This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2007)

A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.

The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and so on, but a zero year of rule would be nonsense. Applying this ancient epoch system to modern calculations of time, which include zero, is what led to the debate over when the third millennium began.

Reckoning in various cultures[link]

In ancient times, calendars were counted in terms of the number of years of the reign of the current monarch. Reckoning long periods of times required a king list. The oldest such reckoning is preserved in the Sumerian king list.

In England, and later the United Kingdom, until 1963, each Act of Parliament was defined by its serial number within the session of parliament in which it was enacted, which in turn was denoted by the regnal year or years in which it fell. (See Regnal years of English monarchs)

In Canada, acts of Parliament are dated by the session, the Parliament, the regnal year, and the calendar year. So, for example, a bill passed in the second session during the period spanning 2007–2008 would be dated thus: Second Session, Thirty-ninth Parliament, 56–57 Elizabeth II, 2007–2008

The Zoroastrian calendar also operated with regnal years following the reform of Ardashir I (3rd century).

While not strictly a regnal year, time in the United States of America can be derived from the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). For example, the U.S. Constitution is dated as signed in "the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth," and Presidential proclamations will often be ended "IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this [ordinal] day of [month], in the year of our Lord [year], and of the Independence of the United States of America the [year]." 2012 is the 237th year of the Independence of the United States of America. Time is also sometimes reckoned in terms (and sessions, if necessary) of Congress; e.g. House of Representatives Bill 2 of the 112th Congress is dated "112th CONGRESS, 1st Session".^[1]

Asian era names[link]

An era name was assigned as the name of each year by the leader (emperor or king) of the East Asian countries during some portion of their history. The people of the country referred to that year by that name. Era names were used for over two millennia by Chinese emperors and are still used in North Korea, Japan and Taiwan. It could last from one year to the length of the leader's reign. If it lasted more than one year, numbers were appended to the era name. If it lasted the entire length of the leader's reign, then that leader is often referred to by that name posthumously. However, the leader was often given a more complex formal posthumous name as well. It should not be confused with a temple name, by which many leaders are known.

The Lanfang Republic era, Republic of Formosa era and Republic of China era are era names without an emperor. The Confucius era and Juche era are based on the year of birth of the thinker or eternal president. The Huangdi era, Dangun era and kōki were counted in terms of the number of years of the reign of the first monarch. Tibetan Empire, Kingdom of Khotan, Liao Dynasty, Western Xia, Jin Dynasty (1115–1234), Kara-Khitan Khanate, Mongol Empire, Northern Yuan Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Nguyễn Dynasty, Joseon Dynasty, Bogd Khaanate of Mongolia and North Korea also use non-Chinese era names. Some are transliterations of their Chinese era names. Chinese era names were also employed in other East Asian countries.

Abolished era names may be reused. They were sometimes still be used. 景初四年 (240) was used on Japanese bronze mirrors.^[2] 广德四年 (766) and 建中八年 (787) were used in a Western Regions tomb and a document.^[3] Kuchlug did not change the era name. Yongle emperor used 洪武三十五年 (1402). After Ming Dynasty fell, Joseon Dynasty still used Chongzhen and Kingdom of Tungning still used Yongli.^[4] Post Zhang Xianzhong Daxi kingdom used Ganzhi without era names before subdue to the Yongli emperor^{[clarification needed]}. Overseas Chinese used Longfei (龍飛) or Tianyun (天運).^[5]

Chinese era names[link]

The Chinese eras or Nian Hao were used sporadically from 156 BC and continuously from 140 BC. Until 1367 several were used during each emperor's reign. From 1368 until 1912 only one era name was used by each emperor, who was posthumously known by his era name.

Korean[link]

Korea used Chinese or Japanese era names in China or Japan's ruling age. Korean endemic eras were used from 391 to 1274 and from 1894 to 1910. During the later years of the Joseon Dynasty, years were also numbered from the founding of that dynasty in 1393. From 1952 until 1961, years were numbered in Dangi in South Korea, counting from the legendary founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC.

Japanese[link]

The official Japanese system or Nengo numbers years from the accession of the current emperor, regarding the calendar year during which the accession occurred as the first year. The current emperor Akihito succeeded to the throne in 1989, and the new era name Heisei was decreed by the Cabinet. Thus that year corresponds to Heisei 1 (平成元年, Heisei gannen^?, or "first year"). The system was in use sporadically from 645 and continuously from 701. Until 1867 several were used during each emperor's reign. From 1868 only one era name has been used by each emperor. Since 1868 each emperor has been known posthumously by his era name.

Notable king lists[link]

• Sumerian king list
• Abydos King List
• Turin King List
• Assyrian king list
• Babylonian king list
• Canon of Kings
• Liberian Catalogue

See also[link]

• Sacral king

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Regnal Chronologies

v t e Time Major concepts Time Eternity Arguments for eternity Immortality History Past Present Future Futures studies Deep time Time Portal Measurement and standards Chronometry UTC UT TAI Second Minute Hour Sidereal time Solar time Time zone Metric time Decimal time Hexadecimal time Clock Astrarium History of timekeeping devices Horology Marine chronometer Sundial Water clock Calendar Day Week Month Year Tropical year Gregorian Islamic Julian Intercalation Leap second Leap year Chronology Astronomical chronology Calendar era Chronicle Dating methodologies Geochronology Geologic Time Geological history Periodization Regnal year Timeline Religion and mythology Dreamtime Kāla Kalachakra Prophecy Time and fate deities Wheel of time Philosophy A-series and B-series B-Theory of time Causality Endurantism Eternal return Eternalism Event Perdurantism Presentism Temporal finitism Temporal parts The Unreality of Time Physical sciences Time in physics Absolute time and space Arrow of time Chronon Coordinate time Planck epoch Planck time Proper time Spacetime Theory of relativity Time dilation Gravitational time dilation Time domain T-symmetry Biology Chronobiology Circadian rhythms Psychology Mental chronometry Sense of time Specious present Sociology and anthropology Long Now Foundation Time discipline Time use research Economics Time value of money Time-based currency Time Banking Related topics Carpe diem Duration Space System time Tempus fugit Time capsule Time signature Time travel

v t e Chronology Main articles Time · Astronomy · Geology · Paleontology · Archaeology · History Eras and epochs Calendar eras Human Era · Ab urbe condita · Anno Domini (Common Era) · Anno Mundi · Byzantine era · Spanish era · Before Present · Hijri · Egyptian · Sothic cycle · Hindu units of measurement · Hindu Yugas Regnal year Canon of Kings · Lists of kings · Limmu · Seleucid era Era names Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Vietnamese Calendars (Pre-)Julian Pre-Julian Roman · Original Julian · Proleptic Julian · Revised Julian Gregorian Gregorian · Proleptic Gregorian · Old Style and New Style dates Astronomical Lunisolar · Solar · Lunar · Astronomical year numbering Others Iranian · Islamic · Chinese sexagenary cycle · ISO week date Astronomic time   Chronology Portal Cosmic Calendar · Ephemeris · Galactic year · Metonic cycle · Milankovitch cycles Geologic time Concepts Deep time · Geological history of Earth · Geological time units Standards Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA) · Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) Methods Chronostratigraphy · Geochronology · Isotope geochemistry · Law of superposition · Optical dating · Samarium-neodymium dating Archaeological methods Absolute dating Incremental dating · Archaeomagnetic dating · Dendrochronology · Glottochronology · Ice core · Lichenometry · Paleomagnetism · Radiocarbon dating · Radiometric dating · Tephrochronology · Thermoluminescence dating · Uranium-lead dating Relative dating Seriation · Stratification · Fluorine absorption dating Genetic methods Amino acid dating · Molecular clock Related topics Chronicle · New Chronology · Periodization · Synchronoptic view · Timeline · Year zero · Circa · Floruit · ASPRO chronology

