Today is a nice day and it is St George's Day, England's patron saint. In All-Saints Little Kimble near here there are some medieval wall paintings, including an archetypal St George, looking just like a crusader knight. In the background is the princess whom George chivalrously rescued from the dragon, according to the tale which is recounted in the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. The Golden Legend includes the detail of the lottery held to determine which maiden would be the dragon's next sacrifice).
The paintings in Little Kimble date back to the early fourteenth century. The princess behind George holds a thread, a possible reference to the portion of the story account in which after George's victory the tamed dragon is lead through the streets by the princess's girdle (before meeting an end that would not satisfy modern conservationists).
It is strange how St George took on the image of a crusader, or more specifically a Templar, with his white mantle and red cross. Even after the suppression amid spurious accusations the image clearly maintained pious and heroic overtones. The semi-mythical saint was originally more famous in the Byzantine East, and grew in popularity as a result of the Crusades. (George was originally supposed to be a Roman soldier and Christian martyr, born in Lydda in the Holy Land.) Little Kimble Church is slightly later than the era of the Templars, yet bears an architectural similarity to the Order's church at Temple, Midlothian, far to the north, which is now ruinous. 
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