23rd April was also the date of the beginning of the reign of Alfred the Great - clearly one of the best kings ever and the only English monarch to be nicknamed "The Great" but it was his grandson Athlestan the Glorious who became the first King of England i.e. bringing the whole of England under one ruler for the first time.
That's not all: "April 23rd, the happy conjunction of St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday should be a love feast for England to which all are invited." [Telegraph]
4 comments:
Yesterday (22nd) was the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII getting the King Of England gig I believe.
Who'd have though the English would get so excited about a Turk born in Palestine who was the son of a Roman soldier. Still we're like that aren't we - a country unsure of itself unless at war.
you mean died in Palestine...but the point is it's the National Day and our flag bears the same red cross on white background is "one of the earliest known emblems representing England" although we need to thank the Genoans for that! ...so, where he was and who he was is almost irrelevant, we could make Noddy our patron Saint if there was the will...seems he was quite a good chap with various other countries and states having the same (
oops...meant to end saying that I mean George and not Noddy!...although I'm sure Noddy is a good chap.
???that was me!
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