots. The blood of the wretch's horse too, whose thigh 
            was broken in two as he fell dead on the pavement, could not be 
            cleansed or wiped away by any means, but there it remains indelibly 
            on the pavement of the house up to our times. The holy Arculf gave us 
            another true story also about this confessor George, which he 
            learned accurately in the above-mentioned city of Constantinople 
            from some well-informed and quite reliable narrators. This was the 
            tale they used to tell about the holy confessor: At a time when many 
            thousands from every quarter were coming together to form an 
            expedition, a certain fellow, a layman, mounted on horseback, 
            entered the city of Diospolis. He approached the house where the 
            above-mentioned marble column is, which has depicted on it the 
            likeness of the holy confessor George, and entering it began to 
            address the image as if George were present, saying: 'I commend 
            myself and my horse to thee, George the confessor, that by virtue of 
            your prayers we may both return safe from this expedition and reach 
            this city, delivered from all dangers of wars and pestilences and 
            waters. And if, according to the prayer of our littleness, the 
            merciful God grant to thee our successful return, I will bestow on 
            thee as a gift this steed of mine, which I love exceedingly, 
            assigning him in the prsence of thy image.' Speedily terminating 
            these remarks, this fellow left the house, mingled with his other 
            companions in the multitude of the army, and went off with the 
            expedition. Then after many and divers dangers of war, in which 
            thousands of unfortunate people perished, he got back safely to 
            Diospolis mounted on that same beloved horse of his, having by God's 
            grace escaped all evil chances, since he commended himself, as 
            mentioned above, to George the servant of Christ. He joyously 
            entered the house where the image of the holy confessor was, bearing 
            with him gold as the price of his horse, and he addressed the holy 
            George as if he were [p. 117] present, saying: 'Holy 
            confessor, I give thanks to the eternal God, who by the steadfast 
            prayer of your loftiness brought me back safe; and because of that I 
            give thee these twenty gold sovereigns as the price of my horse, 
            which thou hast conserved for me to this day since he was first 
            commended to thee.' While saying this he laid the said sum of gold 
            before the feet of the holy confessor's image, loving his horse more 
            than the gold. His devotions completed, he went out, mounted the 
            beast in question, and spurred him onward. But nothing would induce 
            him to move. Realizing this the fellow dismounted, went into the 
            house again, and offered ten sovereigns more, saying: 'Holy 
            confessor, thou wast indeed a gentle protector to me as I rode amid 
            the perils of the expedition; but nevertheless, I see, in horse 
            dealing thou art hard and greedy.' With this remark he added 10 
            sovereigns to the 20, and said to the holy confessor: 'I am giving 
            thee these sovereigns too that thou mayst be appeased and set my 
            horse free to walk.' Then he went out again, mounted the horse, and 
            urged him forward; but he kept standing as if fixed in that place, 
            and could not move even one foot. To cut the story short: after 
            mounting and dismounting fully four times, going into the house with 
            10 sovereigns, coming back to the immovable horse, and again back to 
            the house, he kept running from one point to the other, and all the 
            time nothing could succeed in moving his steed, until finally the 
            collected sum of sovereigns amounted to 60. Then he would repeat too 
            the above-mentioned remarks about the gentle kindness of the holy 
            confessor and his safe guardianship during the expedition, 
            mentioning also his hardness, as it were, or even greed, in dealing. 
            According to the story he would repeat such language on his return 
            to the house on each single occasion of the four. On the final 
            occasion he addressed the holy George as follows: 'Holy confessor, 
            now I know thy will for certain, and accordingly I offer thee as a 
            gift the whole sum of gold thou askest, that is 60 sovereigns, and 
            my steed too which I originally promised to donate to thee after the 
            expedition, I now donate bound as he is by invisible bonds, but 
            soon, I believe, to be released through thy honour before God.' 
            After these remarks he went out of the house, and at that moment 
            found his steed released. He led him into the house and assigned him 
            as a gift to the holy confessor in the presence of his image and he 
            went away from there joyfully, magnifying Christ. The clear 
            conclusion from this is that whatsoever is consecrated to the Lord, 
            whether it be man or animal, according to what is written in the 
            book of Leviticus, can by no means be redeemed or changed. For if 
            anyone change it, both that which is changed and that for which it 
            is changed shall be consecrated to the Lord and shall not be 
            redeemed.  |  Source of Translation: 
      D. Meehan (ed.), Adamnan's De Locis Sanctis (Dublin, 1983), 111-17. Commentary: Writing 
      c.683/6, abbot Adamnan of Iona reports two tales which he claims to have 
      heard from the lost pilgrim bishop Arculf concerning the shrine of St. 
      George in Diospolis.  
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        93.24
          
            | On the 
            order of this beloved pontiff the church close to the Velabrum was 
            built in honour of St. Sebastian and the martyr George. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis) (Liverpool, 
      1989), 79. Commentary: Pope Leo II 
      (682-83) built the deaconry of Ss. Sebastian and George at Rome. This line 
      is an interpolation into the life of Leo made no earlier than the 10th 
      century, but there is no reason to doubt its accuracy.  8th-Century Sources/Events
       