Saint George of Lydda
Saint George, 1472, by Carlo Crivelli
Martyr
Born	between c. AD 256 and 285 Lydda, Syria Palaestina, Roman Empire[1][2]
Died	April 23, 303 Nicomedia, Bithynia, Roman Empire[1][2]
Honored in	Roman Catholicism Anglicanism Lutheranism Oriental Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Church of Saint George, Lod
Feast	April 23
Attributes	Clothed as a soldier in a suit of armour or chain mail, often bearing a lance tipped by a cross, riding a white horse, often slaying a dragon. In the West he is shown with St George's Cross emblazoned on his armour, or shield or banner.
Patronage	Many Patronages of Saint George exist around the world

Saint George (c. 275/281 – 23 April 303) was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a soldier in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic (Western and Eastern Rites), Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.

Many Patronages of Saint George exist around the world, including: Georgia, England, Egypt, Bulgaria, Aragon, Catalonia, Romania, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iraq, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Serbia, Ukraine and Russia, as well as the cities of Genoa, Amersfoort, Beirut, Botoşani, Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Timişoara, Fakiha, Bteghrine, Cáceres, Ferrara, Freiburg, Kragujevac, Kumanovo, Ljubljana, Pérouges, Pomorie, Preston, Qormi, Rio de Janeiro, Lod, Lviv, Barcelona, Moscow, Tamworth and the Maltese island of Gozo, as well as of the Scout Movement^[3] and a wide range of professions, organizations and disease sufferers.

Life of saint George[link]

Historians have debated the exact details of the birth of Saint George for over a century, although the approximate date of his death is subject to little debate.^[4][5] The Catholic Encyclopedia takes the position that there seems to be no ground for doubting the historical existence of Saint George, but that little faith can be placed in some of the fanciful stories about him.^[6]

The work of the Bollandists Danile Paperbroch, Jean Bolland and Godfrey Henschen in the 17th century was one of the first pieces of scholarly research to establish the historicity of the saint's existence via their publications in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca and paved the way for other scholars to dismiss the medieval legends.^[7][8] Pope Gelasius stated that George was among those saints "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God."^[9]

The traditional legends have offered a historicised narration of George's encounter with a dragon: see "St. George and the Dragon" below. The modern legend that follows below is synthesised from early and late hagiographical sources, omitting the more fantastical episodes, to narrate a purely human military career in closer harmony with modern expectations of reality. Chief among the legendary sources about the saint is the Golden Legend, which remains the most familiar version in English owing to William Caxton's 15th-century translation.^[10]

It is likely that Saint George was born to a Christian noble family in Lod, Syria Palaestina during the late third century between about 275 AD and 285 AD, and he died in Nicomedia.^[1][2] His father, Gerontius, was a Roman army official from Cappadocia and his mother, Polychronia, was from Palestine. They were both Christians and from noble families of Anici, so the child was raised with Christian beliefs. They decided to call him Georgius (Latin) or Geōrgios (Greek), meaning "worker of the land". At the age of 14, George lost his father; a few years later, George's mother, Polychronia, died.^{[11][12][13][14]} Eastern accounts give the names of his parents as Anastasius and Theobaste.^{[citation needed]}

Saint George Killing the Dragon, 1434/35, by Martorell

Then George decided to go to Nicomedia, the imperial city of that time, and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms, as he had known his father, Gerontius — one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s, George was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.^[15]

In the year AD 302, Diocletian (influenced by Galerius) issued an edict that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman gods of the time. However George objected and with the courage of his faith approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune and the son of his best official, Gerontius. George loudly renounced the Emperor's edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George, even offering gifts of land, money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor made many offers, but George never accepted.^[16]

Recognizing the futility of his efforts, Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions, including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he was resuscitated three times, George was executed by decapitation before Nicomedia's city wall, on April 23, 303. A witness of his suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius, a pagan priest, to become Christians as well, and so they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda in Palestine for burial, where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.^[17][18]:166

Although the above distillation of the legend of George connects him to the conversion of Athanasius, who according to Rufinus was brought up by Christian ecclesiastical authorities from a very early age,^[19] Edward Gibbon^[20][21] argued that George, or at least the legend from which the above is distilled, is based on George of Cappadocia,^[22][23] a notorious Arian bishop who was Athanasius' most bitter rival, who in time became Saint George of England. According to Professor Bury, Gibbon's latest editor, "this theory of Gibbon's has nothing to be said for it". He adds that: "the connection of St. George with a dragon-slaying legend does not relegate him to the region of the myth".^[24]

In 1856 Ralph Waldo Emerson published a book of essays entitled "English Traits". In it, he wrote a paragraph on the history of Saint George. Emerson compared the legend of Saint George to the legend of Amerigo Vespucci, calling the former "an impostor" and the latter "a thief".^[25][26] The editorial notes appended to the 1904 edition of Emerson's complete works state that Emerson based his account on the work of Gibbon, and that current evidence seems to show that real St. George was not George the Arian of Cappadocia.^[25] Merton M. Sealts also quotes Edward Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson's youngest son as stating that he believed his father's account was derived from Gibbon and that the real St. George "was apparently another who died two generations earlier".^[27]

Saint George and the dragon[link]

Eastern Orthodox depictions of Saint George slaying a dragon often include the image of the young maiden who looks on from a distance. The standard iconographic interpretation of the image icon is that the dragon represents both Satan (Rev. 12:3) and the Roman Empire. The young maiden is none other than the wife of Diocletian, Alexandra. Thus, the image as interpreted through the language of Byzantine Iconography, is an image of the martyrdom of the saint.

The episode of St George and the Dragon was a legend^[28] brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance. The earliest known depiction of the legend is from early eleventh-century Cappadocia, (in the iconography of the Eastern Orthodox Church, George had been depicted as a soldier since at least the seventh century); the earliest known surviving narrative text is an eleventh-century Georgian text.

White George on the coat of arms of Georgia.

