The legend of Saint Jordi

The best-known interpretation stems from a combination of historical events and legends. Saint George was a knight born in the early 4th-century AD. He was martyred and beheaded on 23rd April in 303 AD on the orders of Emperor Diocletian because of his refusal to persecute Christians. He was widely venerated following his death and his popularity spread throughout Catalonia during the Middle Ages. He was proclaimed the patron saint of Catalonia in 1456.

And what about the legend of Saint Jordi? The most popular version finds the martyr in the town of Montblanc in the Catalan county of Conca de Barberà, where there lived a fearsome dragon that was terrorising the population. To appease the dragon, every day he was given a human sacrifice chosen by lot. One day it fell to the king's daughter and he sent her to the dragon's lair. A noble knight then appeared, confronted the dragon and ran it through with his sword, killing it and saving the princess from her tragic fate. According to legend, a beautiful rose bush grew on the spot where the dragon's blood had been spilt, which would bear red roses every April. And this is the origin of the medieval tradition when men would give a rose to their beloved as a sign of love on the day of Sant Jordi.