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        93.24
          
            | In his 
            time our Lord God saw fit in this city of Rome to disclose a great 
            treasure through this bountiful pontiff. In the venerable 
            patriarchate the holy pope discovered St. George the martyr's sacred 
            head, kept safe in a casket; in this he also found a note made out 
            in Greek letters, indicating its identity. The holy pope, altogether 
            satisfied, immediately convened the city of Rome's people, and 
            caused it to be taken with hymns and spiritual chants to the 
            venerable deaconry which is dedicated to him in the city, in the 2nd 
            region at the Velabrum; and there almighty God sees fit to work 
            infinite miracles and benefits to the praise of his own name through 
            this sacred martyr. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1992), 48. Commentary: Pope Zacharias 
      (741-52) claimed to have discovered the head of St. George in the Lateran 
      basilica at Rome and translated it to the deaconry of St. George. 
       
        Greek Inscription
          
            | The whole 
            building of the place here of the martyr George was completed in the 
            days of the most holy patriarch Theodore and of Theodore, priest and
            chorepiscopus, by the effort and good will of Stephen the 
            priest and of all his companions, on the 20th of the month of ..... 
            of the 15th indiction, in the year of the world 6254. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Arav, L. Di Segni, A. Kloner, "An Eighth Century Monastery Near 
      Jerusalem", Liber Annuus 40 (1990), 313-20, at 317. Commentary: A chapel to 
      St. George was built at a small monastery in the neighbourhood of Ramot, 
      Jerusalem, just off the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, sometime during the 
      period April-August 762.  
        Epiphanius the Monk, The Holy City 
        and the Holy Places 4
          
            | And again from 
            that place eight miles away is Ramla, and near Ramla the place 
            Diospolis. The .... is Saint George. There rest the remains of the 
            Great Martyr Saint George. The church is very large, and in its 
            chancel lies the torturer's wheel. And on the right side of the nave 
            stands a column to which the wheel is tied. On the day of his memory 
            blood flows for three hours. In the same column there is a crack in 
            the marble which gives signs; if you tell the truth you can go 
            through without hindrance, and without difficulty, but if you do not 
            tell the truth you cannot go through. |  Source of Translation: 
      J. Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades (Warminster, 
      1977), 119. Commentary: Writing during 
      the late 8th-century apparently, Epiphanius the monk, otherwise unknown, 
      describes the same miracle-working column at Diospolis as already 
      mentioned by abbot Adamnan of Iona.  
        Anonymous, The Deeds of the Abbots 
        of Fontenelle (=St. Wandrille) 14
          