In the fully developed Western version, which developed as part of the Golden Legend, a dragon or crocodile makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene" (perhaps modern Cyrene in Libya or the city of Lydda in the Holy Land, depending on the source). Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep, and if no sheep can be found, then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life to be spared, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears Saint George on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the Cross,^[29] slays the dragon, and rescues the princess. The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.

The dragon motif was first combined with the standardised Passio Georgii in Vincent of Beauvais' encyclopaedic Speculum Historiale and then in Jacobus de Voragine's "Golden Legend," which guaranteed its popularity in the later Middle Ages as a literary and pictorial subject.

The parallels with Perseus and Andromeda are inescapable. In the allegorical reading, the dragon embodies a suppressed pagan cult.^[30] The story has other roots that predate Christianity. Examples such as Sabazios, the sky father, who was usually depicted riding on horseback, and Zeus's defeat of Typhon the Titan in Greek mythology, along with examples from Germanic and Vedic traditions, have led a number of historians, such as Loomis, to suggest that George is a Christianized version of older deities in Indo-European culture.

In the medieval romances, the lance with which St George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, named after the city of Ashkelon in the Levant.^[31]

Veneration as a martyr[link]

The martyrdom of Saint George, by Paolo Veronese, 1564

A church built in Lydda during the reign of Constantine I (reigned 306–37), was consecrated to "a man of the highest distinction", according to the church history of Eusebius of Caesarea; the name of the patron^[32] was not disclosed, but later he was asserted to have been George.

By the time of the Muslim conquest in the seventh century, a basilica dedicated to the saint in Lydda existed.^[33] The church was destroyed in 1010 but was later rebuilt and dedicated to Saint George by the Crusaders. In 1191 and during the conflict known as the Third Crusade (1189–92), the church was again destroyed by the forces of Saladin, Sultan of the Ayyubid dynasty (reigned 1171–93). A new church was erected in 1872 and is still standing.

During the fourth century the veneration of George spread from Palestine through Lebanon to the rest of the Eastern Roman Empire – though the martyr is not mentioned in the Syriac Breviarium^[18] – and Georgia. In Georgia the feast day on November 23 is credited to St Nino of Cappadocia, who in Georgian hagiography is a relative of St George, credited with bringing Christianity to the Georgians in the fourth century. By the fifth century, the cult of Saint George had reached the Western Roman Empire as well: in 494, George was canonized as a saint by Pope Gelasius I, among those "whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to [God]."

In England the earliest dedication to George, who was mentioned among the martyrs by Bede, is a church at Fordington, Dorset, that is mentioned in the wars of Alfred the Great. "Saint George and his feast day began to gain more widespread fame among all Europeans, however, from the time of the Crusades."^[34] The St. George's flag, a red cross on a white field, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet during the Crusades, and the English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege.^{[citation needed]} An apparition of George heartened the Franks at the siege of Antioch, 1098, and made a similar appearance the following year at Jerusalem. Chivalric military Order of St. George were established in Aragon (1201), Genoa, Hungary, and by Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor,^[35] and in England the Synod of Oxford, 1222 declared St George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England. Edward III put his Order of the Garter under the banner of St. George, probably in 1348. The chronicler Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War. In his rise as a national saint George was aided by the very fact that the saint had no legendary connection with England, and no specifically localized shrine, as of Thomas Becket at Canterbury: "Consequently, numerous shrines were established during the late fifteenth century," Muriel C. McClendon has written,^[36] "and his did not become closely identified with a particular occupation or with the cure of a specific malady."

The establishment of George as a popular saint and protective giant^[37] in the West that had captured the medieval imagination was codified by the official elevation of his feast to a festum duplex^[38] at a church council in 1415, on the date that had become associated with his martyrdom, 23 April. There was wide latitude from community to community in celebration of the day across late medieval and early modern England,^[39] and no uniform "national" celebration elsewhere, a token of the popular and vernacular nature of George's cultus and its local horizons, supported by a local guild or confraternity under George's protection, or the dedication of a local church. When the Reformation in England severely curtailed the saints' days in the calendar, St. George's Day was among the holidays that continued to be observed.

Sources[link]

The Coat of Arms of Moscow depicts a horseman often informally identified with Saint George.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the earliest text preserving fragments of George's narrative is in an Acta Sanctorum identified by Hippolyte Delehaye of the scholarly Bollandists to be a palimpsest of the fifth century. However, this Acta Sancti Georgii was soon banned as heresy by Pope Gelasius I (in 496).

The compiler of this Acta, according to Hippolyte Delehaye "confused the martyr with his namesake, the celebrated George of Cappadocia, the Arian intruder into the see of Alexandria and enemy of St. Athanasius". A critical edition of a Syriac Acta of Saint George, accompanied by an annotated English translation was published by E.W. Brooks (1863–1955) in 1925. The hagiography was originally written in Greek.

In Sweden, the princess rescued by Saint George is held to represent the kingdom of Sweden, while the dragon represents an invading army. Several sculptures of Saint George battling the dragon can be found in Stockholm, the earliest inside Storkyrkan ("The Great Church") in the Old Town.

The façade of architect Antoni Gaudi's famous Casa Batlló in Barcelona, Spain depicts this allegory.

In Islamic cultures[link]

Saint George is somewhat of an exception among saints and legends, in that he is known and respected by Muslims, as well as venerated by Christians throughout the Middle East, from Egypt to Asia Minor.^[40] His stature in these regions derives from the fact that his figure has become somewhat of a composite character mixing elements from Biblical, Quranic and folkloric sources, at times being partially identified with Al-Khidr.^[40] He is said to have killed a dragon near the sea in Beirut and at the beginning of the 20th century Muslim women used to visit his shrine in the area to pray to him.^[40]

Feast days[link]

In the General Calendar of the Roman Rite the feast of Saint George is on April 23(or an easier way to remember it is 23/4). In the Tridentine Calendar it was given the rank of "Semidouble". In Pope Pius XII's 1955 calendar this rank is reduced to "Simple". In Pope John XXIII's 1960 calendar the celebration to just a "Commemoration". In Pope Paul VI's 1969 calendar it is raised to the level of an optional "Memorial". In some countries, such as England, the rank is higher.

St George is very much honoured by the Eastern Orthodox Church, wherein he is referred to as a "Great Martyr", and in Oriental Orthodoxy overall. His major feast day is on April 23 (Julian Calendar April 23 currently corresponds to Gregorian Calendar May 6). If, however, the feast occurs before Easter, it is celebrated on Easter Monday instead. The Russian Orthodox Church also celebrates two additional feasts in honour of St. George: one on November 3 commemorating the consecration of a cathedral dedicated to him in Lydda during the reign Constantine the Great (305–37). When the church was consecrated, the relics of the St. George were transferred there. The other feast on November 26 for a church dedicated to him in Kiev, ca. 1054.

