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As a highly celebrated saint in both the Western and Eastern Christian churches, Saint George is connected with a large number of patronages throughout the world, and his iconography can be found on the flags and coats of arms of a number of cities and countries.〔Graham Seal, 2001n ''Encyclopedia of folk heroes'' ISBN 1-57607-216-9 page 85〕〔Robin Cormack, ''Icons'', Harvard University Press, 2007 ISBN 0-674-02619-5 page 69〕 ==Georgia== Saint George is a patron saint of Georgia, and it is claimed by Georgian author Enriko Gabisashvili that Saint George is most venerated in that nation. An 18th-century Georgian geographer and historian Vakhushti Bagrationi wrote that there are 365 Orthodox churches in Georgia named after Saint George, according to the number of days in one year.〔Gabidzashvili, Enriko. 1991. ''Saint George: In Ancient Georgian Literature''. Armazi – 89: Tbilisi, Georgia.〕〔F. J. Foakes-Jackson, ''A History of the Christian Church'', Published by Cosimo, Inc., 2005, ISBN 1-59605-452-2, page 556〕〔Antony Eastmond, ''Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia'', Penn State Press, 1998, ISBN 0-271-01628-0, page 119〕 There are indeed many churches in Georgia named after the Saint; Alaverdi Monastery is one of the largest. Devotions to the saint in Georgia date back to the 4th century. While not technically named after the saint (''Sakartvelo'' is the Georgian name for the country), its English name is an early and well-attested back-derivation of Saint George. The name is reputed to be an anglicisation of ''Gurj'', derived from the Persian word for the frightening and heroic people in that territory, and hence assumed by early medieval chroniclers to translate as George, due to the existing patronage.〔''Georgia'' by Michael Spilling, Winnie Wong 2008 ISBN 0-7614-3033-4 page 63〕〔David Marshall Lang, ''The Georgians,'' (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1966), 17-18. The terms Georgia and Georgians appeared in Western Europe in numerous early medieval annals. The French chronicler Jacques de Vitry and the English traveler Sir John Mandeville wrote that Georgians are called ''Georgian'' because they especially revere Saint George.〕 The Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates St. George's day twice a year, on May 6 (O.C. April 23) and November 23. The feast day in November was instituted by St Nino of Cappadocia, who was credited with bringing Christianity to the land of Georgia in the 4th century. She was from Cappadocia, like Saint George, and was said to be his relative. This feast day is unique to Georgia, and it is the day of St George's martyrdom. There are also many folk traditions in Georgia that vary from Georgian Orthodox Church rules, because they portray the Saint differently from the Church, and show the veneration of Saint George by the common people of Georgia. Different regions of Georgia have different traditions, and in most folk tales Saint George is venerated very highly, almost as much as Jesus himself. In the province of Kakheti, there is an icon of St George known as ''White George''. This image is also seen on the current Coat of Arms of Georgia. The region of Pshavi has icons known as the ''Cuppola St. George'' and ''Lashari St. George''. The Khevsureti region has ''Kakhmati'', ''Gudani'', and ''Sanebi'' icons dedicated to the Saint. The Pshavs and Khevsurs during the Middle Ages used to refer to Saint George almost as much as praying to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Another notable icon is known as the ''Lomisi Saint George'', which can be found in the Mtiuleti and Khevi provinces of Georgia.〔 An example of a folk tale about St. George is given by author Enriko Gabidzashvili: "Once the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet Elias and Saint George were going through Georgia. When they became tired and hungry they stopped to dine. They saw a Georgian shepherd man and decided to ask him to feed them. First, Elias went up to the shepherd and asked him for a sheep. After the shepherd asked his identity Elias said that, he was the one who sent him rain to get him a good profit from farming. The shepherd became angry at him and told him that he was the one who also sent thunderstorms, which destroyed the farms of poor widows. Some interesting tales come from Georgian sources, some of which are also attested to by Persian ones, that the Georgian Army during many battles was led by a knight on a white horse who came down from Heaven, that's why Georgia won battles with 10 times smaller army. Catholicos Besarion of Georgia also testified of this. გიორგი (''giorgi''), the Georgian variant of name George, is historically the most popular given name in Georgia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Patronages of Saint George」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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