            | During his 
            time, therefore, as can be seen, God Almighty, the creator of the 
            world, deigned to reveal a great wonder and precious treasure to 
            those peoples residing in the territory of Cherbourg. For while 
            Rihwin was the count of that territory, a certain container 
            resembling a small lighthouse was seen being carried along above the 
            water in the middle of the sea next to the place which is called 
            Portbail, and in this way, by drawing nearer gradually, it landed in 
            the port itself. When the villagers saw this, in the manner of the 
            common people, they began to wonder why it wished to be here. They 
            then went to the count and reported the new event to him; and in 
            this way they invited to this sight, together with the count, some 
            religious men distinguished by the office of the priesthood. They 
            approached it, with great fear, yet with greater faith, and saw on 
            the side of this container a small opening sealed with wax. When 
            they opened this and looked inside, they discovered a most beautiful 
            manuscript containing the four gospels which had been written in the 
            best Roman lettering and was finely made from the cleanest 
            parchment. Next to this, they also found a reliquary. Opening this, 
            they discovered a piece of the most precious jaw of the blessed 
            martyr George, together with other relics of various saints, besides 
            even a relic of the healing wood of the Lord's cross. The contents 
            were revealed by individual inscriptions on the same reliquary. 
            Then, when a fast was announced, they considered what they ought to 
            do. When the fast was finished, they prepared a cart on which to 
            place the aforementioned lighthouse-shaped container so that it 
            might be brought wherever the will of God had decided. They also 
            yoked two cows to the cart, and awaited the will of the Most High 
            Judge. And, while the people waited and followed, the cows, moving 
            along with the cart itself, without a leader or the guidance of any 
            herdsman, immediately proceeded to that place which is called Brix 
            even to the present. It was the estate of a certain distinguished 
            man. It pleased all for a church to be built there in honour of 
            blessed George the martyr; nevertheless, the aforementioned count 
            took charge of this business. Together with the people subject to 
            him, he founded in that same place a basilica in honour of blessed 
            George the martyr. And there were two other churches also, that is, 
            one was built in honour of the most holy mother and perpetual virgin 
            Mary, and another was built in veneration of the Holy Cross. The 
            mercy of God reveals itself there, and because of its possession of 
            the saints whose most holy relics are preserved there, together with 
            a piece of the head of the holy martyr of Christ George, such great 
            miracles are worked even to the present that they surpass belief 
            except by the faithful who know that the Lord works very many 
            miracles through his saints. That village is situated on the flat 
            surface of a steep mountain, and the river Undua lies adjacent to it 
            from the south at a distant of two miles more or less. I have also 
            described the appearance of the container in which these relics were 
            found, because I have seen it. It is of square shape, rising, 
            therefore, from four corners at the bottom, and the whole work 
            becomes so narrow at its peak because of a gradual reduction in its 
            width that it produces a pyramid at its summit and is strengthened 
            by ending in a single small pole. It also has a shelf at its centre, 
            where that gospel-manuscript is kept, together with that reliquary, 
            over which a roof has been fitted. It is about eight feet in height, 
            and three feet more or less in width. It is not known by any of the 
            inhabitants of this place, right to the present, from what part or 
            region or how it arrived in that very territory. However, the following 
            description of events occurs in the deeds of blessed Pope Zacharias 
            who was the 93rd ruler of the Roman church since the blessed apostle 
            Peter:  In his time our Lord God 
            saw fit in this city of Rome to disclose a great treasure through 
            this bountiful pontiff. In the venerable patriarchate the holy pope 
            discovered St. George the martyr's sacred head, kept safe in a 
            casket; in this he also found a note made out in Greek letters, 
            indicating its identity. The holy pope, altogether satisfied, 
            immediately convened the city of Rome's people, and caused it to be 
            taken with hymns and spiritual chants to the venerable deaconry 
            which is dedicated to him in the city, in the 2nd region at the 
            Velabrum; and there almighty God sees fit to work infinite miracles 
            and benefits to the praise of his own name through this sacred 
            martyr.  For this reason, we think 
            that some venerable men either from Britain, that is, from the race 
            of the English who are always especially close to the apostolic see, 
            or from Germany or from some other region to enter which one must 
            cross the sea, had been away at that time in the city of Rome and 
            that the aforementioned relics had been received by them from the 
            pope himself, but that, while they were trying to return, they were 
            seized at sea by shipwreck or some other disaster, and in this way 
            lost these relics, and that these were borne, by the will of God, to 
            the same territory where they are revered with the greatest respect 
            by the faithful people right until the present. At a later time 
            again, a certain head of a family by the name of Bernehard, because 
            it was his estate on which the very basilica of the aforementioned 
            martyr seems to have been situated, gave it to this monastery, and 
            it came in this way into the authority of this place. I have taken 
            care to entrust to memory these things concerning the arrival of the 
            relics of blessed George the martyr just as I have learned them by 
            listening or have found them in the writings of the same pope or 
            have even myself seen, because I found the times fitting. For at the 
            same time as they arrived, Zacharias was the apostolic successor, 
            Pippin was king, and Rihwin was count, so that there is no doubt 
            about this. Also, it is agreed that that gospel-manuscript was 
            written in the city of Romulus, as the writing itself suggests.
             |  Source of Translation: 
      My translation based on the edition by S. Loewenfeld, MGH Scriptores 
      Rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum (Hannover, 1886). There does not 
      appear to be any English translation of this text. In general, see I.N. 
      Wood, "Saint Wandrille and Its Hagiography", in I. Wood and G.A. Loud 
      (eds.), Church and Chronicle in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to 
      John Taylor (London, 1991), 1-14, although he fails to appreciate the 
      identity or importance of the object which he describes, 7, as a "bizarre 
      Gospel reliquary washed up at Portbail". Commentary: According to 
      the anonymous author, writing c.830, part of the jaw of St. George was 
      discovered among other relics in a box washed up at Portbail during the 
      time of abbot Austrulph (747-53). It is clear, however, that the author 
      had no independent evidence for this dating. Rather, he deduced it himself 
      in the assumption that this fragment of the jaw of St. George must have 
      come from the head of St. George which Pope Zacharias (741-52) had 
      discovered at Rome according to the Lives of the Popes upon which 
      he was modelling his own text. In fact, the evidence suggests that this 
      box of relics had probably belonged to the bishop Arculf who had visited 
      Adamnan of Iona sometime before c.683. First, there is the coincidence 
      between the main subjects of book 3 of Adamnan's On the Holy Places 
      - the Holy Cross, St. George, and the Blessed Virgin - and the identities 
      of the 3 churches built at Brix as a result of the discovery of this box - 
      that of the Holy Cross, St. George and the Holy Virgin. Second, the 
      relative emphasis within book 3 of Adamnan's On the Holy Places, on 
      St. George rather than on the True Cross or the Blessed Virgin, matches 
      that in the ecclesiastical complex built at Brix where the main church was 
      dedicated to St. George. Finally, Arculf was blown to Iona as a result of 
      a great storm, probably at the mouth of the English Channel, while the box 
      of relics was found washed up on the sea-shore, again on the English 
      Channel. Since it was customary for ships to jettison much of their cargo 
      in times of peril, it seems that the crew of Arculf's boat had jettisoned 
      their cargo - including his box of relics - during the same storm which 
      saw them blown off course onto the western course of Britain. Hence this 
      anecdote constitutes important independent evidence that Arculf really did 
      exist and was not an entirely imaginary person invented by Adamnan for 
      literary purposes.  9th-Century Sources/Events
       