In Egypt the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria refers to St George as the "Prince of Martyrs" and celebrates his martyrdom on the 23rd of Paremhat of the Coptic Calendar equivalent to May 1. The Copts also celebrate the consecration of the first church dedicated to him on June 10.

Patronages[link]

St George's monument in Tbilisi, Georgia.

A highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, a large number of Patronages of Saint George exist throughout the world.^[41]

St. George is the patron saint of England; his cross forms the national flag of England, and features within the Union Flag of the United Kingdom. Traces of the cult of Saint George in England pre-date the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century;^{[citation needed]} by the fourteenth century the saint had been declared both the patron saint and the protector of the royal family.^[42]

The country of Georgia, where devotions to the saint date back to the fourth century, is not technically named after the saint, but is a well-attested backward derivation of the English name. However, a large number of towns and cities around the world are. Saint George is one of the patron Saints of Georgia; the name Georgia (Sakartvelo in Georgian) is an anglicisation of Gurj, derived from the Persian word for the frightening and heroic people in that territory.^[43] However, chronicles describing the land as Georgie or Georgia in French and English, date from the early Middle Ages "because of their special reverence for Saint George",^[44] but these accounts have been seen as folk etymology;^{[citation needed]} compare Land of Prester John.

There are exactly 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George according to the number of days in a year. According to myth, St. George was cut into 365 pieces after he fell in battle and every single piece was spread throughout the entire country.^[45][46][47] According to another myth, Saint George appeared in person during the Battle of Didgori to support the Georgian victory over the Seldjuk army and the Georgian uprising against Persian rule. Saint George is considered by many Georgians to have special meaning as a symbol of national liberation.^[48]

Devotions to Saint George in Portugal date back to the twelfth century, and Saint Constable attributed the victory of the Portuguese in the battle of Aljubarrota in the fourteenth century to Saint George. During the reign of King John I (1357–1433) Saint George became the patron saint of Portugal and the King ordered that the saint's image on the horse be carried in the Corpus Christi procession. In fact, the Portuguese Army motto means Portugal and Saint George, in perils and in efforts of war.^[49]

Saint George is also one of the patron saints of the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo. In a battle between the Maltese and the Moors, Saint George was alleged to have been seen with Saint Paul and Saint Agata, protecting the Maltese. Besides being the patron of Victoria where St. George's Basilica, Malta is dedicated to him, St George is the protector of the island Gozo.^[50]

Interfaith Shrine[link]

Saint George dragged through the streets (detail), by Bernardo Martorell, 15th century

There is a tradition in the Holy Land of Christians and Muslim going to an Eastern Orthodox shrine of St. George at Beith Jala, Jews also attending the site in the belief that the prophet Elijah was buried there. This is testified to by Elizabeth Finn in 1866, where she wrote, "St. George killed the dragon in this country Palestine; and the place is shown close to Beirut (Lebanon). Many churches and convents are named after him. The church at Lydda is dedicated to St. George: so is a convent near Bethlehem, and another small one just opposite the Jaffa gate; and others beside. The Arabs believe that St. George can restore mad people to their senses; and to say a person has been sent to St. George's, is equivalent to saying he has been sent to a madhouse. It is singular that the Moslem Arabs share this veneration for St. George, and send their mad people to be cured by him, as well as the Christians. But they commonly call him El Khudder —The Green—according to their favourite manner of using epithets instead of names. Why he should be called green, however, I cannot tell—unless it is from the colour of his horse. Gray horses are called green in Arabic."^[51] A possible explanation for this colour reference is Al Khidr, the erstwhile tutor of Moses, gained his name from having sat in a barren desert, turning it into a lush green paradise.

William Dalrymple reviewing the literature in 1999 tells us that J. E. Hanauer in his 1907 book Folklore of the Holy Land: Muslim, Christian and Jewish "mentioned a shrine in the village of Beit Jala, beside Bethlehem, which at the time was frequented by all three of Palestine's religious communities. Christians regarded it as the birthplace of St. George, Jews as the burial place of the Prophet Elias. According to Hanauer, in his day the monastery was "a sort of madhouse. Deranged persons of all the three faiths are taken thither and chained in the court of the chapel, where they are kept for forty days on bread and water, the Eastern Orthodox priest at the head of the establishment now and then reading the Gospel over them, or administering a whipping as the case demands.'^[52] In the 1920s, according to Taufiq Canaan's Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine, nothing seemed to have changed, and all three communities were still visiting the shrine and praying together."^[53]

Dalrymple himself visited the place in 1995. "I asked around in the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem, and discovered that the place was very much alive. With all the greatest shrines in the Christian world to choose from, it seemed that when the local Arab Christians had a problem – an illness, or something more complicated: a husband detained in an Israeli prison camp, for example – they preferred to seek the intercession of St George in his grubby little shrine at Beit Jala rather than praying at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem."^[53] He asked the priest at the shrine "Do you get many Muslims coming here?" The priest replied, "We get hundreds! Almost as many as the Christian pilgrims. Often, when I come in here, I find Muslims all over the floor, in the aisles, up and down."^[53][54][55]

The Encyclopædia Britannica quotes G.A. Smith in his Historic Geography of the Holy Land p. 164 saying "The Mahommedans who usually identify St. George with the prophet Elijah, at Lydda confound his legend with one about Christ himself. Their name for Antichrist is Dajjal, and they have a tradition that Jesus will slay Antichrist by the gate of Lydda. The notion sprang from an ancient bas-relief of George and the Dragon on the Lydda church. But Dajjal may be derived, by a very common confusion between n and l, from Dagon, whose name two neighbouring villages bear to this day, while one of the gates of Lydda used to be called the Gate of Dagon."^[56]

Colours and flag[link]

St George's cross

The "Colours of Saint George", or St George's Cross are a white flag with a red cross, frequently borne by entities over which he is patron (e.g. the Republic of Genoa and then Liguria, England, Georgia, Catalonia, Aragon, etc.).

The cross was originally the personal flag of another saint and key Christian figure, St. Ambrose. Adopted by the city of Milan (of which he was Archbishop) at least as early as the Ninth century, its use spread over Northern Italy including Genoa. Genoa's patron saint was St. George and through the flag's use by the vast Genoese trading fleet, the association was carried throughout Europe.^{[citation needed]}

The same colour scheme was used by Viktor Vasnetsov for the façade of the Tretyakov Gallery, in which some of the most famous St. George icons are exhibited and which displays St. George as the coat of arms of Moscow over its entrance.

In 1606, the flag of England (St. George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland (St. Andrew's Cross), were joined together to create the Union Flag.^[57]

Iconography and models[link]

Byzantine icon of St. George, Athens Greece

St. George is most commonly depicted in early icons, mosaics and frescos wearing armour contemporary with the depiction, executed in gilding and silver colour, intended to identify him as a Roman soldier. After the Fall of Constantinople and the association of St George with the crusades, he is more often portrayed mounted upon a white horse.

