St. George

George is one of the most famous saints in Christendom, and that fame makes honesty more important rather than less. The martyr's cult remains in full view: ancient, powerful, and spread through East and West with astonishing strength. At the same time the life refuses to turn later legendary expansions into firm biography. The dragon story and the embroidered acts belong to the history of devotion, not to the earliest secure account.

What remains, however, is far from thin. A real martyr named George stood so vividly in the Church's memory that soldiers, princes, cities, and ordinary believers all took him as patron. England especially bound itself to his name. The life is strong because it shows how deep a martyr cult can run even when the fuller narrative later grows beyond what history can certify.