Nglund
12-18-2010, 12:00 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/R%C3%A9dition_de_Jean_le_Bon.jpg
John II of France and his knights, bearing a red cross, meets his Royal opponent(Edward III) at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the latter bearing a white cross.
The red cross on white came to be identified as the Cross of St. George, which today is how we see it as the flag of England -- something that is now coming into increasing use, when England often has sports teams separate from Scotland (which uses the Cross of St. Andrew). But St. George has been widely popular and is the patron of many places, including Barcelona, Portugal, Beirut, Georgia [oh!] in the Caucasus, and various other states and cities. While the red on white Cross was used by Genoa and some other Italian cities, there is the complication that St. George is not the Patron Saint of Genoa (although this is sometimes said to be the case, as I have been doing previously) -- that is John the Baptist. The Genoese cross is thus perhaps not originally a Cross of St. George at all -- although there is a story about the red cross and St. George being brought back from the First Crusade (1099), which is possible. Wikipedia says that ships from London began using the red Cross on white in the Mediterranian in 1190 precisely to benefit from the protection of Genoa -- the Doge was paid an annual tribute for the privilege of this use. Since Genoa became the ally of Constantinople in 1267 under the Palaeologi, I wonder if the contemporary banner we see for Romania actually reflects that alliance. In modern custom, the upper corner by the staff, the canton, is the key quarter, so the quartering we see could be something used in the first place by the Genoese.
There is the issue of just how and when the red cross on white becomes associated with St. George. The Saint, as a native of Lydda in Palestine, was popular in the Orthodox Churches (a cave near Beirut is still pointed out as the site of his slaying the dragon, although other places also claim that distinction), and the earliest known depiction of him slaying the dragon is from 11th century Cappadocia, but I am not otherwise aware of him being particularly iconic for the identity of Romania or Constantinople -- Byzantine histories have little discussion of such symbols. The crosses in general are artifacts of the Crusades, and the particular popularity of St. George in the West was itself the result of Crusaders bringing his cult and legend back with them [cf. Whitney Smith, p.182]. The 1188 meeting between Richard and King Philip, the choice of the colors was apparently a random assignment and did not involve any preexisting attachment of France, or of these colors, for St. George. And these assignments persisted for some time. In the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, the body of St. Louis, who died in 1270, is still shown draped in the red on white. Since St. George was not the patron of Genoa, the association of the red cross with the Saint is more likely to originate at the source with the Crusaders. It is noteworthy that the church of the English Varangians in Constantinople was dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Augustine of Canterbury. One would have expected a church of English warriors to involve St. George, if St. George was already associated with England. He wasn't. Meanwhile, of course, what was symbolic of Richard and England were the heraldric yellow lions on red, which by 1195 were displayed in threes, as at right.
Nevertheless, I do find postive statements at Wikipedia that in England St. George had along been revered and the red cross on white had long been associated with him even before the Third Crusade, and that the white cross on red was assigned by the Pope to England but then switched with France at the 1188 meeting between Richard and Philip II. This is inconsistent with my other sources (e.g. Whitney Smith), does not seem to be attested by the evidence (i.e. we don't see a red on white in England until 1277), and in general is not consistent with the understanding that the use of crosses originated with the Crusades (at a time when national flags or settled national colors did not exist), involved variable colors for many years (Scotland and France both switched between red and blue), and that the veneration of St. George was brought back by the Crusaders. I worry that claims for the antiquity of the specifically English "Cross of St. George" are ahistorical and nationalistic in motivation. A sensible treatment of this may be found at the Flags of the World.
We then face the issue of just how and when the red cross on white becomes associated with England in metropolitan usage. As the red on white cross has become distinctive of England, I begin to wonder to what extent it actually reflects the long history of English recruits fighting for Romania in the Varangian Guard. Indeed, if the Cross of St. George here originated with Crusaders in the East, its interpretation as an English symbol could well have been due to the English Varangians themselves, who would have fought under it for many years and picked up the cult of St. George just as the Crusaders did. It is attested that by 1277, the English cross had settled on the red on white coloring, and this was at the time of perhaps the heyday of English Varangians under Michael VIII -- who wrote that letter mentioning them in 1272. Whitney Smith says that the red cross was not really prominent for another century [p.182, nota bene], while The Penguin Dictionary of Saints [1965, 1983] says that George "may have been named the national patron when King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter under his patronage, c.1348" [p.146]. Whitney Smith adds, "The saint's position was enhanced in 1415 when, in his name, troops under Henry V won the day at the Battle of Agincourt" and then in 1419 the King ordered that "every man of what estate, condition, or nation that he be, of our party, bear a band of St. George" [p.182].
I might therefore entertain the speculation that what became the traditional coloring of the English Cross of St. George might actually have been derived from the Romanian even more than from a Genoese usage. This would be a monument unlike any other to the history of the English involvement in Constantinople. Since most histories of England ignore the very existence of English Varangians, the connection of the Cross of St. George to them falls into a kind of secret history. The antipathy of some English historians for "Byzantium" thus stands in stark contrast to the history of an English participation in Romania and this coincidence, if not derivation, of the actual flag of England.