At the same time St George began to be associated with St. Demetrius, another early soldier saint. When the two saints are portrayed together mounted upon horses, they may be likened to earthly manifestations of the archangels Michael and Gabriel. St George is always depicted in Eastern traditions upon a white horse and St. Demetrius on a red horse^[58] St George can also be identified in the act of spearing a dragon, unlike St Demetrius, who is sometimes shown spearing a human figure, understood to represent Maximian.

A 2003 Vatican stamp issued on the anniversary of the Saint's death depicts an armoured Saint George atop a white horse, killing the dragon.^[59]

During the early second millennium, George came to be seen as the model of chivalry, and during this time was depicted in works of literature, such as the medieval romances.

Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, compiled the Legenda Sanctorum, (Readings of the Saints) also known as Legenda Aurea (the Golden Legend) for its worth among readers. Its 177 chapters (182 in other editions) contain the story of Saint George.

Modern Russians interpret the icon not as a killing but as a struggle, against ourselves and the evil among us.^{[citation needed]} The dragon never dies but the saint persists with his horse (will and support of the people) and his spear (technical means).^{[citation needed]} In Eastern Orthodox Christianity it is possible to find Icons of St.George riding on Black horse, as well, there are various examples in Russian Iconography, like the Icon in British Museum Collection.

See also[link]

St George's statue at Prague Castle

• Bristol, England, which has a district called Saint George and also a park bearing that name
• Diada de Sant Jordi
• Dragon Hill, Uffington
• Frithjof Schuon
• Georgslied, 9th-century Old High German poem about the life of Saint George
• Knights of St. George
• One Good Knight (a novel) Andres Dealencar.
• Paladin
• Uastyrdzhi
• St George's Church, churches dedicated to St. George
• St. George Dragons (sports)
• St. George's, Bermuda
• The Magic Sword, 1961 film loosely based on the legend of St. George and the Dragon
• Patrick Woodroffe, author of several poems about St George collated in a book called Hallelujah Anyway

Gallery[link]

For a larger gallery, please see: Saint George gallery.

• 

  A 15th-century icon of St. George from Novgorod.

• 

  Raphael, 1505-1506

• 

  Bulgarian Orthodox icon of St. George fighting the dragon.

• 

  A Saint George sign on a seminary gate, Germany

• 

  Scenes from the life of St. George, Kremikovtsi Monastery, Bulgaria.

• 

  St. Georg as a martyr: St. George's Collegiate Church in Tübingen

• 

  12th century depiction of St. George in a church at the Russian village of Staraya Ladoga.

• 

  A 15th-century battle-flag of Stephen the Great of Moldavia representing St. George.

• 

  British

• 

  Russian

• 

  Thessaloniki, Greece

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Brooks, E.W., 1925. Acts of Saint George in series Analecta Gorgiana 8 (Gorgias Press).
• Burgoyne, Michael H. 1976. A Chronological Index to the Muslim Monuments of Jerusalem. In The Architecture of Islamic Jerusalem. Jerusalem: The British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.
• Alban Butler, Butler's Lives of the Saints, vol. 2, pp. 148–150. "George, Martyr, Protector of the Kingdom of England" (on-line text^{[dead link]})
• Gabidzashvili, Enriko. 1991. Saint George: In Ancient Georgian Literature. Armazi – 89: Tbilisi, Georgia.
• Good, Jonathan, 2009. The Cult of Saint George in Medieval England (Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press).
• Loomis, C. Grant, 1948. White Magic, An Introduction to the Folklore of Christian Legend (Cambridge: Medieval Society of America)
• Natsheh, Yusuf. 2000. "Architectural survey", in Ottoman Jerusalem: The Living City 1517–1917. Edited by Sylvia Auld and Robert Hillenbrand (London: Altajir World of Islam Trust) pp 893–899.
• Whatley, E. Gordon, editor, with Anne B. Thompson and Robert K. Upchurch, 2004. St. George and the Dragon in the South English Legendary (East Midland Revision, c. 1400) Originally published in Saints' Lives in Middle English Collections

(Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications) (On-line Introduction)

• Prof. George Menachery, Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India. Vol.II Trichur – 73.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Saint George

• St. George and the Dragon, free illustrated book based on 'The Seven Champions' by Richard Johnson (1596)
• Archnet
• Saint George and the Dragon links and pictures (more than 125), from Dragons in Art and on the Web
• Story of St. George from The Golden Legends
• Saint George and the Boy Scouts, including a woodcut of a Scout on horseback slaying a dragon
• A prayer for St George's Day
• St. George
• St. George and the Dragon: An Introduction
• Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George Orthodox icon and synaxarion for April 23
• Dedication of the Church of the Greatmartyr George in Lydia Icon and synaxarion for November 3
• Dedication of the Church of the Greatmartyr George at Kiev Icon and synaxarion for November 26
• St. George in the church in Plášťovce,(Palást) in Slovakia
• The St George Orthodox Military Association
• Famous Georgian Pilgrim Center in India St. George Orthodox Church Puthuppally, Kerala, India

Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II in 2007
Queen of the Commonwealth realms List United Kingdom (1952–) Canada (1952–) Australia (1952–) New Zealand (1952–) Pakistan (1952–56) South Africa (1952–61) Ceylon (1952–72) Ghana (1957–60) Nigeria (1960–63) Sierra Leone (1961–71) Tanganyika (1961–62) Jamaica (1962–) Trinidad and Tobago (1962–76) Uganda (1962–63) Kenya (1963–64) Malawi (1964–66) Malta (1964–74) The Gambia (1965–70) Guyana (1966–70) Barbados (1966–) Mauritius (1968–92) Fiji (1970–87) The Bahamas (1973–) Grenada (1974–) Papua New Guinea (1975–) Solomon Islands (1978–) Tuvalu (1978–) Saint Lucia (1979–) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1979–) Belize (1981–) Antigua and Barbuda (1981–) Saint Kitts and Nevis (1983–)
Reign	6 February 1952 – present
Coronation	2 June 1953
Predecessor	George VI
Heir apparent	Charles, Prince of Wales
Prime Ministers	See list
Spouse	Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (m. 1947)
Detail Issue
Charles, Prince of Wales Anne, Princess Royal Prince Andrew, Duke of York Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Full name
Elizabeth Alexandra Mary
House	House of Windsor
Father	George VI
Mother	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Born	(1926-04-21) 21 April 1926 (age 86) Mayfair, United Kingdom
Religion	Church of England Church of Scotland

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926^{[note 1]}) is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms, and head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is also head of state of the Crown Dependencies.^[1][2]

Elizabeth was born in London, and educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne as George VI in 1936 on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. On the death of her father in 1952, she became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Today, in addition to the first four aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. In 1992, which Elizabeth termed her annus horribilis (horrible year), Charles and Andrew separated from their wives, Anne divorced, and a severe fire damaged part of Windsor Castle. Revelations continued on the state of Charles's marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and they divorced in 1996. The following year, Diana died in a Paris car crash, and the media criticised the royal family for remaining in seclusion in the days before her funeral. Elizabeth's personal popularity rebounded after she appeared in public and has subsequently remained high.