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        98.11
          
            | But the 
            day came when he was to process as usual in what everyone calls the 
            Major Litany, in which the people meet and join him as a matter of 
            religious duty, so that following the annual custom he would 
            celebrate the litany and the ceremonies of mass with the 
            sacerdotes, and pour forth prayer to the almighty Lord for the 
            well-being of the christian people. According to ancient tradition 
            the litany had been announced in advance by a notary of the holy 
            Roman church at the church of Christ's martyr St. George on his 
            feastday, and all the men and women devoutly crowded to the church 
            of Christ's martyr St. Laurence in Lucina to join in at the 
            gathering announced to take place there. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1992), 184. Commentary: It was already 
      an "ancient tradition" by the reign of Pope Leo III (795-816) for the 
      Major Litany of 25 April to be announced two days beforehand during the 
      celebration of feast of St. George, 23 April, at the deaconry of St. 
      George.  
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        98.45
          
            | In St. 
            George's deaconry, a cloth with intervowen gold, with various 
            representations including elephants, with a purple fringe. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1992), 200. Commentary: Pope Leo III 
      (795-816) presented a cloth to the deaconry of St. George among his gifts 
      to other institutions also.  
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        98.75
          
            | St. 
            George's deaconry, silver crown, 5.5lb. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1992), 211. Commentary: Pope Leo III 
      (795-816) presented silver gifts to many institutions at Rome, including 
      the deaconry of St. George.  
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        98.104
          
            | Over the 
            high altar in St. George the martyr's deaconry, a white all-silk 
            cloth with roses, with a cross-adorned silk panel in the centre, 
            representing the crucifixion, adorned with tyrian and with 
            gold-studded roses. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Eighth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1992), 227. Commentary: Pope Leo III 
      (795-816) presented more gifts to many institutions at Rome, including the 
      deaconry of St. George.  
        Anonymous, Lives of the Popes 
        103.14
          
            | In 
            Christ's martyr St. George's church the magnificent prelate provided 
            porticoes on each side and he decorated them with various paintings 
            for this basilica's adornment. With the Lord's help he embellished 
            this deaconry's apse from the foundations with total endeavour. When 
            this God-beloved pontiff carefully saw that this venerable 
            deaconry's secretarium was decaying from its great antiquity, 
            in his love for him and to gain the favour of others he newly set it 
            up to better honour. There too the holy pope presented these gifts: 
            1 gold-interwoven cloth, and another with gold-studding, with an 
            image of the Saviour and of the martyrs Sebastian and Gregory; 2 
            large gold-interwoven veils; 17 small ones. In this basilica's 
            confessio he provided silver railings swathed in gold. |  Source of Translation: 
      R. Davis, The Lives of the Ninth-Century Popes (Liber Pontificalis) 
      (Liverpool, 1995), 55-6. Commentary: Pope Gregory 
      IV (828-44) rebuilt the deaconry of Ss. Sebastian and George, to give it 
      its full name.  11th-Century 
      Sources/Events  
        Michael Psellus, Chronographia 6
          
