St. George came to be associated with England through the initiative of the crown. This chapter uses court records, chronicle and literary sources, and artistic evidence to trace the story of how successive monarchs deployed him to consolidate their kingship. From the beginning, this deployment took place in a military context and was therefore something that the king shared with all ranks of his soldiers. Following the example of the crusading King Edward I, two other English kings widely regarded as “successful” (Edward III and Henry V) were especially devoted to St. George, while “unsuccessful” ones (such as Edward II, Richard II, and Henry VI) were not. St. George, therefore, became a figure that people could use to acknowledge someone as king, or to rebuke a king for not ruling well. Savvy kings came to realize that venerating St. George was expected of them if they wanted to be taken seriously.

In Chapter 2 we saw that Henry III gave money to St. George's church in Oxford, and had an image of St. George placed over his entrance hall in Winchester. These acts might be termed examples of the king's personal piety, taking place as they do either at court, or in the context of the almsgiving expected of all medieval Christian leaders. For the use of St. George in a more public and official capacity, however, we have to examine the reign of Henry's son and successor, Edward I (1272–1307). Edward had gone on crusade as a prince and had succeeded to the throne while abroad, returning to England in 1274. Although he frequently expressed a desire to lead another crusade, the only military campaigns he conducted were in Wales, France, and Scotland. Edward, however, was influenced enough by his crusading experience to employ the patron saint of crusading in his subsequent military engagements. In this way, St. George came to be a familiar companion to the English army, and a familiar patron of the English crown.

In 1277 Edward invaded Wales in order to force its prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, to render homage to him for the principality, something that Llywelyn had repeatedly refused to do. The campaign was short and successful, extracting homage and a large indemnity from the prince.