Source (http://www.friesian.com/perifran.htm#cross)
John II of France and his knights, bearing a red cross, meets his Royal opponent(Edward III) at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the latter bearing a white cross.
The red cross on white came to be identified as the Cross of St. George, which today is how we see it as the flag of England -- something that is now coming into increasing use, when England often has sports teams separate from Scotland (which uses the Cross of St. Andrew). But St. George has been widely popular and is the patron of many places, including Barcelona, Portugal, Beirut, Georgia [oh!] in the Caucasus, and various other states and cities. While the red on white Cross was used by Genoa and some other Italian cities, there is the complication that St. George is not the Patron Saint of Genoa (although this is sometimes said to be the case, as I have been doing previously) -- that is John the Baptist. The Genoese cross is thus perhaps not originally a Cross of St. George at all -- although there is a story about the red cross and St. George being brought back from the First Crusade (1099), which is possible. Wikipedia says that ships from London began using the red Cross on white in the Mediterranian in 1190 precisely to benefit from the protection of Genoa -- the Doge was paid an annual tribute for the privilege of this use. Since Genoa became the ally of Constantinople in 1267 under the Palaeologi, I wonder if the contemporary banner we see for Romania actually reflects that alliance. In modern custom, the upper corner by the staff, the canton, is the key quarter, so the quartering we see could be something used in the first place by the Genoese.
There is the issue of just how and when the red cross on white becomes associated with St. George. The Saint, as a native of Lydda in Palestine, was popular in the Orthodox Churches (a cave near Beirut is still pointed out as the site of his slaying the dragon, although other places also claim that distinction), and the earliest known depiction of him slaying the dragon is from 11th century Cappadocia, but I am not otherwise aware of him being particularly iconic for the identity of Romania or Constantinople -- Byzantine histories have little discussion of such symbols. The crosses in general are artifacts of the Crusades, and the particular popularity of St. George in the West was itself the result of Crusaders bringing his cult and legend back with them [cf. Whitney Smith, p.182]. The 1188 meeting between Richard and King Philip, the choice of the colors was apparently a random assignment and did not involve any preexisting attachment of France, or of these colors, for St. George. And these assignments persisted for some time. In the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, the body of St. Louis, who died in 1270, is still shown draped in the red on white. Since St. George was not the patron of Genoa, the association of the red cross with the Saint is more likely to originate at the source with the Crusaders. It is noteworthy that the church of the English Varangians in Constantinople was dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Augustine of Canterbury. One would have expected a church of English warriors to involve St. George, if St. George was already associated with England. He wasn't. Meanwhile, of course, what was symbolic of Richard and England were the heraldric yellow lions on red, which by 1195 were displayed in threes, as at right.
Nevertheless, I do find postive statements at Wikipedia that in England St. George had along been revered and the red cross on white had long been associated with him even before the Third Crusade, and that the white cross on red was assigned by the Pope to England but then switched with France at the 1188 meeting between Richard and Philip II. This is inconsistent with my other sources (e.g. Whitney Smith), does not seem to be attested by the evidence (i.e. we don't see a red on white in England until 1277), and in general is not consistent with the understanding that the use of crosses originated with the Crusades (at a time when national flags or settled national colors did not exist), involved variable colors for many years (Scotland and France both switched between red and blue), and that the veneration of St. George was brought back by the Crusaders. I worry that claims for the antiquity of the specifically English "Cross of St. George" are ahistorical and nationalistic in motivation. A sensible treatment of this may be found at the Flags of the World.
We then face the issue of just how and when the red cross on white becomes associated with England in metropolitan usage. As the red on white cross has become distinctive of England, I begin to wonder to what extent it actually reflects the long history of English recruits fighting for Romania in the Varangian Guard. Indeed, if the Cross of St. George here originated with Crusaders in the East, its interpretation as an English symbol could well have been due to the English Varangians themselves, who would have fought under it for many years and picked up the cult of St. George just as the Crusaders did. It is attested that by 1277, the English cross had settled on the red on white coloring, and this was at the time of perhaps the heyday of English Varangians under Michael VIII -- who wrote that letter mentioning them in 1272. Whitney Smith says that the red cross was not really prominent for another century [p.182, nota bene], while The Penguin Dictionary of Saints [1965, 1983] says that George "may have been named the national patron when King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter under his patronage, c.1348" [p.146]. Whitney Smith adds, "The saint's position was enhanced in 1415 when, in his name, troops under Henry V won the day at the Battle of Agincourt" and then in 1419 the King ordered that "every man of what estate, condition, or nation that he be, of our party, bear a band of St. George" [p.182].
I might therefore entertain the speculation that what became the traditional coloring of the English Cross of St. George might actually have been derived from the Romanian even more than from a Genoese usage. This would be a monument unlike any other to the history of the English involvement in Constantinople. Since most histories of England ignore the very existence of English Varangians, the connection of the Cross of St. George to them falls into a kind of secret history. The antipathy of some English historians for "Byzantium" thus stands in stark contrast to the history of an English participation in Romania and this coincidence, if not derivation, of the actual flag of England.
Source (http://www.friesian.com/perifran.htm#cross)