Her reign of 60 years is the second-longest for a British monarch; only Queen Victoria has reigned longer. Elizabeth's Silver and Golden Jubilees were celebrated in 1977 and 2002; her Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated during 2012.

Early life[link]

Princess Elizabeth aged 3, 1929

Elizabeth was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth. Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. She was born by Caesarean section at 2.40 am (GMT) on 21 April 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair.^[3] The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May.^{[4][note 2]} She was named Elizabeth after her mother, Alexandra after George V's mother, who had died six months earlier, and Mary after her paternal grandmother.^[5] Her close family called her "Lilibet".^[6] George V cherished his granddaughter, and during his serious illness in 1929 her regular visits were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery.^[7]

Elizabeth's only sibling was Princess Margaret, born in 1930. The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as "Crawfie".^[8] Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music.^[9] To the dismay of the royal family,^[10] in 1950 Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses. The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility.^[11] Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant."^[12] Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved".^[13]

Heiress presumptive[link]

Princess Elizabeth aged 7, 1933
Painting by Philip de László

As a granddaughter of the monarch in the male line, Elizabeth's full style at birth was Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth of York. She was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle, Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen as the Prince of Wales was still young and many assumed he would marry and have children of his own.^[14] In 1936, when her grandfather, George V, died and her uncle Edward succeeded, she became second in line to the throne after her father. Later that year, Edward abdicated after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis.^[15] Elizabeth's father became king, and she became heiress presumptive, with the style Her Royal Highness The Princess Elizabeth.^[16] If her parents had had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession.^[17]

Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College,^[18] and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses.^[19] A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her own age.^[20] Later she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger.^[19]

In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and visited the United States. As in 1927, when her parents had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain as her father thought her too young to undertake public tours.^[21] Elizabeth "looked tearful" as her parents departed.^[22] They corresponded regularly,^[22] and on 18 May, she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call.^[21]

Second World War[link]

From September 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War, Elizabeth and Margaret stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk.^[23] From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they stayed for most of the next five years.^[24] The suggestion by senior politician Lord Hailsham that the two princesses should be evacuated to Canada was rejected by Elizabeth's mother; she declared, "The children won't go without me. I won't leave without the King. And the King will never leave."^[25] At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments.^[26] In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities.^[27] She stated:

We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well.^[27]

In 1943, at the age of 16, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed Colonel-in-Chief the previous year.^[28] As she approached her 18th birthday, the law was changed so that she could act as one of five Counsellors of State in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944.^[29] In February 1945, she joined the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, as an honorary Second Subaltern with the service number of 230873.^[30] She trained as a driver and mechanic,^[31] and was promoted to honorary Junior Commander five months later.^[32]

The Royal Family of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms
HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH The Duke of Cambridge HRH The Duchess of Cambridge HRH Prince Harry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex Viscount Severn Lady Louise Windsor HRH The Princess Royal HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra Sarah, Duchess of York
v t e

During the war, plans were drawn up to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales.^[33] Welsh politicians proposed that Elizabeth be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday. The idea was supported by Home Secretary Herbert Morrison, but rejected by the King because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent.^[34] In 1946, she was inducted into the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.^[35]

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and her sister mingled anonymously with the celebratory crowds in the streets of London. She later said in a rare interview, "we asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves. I remember we were terrified of being recognised ... I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief."^[36] Two years later, the princess made her first overseas tour, when she accompanied her parents through southern Africa. During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she pledged: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong."^[37]

Marriage[link]

Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and 1937.^[38] After another meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth – though only 13 years old – fell in love with Philip, and they began to exchange letters.^[39] They married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey. They are second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria. Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family.^[40] Just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style of His Royal Highness.^[41]

The marriage was not without controversy: Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links.^[42] Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her. He was a prince without a home or kingdom. Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin."^[43] Elizabeth's mother was reported, in later biographies, to have opposed the union initially, even dubbing Philip "The Hun".^[44] In later life, however, she told biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman".^[45]

Elizabeth and Philip received 2500 wedding gifts from around the world,^[46] but Britain had not yet completely rebounded from the devastation of the war. Elizabeth still required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown, designed by Norman Hartnell.^[47] In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for the Duke of Edinburgh's German relations to be invited to the wedding, including Philip's three surviving sisters.^[48] Edward, the former king, was not invited either.^[49]

Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Prince Charles, on 14 November 1948, less than one month after letters patent were issued by her father allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess. They otherwise would not have been entitled to such a status as their father was no longer a royal prince.^[50] A second child, Princess Anne, was born in 1950.^[51]

Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor near Windsor Castle, until 4 July 1949,^[46] when they took up residence at Clarence House in London. At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Protectorate of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer. He and Elizabeth lived intermittently, for several months at a time, in the Maltese hamlet of Gwardamanġia, at the Villa Gwardamanġia, the rented home of Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten. The children remained in Britain.^[52]

Reign[link]

Accession and coronation[link]

George VI's health declined during 1951, and Elizabeth was soon frequently standing in for him at public events. In October of that year, she toured Canada, and visited President Truman in Washington, D.C.; on the trip, her private secretary, Martin Charteris, carried a draft accession declaration for use if the King died while she was on tour.^[53] In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On 6 February 1952, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father. Philip broke the news to the new queen.^[54] Martin Charteris asked her to choose a regnal name; she chose to remain Elizabeth, "of course".^[55] She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom.^[56] She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace.^[57]

Coronation portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, June 1953

With Elizabeth's accession it seemed likely that the royal house would bear her husband's name. Lord Mountbatten thought it would be the House of Mountbatten, as Elizabeth would typically have taken Philip's last name on marriage; however Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill favoured the retention of the House of Windsor, and so Windsor it remained. The Duke complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children."^[58] After the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953 and the resignation of Churchill in 1955, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted in 1960 for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles.^[59]

Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret informed her sister that she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcee 16 years her senior, with two sons from his previous marriage. The Queen asked them to wait for a year; in the words of Martin Charteris, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought – she hoped – given time, the affair would peter out."^[60] Senior politicians were against the match, and the Church of England did not permit re-marriage after divorce. If Margaret contracted a civil marriage, she would be expected to renounce her right of succession.^[61] Eventually, she decided to abandon her plans with Townsend.^[62] In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year. They were divorced in 1978; she did not remarry.^[63]

