George and the Dragon

myminifactory

The episode of Saint George and the Dragon, appended to the hagiography of this venerated saint, originated in the East, brought back by Crusaders and retold with courtly embellishments characteristic of Romance literature. Earliest known depictions of this motif date back to 10th- or 11th-century Cappadocia and 11th-century Georgia; yet it wasn't until the 7th century that Saint George was revered as a soldier saint, and the earliest surviving narrative of the dragon episode is an 11th-century Georgian text. In Western tradition, the dragon was merged with the established Passio Georgii in the second half of the 13th century, first appearing in Vincent of Beauvais' encyclopedic Speculum Historiale and Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (1260s), gaining immense popularity as a literary and pictorial subject during the Late Middle Ages. The legend gradually became an integral part of Christian traditions surrounding Saint George, eventually being used in numerous festivals throughout history.