St George’s Dragon
and how he came to Norwich
In Medieval times there were many popular saints. St Edmund
(that’s where Bury St Edmunds got its name from) was a Christian
King of East Anglia (855 - 870) when the Danish Viking’s invaded.
They tried to force him to give up his religion and killed him when
he refused to do so. When people are killed because of what they
believe in they are known as martyrs.
Edward the Confessor (1042 - 1066) was the King of England
before Harold (the one who got an arrow in his eye at the battle of
Hastings in 1066). He was well respected and was made a saint
because he was a wise and just ruler and because he was
reported to have miraculously cured people just by touching them.
Saint’s were important for people not only for what they had done
during their life but also because in Heaven the saint can offer
intercession for people who pray to them. This means they will
listen closely to a person’s prayer and because the saint is closer
to God than human beings are the saint can then pray to God on
behalf of the person.
The Crusades (between 1095 - 1291) were a series of military
campaigns to take control of the Holy Lands (Jerusalem and the
Middle East) from Muslim kingdoms like the Turks that were
becoming more and more powerful. In these violent times people
wanted a dramatic saint who would be sympathetic to their needs.
St George became more and more popular during this time
especially with the Kings of England. By the time that Henry the
Fifth won a famous battle against a much larger French army at
Agincourt St George was known as the patron saint of the English
people.
There were already guilds of St George in the major cities of
England such as Norwich. Guilds were set up to honour their
saint’s feast day (St George’s day is 23 April) and to provide
support for its members if they became poor or ill. Two soldiers
who fought for the king at Agincourt were members of the Norwich
Guild of St George and because of this the Guild was granted a
royal charter that meant it could own property. It soon became one
of the wealthiest institutions in the city and became so powerful
that it was closely linked with the Mayor and local government.
Dragon story education pack
Jan 2011
www.culturecrossroads.co.uk
Sheet 3b
The celebrations of the Guild were moved from the Saint’s feast
day in April to the celebrations for the new mayor in June (today’s
Lord Mayor’s procession). The festivities included a banquet, a
procession and a performance of the St George and the Dragon
story. Although they stopped performing the whole story, Snap, the
dragon continued to accompany the Mayor on the procession from
the City Hall to the Cathedral.
The neighbourhood’s outside the centre of the city, such as
Pockthorpe and the village of Costessey, wanted to have their own
celebrations for a ‘mock-mayor’ who ruled in their area and they
built their own dragons as well. These ‘mock-mayor’ celebrations
carried on until about 100 years ago. Many people remembered
the excitement created by ‘Old Snap’,
“What a scramble to get out of his reach, what a yell from the
children frightened yet fascinated, all milling round the monster,
touching his tail and rushing away, all yelling at the top of their
voices;
Snap, snap, steal a boys cap
Give him a penny and he’ll give it back.”
Children would dare each other to get as close as possible but if
they got too close Snap would catch your cap in his jaws and you
would have to pay him a penny to get it back.
You can learn more about Snap and see the costume in the Castle
Museum. These days Snap is also back guarding the Lord Mayor
at the front of the Lord Mayor’s Procession so you might like to
see how close you can go before the dragon’s jaws get you this
summer!
Dragon story education pack
Jan 2011
www.culturecrossroads.co.uk
Sheet 3b