Despite the death of Queen Mary ten weeks before, the coronation went ahead on 2 June 1953. Before she died, Mary had asked that the coronation not be delayed.^[64] The ceremony in Westminster Abbey, except the anointing and communion, was televised for the first time,^[65] and the coverage was instrumental in boosting the medium's popularity; the number of television licences in the United Kingdom doubled to 3 million,^[66] and many of the more than 20 million British viewers watched television for the first time in the homes of their friends or neighbours.^[67] In North America, just under 100 million viewers watched recorded broadcasts.^[68] Elizabeth's coronation gown was commissioned from Norman Hartnell and embroidered on her instructions with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries:^[69] English Tudor rose, Scots thistle, Welsh leek, Irish shamrock, Australian wattle, Canadian maple leaf, New Zealand silver fern, South African protea, lotus flowers for India and Ceylon, and Pakistan's wheat, cotton, and jute.^[70]

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth[link]

Queen Elizabeth with Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies during her first visit to Australia in 1954

Elizabeth witnessed, over her life, the ongoing transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations.^[71] By the time of her accession in 1952, her role as nominal head of multiple independent states was already established.^[72] Spanning 1953–54, the Queen and her husband embarked on a six-month around-the-world tour. She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations.^[73] During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen the Queen.^[74] Throughout her reign, Elizabeth has undertaken state visits to foreign countries, and tours of Commonwealth ones. She is the most widely travelled head of state in history.^[75]

In 1956, French Prime Minister Guy Mollet and British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth. The proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor of the European Union.^[76] In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal. Lord Mountbatten claimed the Queen was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it. Eden resigned two months later.^[77]

The absence of a formal mechanism within the Conservative Party for choosing a leader meant that, following Eden's resignation, it fell to the Queen to decide whom to commission to form a government. Eden recommended that she consult Lord Salisbury (the Lord President of the Council). Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir (the Lord Chancellor) consulted the Cabinet, Winston Churchill, and the Chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, as a result of which the Queen appointed their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan.^[78]

The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led in 1957 to the first major personal criticism of the Queen. In a magazine, which he owned and edited,^[79] Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch".^[80] Altrincham was denounced by public figures and physically attacked by a member of the public appalled at his comments.^[81] Six years later in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised the Queen to appoint the Earl of Home as prime minister, advice that she followed.^[82] The Queen again came under criticism for appointing the Prime Minister on the advice of a small number of ministers, or a single minister.^[82] In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving her of involvement.^[83]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Queen Elizabeth II's Address to the United Nations General Assembly

In 1957, she made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly. On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session.^[84] Two years later, she revisited the United States as Queen of Canada and toured Canada,^[84][85] despite learning upon landing at St. John's, Newfoundland, that she was pregnant with her third child.^[86] In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran.^[87] On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins.^[88] Harold Macmillan wrote: "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through ... She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as ... a film star ... She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man' ... She loves her duty and means to be a Queen."^[88] Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported that extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting the Queen's assassination.^[89][90][91] No attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; the Queen's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted.^[92]

Elizabeth (left) with US First Lady Pat Nixon, 1970; President Nixon is hidden from view, next to British Prime Minister Edward Heath, behind Elizabeth

Elizabeth's pregnancies with Princes Andrew and Edward in 1959 and 1963, respectively, mark the only times she has not performed the State Opening of the British parliament during her reign.^[93] In addition to performing traditional ceremonies, she also instituted new practices. Her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970.^[94]

The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean. Over 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government. In 1965, however, Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith declared unilateral independence in opposition to moves toward majority rule. Although the Queen dismissed Smith in a formal declaration and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, Smith's regime survived for over a decade.^[95]

In February 1974, British Prime Minister Edward Heath called a general election in the middle of the Queen's tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim and she had to fly back to Britain, interrupting the tour.^[96] The election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath's Conservatives were not the largest party, but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals. Heath only resigned when discussions on forming a coalition government foundered, after which the Queen asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government.^[97]

A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals.^[98] As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to the Queen to reverse Kerr's decision. Elizabeth declined, stating that she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the governor-general.^[99] The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism.^[98]

Silver Jubilee[link]

In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession. Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with the Queen's associated national and Commonwealth tours. The celebrations re-affirmed the Queen's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband.^[100] In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife Elena,^[101] though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands".^[102] The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her relative and in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.^[103]

According to Paul Martin, Sr., by the end of the 1970s the Queen was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.^[104] Tony Benn said that the Queen found Trudeau "rather disappointing".^[104] Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind the Queen's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office.^[104] In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found the Queen "better informed on ... Canada's constitutional case than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats".^[104] She was interested in the constitutional debate after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state.^[104] Patriation removed the role of the British parliament in the Canadian constitution, but the monarchy was retained. Trudeau said in his memoirs: "The Queen favoured my attempt to reform the Constitution. I was always impressed not only by the grace she displayed in public at all times, but by the wisdom she showed in private conversation."^[105]

1980s[link]

Elizabeth riding Burmese at a Trooping the Colour ceremony

During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, and only six weeks before the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at the Queen from close range as she rode down The Mall on her horse, Burmese. Police later discovered that the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three.^[106] The Queen's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised.^[107] From April to September 1982, the Queen remained anxious^[108] but proud^[109] of her son, Prince Andrew, who was serving with British forces during the Falklands War. On 9 July, the Queen awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her. Remaining calm, and through two calls to the palace police switchboard, she spoke to Fagan while he sat at the foot of her bed until assistance arrived seven minutes later.^[110] Though she hosted President Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982, and visited his Californian ranch in 1983, she was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without her foreknowledge.^[111]

Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, not all of which were entirely true.^[112] As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true – so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards."^[113] Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of ... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions, and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth Secretary-General Shridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation.^[114] Thatcher reputedly said the Queen would vote for the Social Democratic Party – Thatcher's political opponents.^[115] Thatcher's biographer John Campbell claimed "... the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making".^[116] Belying reports of acrimony between them, Thatcher later conveyed her personal admiration for the Queen,^[117] and after Thatcher's replacement by John Major, Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift to Thatcher: appointment to the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter.^[118]

In 1987, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup. Elizabeth, as head of state, supported the attempts of the Governor-General, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau, abolished the monarchy, and declared Fiji a republic.^[119] By the start of 1991, republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of the Queen's private wealth, which were contradicted by the palace, and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family.^[120] The involvement of the younger royals in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout was ridiculed,^[121] and the Queen was the target of satire.^[122]

1990s[link]

In 1991, in the wake of victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address a joint session of the United States Congress.^[123] The following year, she attempted to save the failing marriage of her eldest son, Charles, by counselling him and his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, to reconcile.^[124]

Prince Philip and Elizabeth II, October 1992

In a speech on 24 November 1992, to mark the 40th anniversary of her accession, the Queen called 1992 her annus horribilis, meaning horrible year.^[125] In March, her second son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his wife Sarah, Duchess of York, separated. In April, her daughter Anne, Princess Royal, divorced her husband Captain Mark Phillips.^[126] During a state visit to Germany in October, angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at her,^[127] and in November Windsor Castle suffered severe fire damage. The monarchy received increased criticism and public scrutiny.^[128] In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding".^[129] Two days later, Prime Minister John Major announced reforms of the royal finances that had been planned since the previous year, including the Queen paying income tax for the first time, starting in 1993, and a reduction in the civil list.^[130] In December, Charles and Diana formally separated.^[131] The year ended with a lawsuit as the Queen sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before its broadcast. The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees, and donated £200,000 to charity.^[132]