            | In this catalogue of the 
            emperor's foolish excesses, I now come to the worst example of all - 
            the building of the Church of St. George the Martyr. Constantine 
            pulled down and completely destroyed the original church; the 
            present one was erected on the site of its ruins. The first 
            architect did not plan very well, and there is no need for me to 
            write of the old building here, but it appears that it would have 
            been of no great dimensions, if the preliminary plans had been 
            carried out, for the foundations were moderate in extent and the 
            rest of the building proportionate, while the height was by no means 
            outstanding. However, as time went by, Constantine was fired by an 
            ambition to rival all the other buildings that had ever been erected 
            and to surpass them altogether. So the area of the church and its 
            precincts was much enlarged, and the old foundations were raised and 
            strengthened, or else sunk deeper. On these latter, bigger and more 
            ornate pillars were set up. Everything was done on a more artistic 
            scale, with gold-leaf on the roof and precious green stones let into 
            the floor or encrusted in the walls. And these stones, set one above 
            the other, in patterns of the same hue or in designs of alternate 
            colours, looked like flowers. And as for the gold, it flowed from 
            the public treasury like a stream bubbling up from inexhaustible 
            springs. The church was not yet 
            finished, however, and once again the whole plan was altered and new 
            ideas incorporated in its construction. The symmetrical arrangement 
            of the stones was broken up, the walls pulled down, and everything 
            levelled with the ground. And the reason for it ? Constantine's 
            efforts to rival other churches had not met with the complete 
            success he hoped for: one church, above all, remained unsurpassed. 
            So the foundations of another wall were laid and an exact circle 
            described with the third church in its centre (I must admit that it 
            certainly was more artistic). The whole conception was on a lofty 
            and magnificent scale. The edifice itself was decorated with golden 
            stars throughout, like the vault of heaven, but whereas the real 
            heaven is adorned with its golden stars only at intervals, the 
            surface of this one was entirely covered with gold, issuing forth 
            from its centre as if in a never-ending stream. On all sides there 
            were buildings, some completely, others half-surrounded by 
            cloisters. The ground everywhere was levelled, like a race-course, 
            stretching farther than the eye could see, its bounds out of sight. 
            Then came a second circle of buildings, bigger than the first, and 
            lawns full of flowers, some on the circumference, others down the 
            centre. There were fountains which filled basins of water; gardens, 
            some hanging, others sloping down to the level ground; a bath that 
            was beautiful beyond description. To criticize the enormous size of 
            the church was impossible, so dazzling was its loveliness. Beauty 
            pervaded every part of the vast creation, so that one could only 
            wish it were even greater and its gracefulness spread over an area 
            still wider. And as for the lawns that were bounded by the outer 
            wall, they were so numerous that it was difficult to see them in one 
            sweeping glance: even the mind could scarcely grasp their extent.
             It was not merely the 
            exceptional beauty of the whole, composed as it was of most 
            beautiful parts, but just as much the individual details that 
            attracted the spectator's attention, and, although he could enjoy to 
            his heart's content all its charms, it was impossible to find one 
            that palled. Every part of it took the eye, and, what is more 
            wonderful, even when you gazed on the loveliest part of all, some 
            small detail would delight you as a fresh discovery. To attempt to 
            place its various merits in any order of preference was useless for, 
            when all the parts were so lovely, even the least attractive could 
            not fail to give pleasure inimitable. Its every detail excited the 
            greatest admiration. People marvelled at the size of the church, its 
            beautiful symmetry, the harmony of its parts, the variety and rhythm 
            of its loveliness, the streams of water, the encircling wall, the 
            lawns covered with flowers, the dewy grass, always sprinkled with 
            moisture, the shade under the trees, the gracefulness of the bath. 
            It was as if a pilgrimage had ended, and here was the vision perfect 
            and unparallelled.  |  Source of Translation: 
      E.R.A. Sewter, Michael Psellus: Fourteen Byzantine Rulers (Harmondsworth, 
      1966), 250-52. Commentary:Writing about 
      1063, the courtier Michael Psellus describes how the Byzantine emperor 
      Constantine IX (1042-55) had rebuilt the Church of St. George of Mangana 
      in Constantinople.  
      Return to Table of Contents
 |