In the ensuing years, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued.^[133] Even though support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republicanism remained a minority viewpoint and Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings.^[134] Criticism was focused on the institution of monarchy itself and the Queen's wider family rather than the Queen's own behaviour and actions.^[135] In consultation with Prime Minister Major, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, her private secretary Robert Fellowes, and her husband, she wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, saying that a divorce was desirable.^[136] A year after the divorce, which took place in 1996, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997. The Queen was on holiday with her son and grandchildren at Balmoral. Diana's two sons wanted to attend church, and so the Queen and Prince Philip took them that morning.^[137] After that single public appearance, for five days the Queen and the Duke shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private.^[138] The royal family's seclusion caused public dismay.^[139] Pressured by the hostile reaction, the Queen agreed to a live broadcast to the world and returned to London to deliver it on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral.^[140] In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana, and her feelings "as a grandmother" for Princes William and Harry.^[141] As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated.^[141]

Golden Jubilee[link]

Elizabeth II and George W. Bush share a toast during a state dinner at the White House, 7 May 2007

Elizabeth II (centre, in pink) during a walkabout in Queen's Park, Toronto, 6 July 2010

In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee as queen. Her sister and mother died in February and March, respectively, and the media speculated as to whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure.^[142] She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, which began in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged the King's House, the official residence of the Governor-General, into darkness.^[143] As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion. A million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London,^[144] and the enthusiasm shown by the public for Elizabeth was greater than many journalists had predicted.^[145]

Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees, and in June 2005 she cancelled several engagements after contracting a bad cold. In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer.^[146] Two months later, she was seen in public with a bandage on her right hand, which led to press speculation of ill health.^[147] She had been bitten by one of her corgis while she was separating two that were fighting.^[148]

In May 2007, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported claims from unnamed sources that the Queen was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, that she had shown concern that the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair repeatedly.^[149] She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.^[150] On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, the Queen attended the first Maundy service held outside of England and Wales.^[151] At the invitation of Irish President Mary McAleese, in May 2011 the Queen made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch.^[152]

Elizabeth addressed the United Nations for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as queen of all her realms and Head of the Commonwealth.^[153] UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon introduced her as "an anchor for our age".^[154] During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for the British victims of the 11 September attacks.^[154] The Queen's visit to Australia in October 2011, her 16th visit since 1954, was called her "farewell tour" in the press because of her age.^[155]

Diamond Jubilee[link]

Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 marks 60 years as queen, with celebrations throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond. In a message released on Accession Day, the Queen stated: "In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness ... I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart".^[156] She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, while her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth realms on the Queen's behalf.^{[157][158][159]} On 4 June, Jubilee beacons will be lit around the world.^[160]

She is the longest-lived and second-longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, and the second-longest-serving current head of state (after King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand). She does not intend to abdicate,^[161] though the proportion of public duties performed by Prince Charles may increase as Elizabeth reduces her commitments.^[162]

She is scheduled to open the 2012 Summer Olympics on 27 July and the Paralympics on 29 August in London. Her father, George VI, opened the 1948 London Olympics, and her great-grandfather, Edward VII, opened the 1908 London Olympics. Elizabeth also opened the 1976 Games in Canada, and Prince Philip opened the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.^[163]

Public perception and character[link]

Since Elizabeth rarely gives interviews, little is known of her personal feelings. As a constitutional monarch, she has not expressed her own political opinions in a public forum. She does have a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and takes her coronation oath seriously.^[164] Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, she personally worships with that church and with the national Church of Scotland.^[165] She has demonstrated support for inter-faith relations, and has met with leaders of other religions, including three popes: John XXIII, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. A personal note about her faith often features in her annual Royal Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth, such as in 2000, when she spoke about the theological significance of the millennium marking the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ:

To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.^[166]

Elizabeth II and Ronald Reagan riding at Windsor, 1982

She is the patron of over 600 organisations and charities.^[167] Her main leisure interests include equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis.^[168] Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life are occasionally acted out; she and her family, from time to time, prepare a meal together and do the washing up afterwards.^[169]

In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen".^[170] After the trauma of the war, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age".^[171] Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism.^[172] In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family, and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales.^[173] She took to wearing in public clothes that consist mostly of solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, which allow her to be seen easily in a crowd.^[174]

At her Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic,^[175] but in the 1980s public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny.^[176] Elizabeth's popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s. Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public.^[177] Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, though the Queen's popularity rebounded after her live broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death.^[178]

In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state.^[179] Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for Elizabeth,^[180] and referenda in Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 both rejected proposals to become republics.^[181]

Finances[link]

Sandringham House, Elizabeth's private residence in Sandringham, Norfolk

Elizabeth's personal fortune has been the subject of speculation for many years. Forbes magazine estimated her net worth at around US$450 million in 2010,^[182] but official Buckingham Palace statements in 1993 called estimates of £100 million "grossly overstated".^[183] Jock Colville, who was her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth in 1971 at £2 million (the equivalent of about £21 million today^[184]).^[185][186] The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the Queen personally and is held in trust,^[187] as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle,^[188] and the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £383 million in 2011.^[189] Sandringham House and Balmoral Castle are privately owned by the Queen.^[188] The British Crown Estate – with holdings of £7.3 billion in 2011^[190] – is held in trust for the nation, and cannot be sold or owned by Elizabeth in a private capacity.^[191]

Titles, styles, honours, and arms[link]

Personal Flag of Queen Elizabeth II

Titles and styles[link]

Elizabeth has held titles throughout her life, as a granddaughter of the monarch, as a daughter of the monarch, through her husband's titles, and eventually as Sovereign. In common parlance, she is The Queen or Her Majesty. Officially, she has a distinct title in each of her realms: Queen of Canada in Canada, Queen of Australia in Australia, etc. In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which are Crown dependencies rather than separate realms, she is known as Duke of Normandy and Lord of Mann respectively. Additional styles include Defender of the Faith and Duke of Lancaster. When in conversation with the Queen, the practice is to initially address her as Your Majesty and thereafter as Ma'am.^[192]

She has received honours and awards from around the world, and has held honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, both before and after her accession.

Arms[link]

From 21 April 1944, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St. George.^[193] After her accession as Sovereign, she adopted the royal coat of arms undifferenced. The design of the shield is also used on the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. Elizabeth has personal flags for use in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, and elsewhere.^[194]

Issue[link]

Ancestry[link]

See also[link]

Commonwealth realms portal

• List of current heads of state and government
• List of the richest royals
• Royal intermarriage

Notes[link]

References[link]