St. George's Day

St. George’s Day (Diada de Sant Jordi) is celebrated on April 23 in Catalonia with the Book Day and the Fira de les Roses (a fair of roses [ST]), which are symbols of culture and love. It also reclaims the Catalan culture and it is their [ST/LEX] St. Valentine’s Day. For that reason, giving a red rose “as blood” to your beloved person has become a tradition since the 15th century. In the 1930s giving a book to the [ST/GR] men also became a tradition as a reason for [ST] the Book Day. St. George’s Day is celebrated the same day as the National Day of Aragon.

Reason

St. George's Day is celebrated on April 23 since 303, the day the [ST] knight George died. The Saint, who was under the Emperor Diocletian’s orders, refused to obey the order of the Prosecution of [GRAM/LEX] Christians, so he was martyred and decapitated. Very soon people [ST] began to venerate him as a martyr and tales related to him immediately appeared.

The cult of Saint George was fully extended to all Catalan cities in the Middle Ages, although he was already devoted in the 8th century. Since 1456, he is the official patron of Catalonia. Even though this day was celebrated with more or less intensity since the 16th century, it was at the end of the 9^th [CS] century, with the political and cultural movement of the Renaissance [ST], when St. George was established as the patriotic, civic and cultural day of celebration held in Catalonia.[OM] [TIP]

Roses

Legend

The Catalan version of the legend of Saint George tells [ST] that after a bloody battle between the knight and the dragon, the beast fell pierced by a [ST] sharpened iron and [TIP] from the drops of blood falling down to the ground a rose bush that bloomed [TENSE] profusely each April was born. This is the explanation that the oral tradition gives on the custom of [PREP] presenting with [NMS] roses at St. George's Day, on April 23.

Told all imaginary legends and tales, we know that the tradition of presenting lovers with roses began long time ago. The link of Saint George with the cavalry and the courtly love world may have been the grounds for [NMS] this tradition. We also know that in the 15th century the Fira dels Enamorats (a fair for lovers) was celebrated in Barcelona and that [GRAM] around the Palau de la Generalitat the sellers of this flowers were settled. At the same time, presenting a rose to the women who attended the Eucharist officiated at the chapel of St. George in The Palau de la Generalitat was already a tradition. And finally, there are those who say that the custom of giving roses has Roman roots, specifically the roots of the festivities in honor of the goddess Flora, which were Christianized later [WO].

Stalls of roses

In the symbolic universe, the red rose, color of passion, is the flower of feminine love, while the carnation is the one reserved for masculine love. This day, the decoration of the rose is also quite curious and elements of different origins are mixed. On the one hand, feminine love represented by the rose with red, velvety and fragile petals, and sometimes accompanied by a spike which represents fertility, provokes a very ancient interpretation of cereal seeds. But there are those who actually read more prosaic and relates [GRAM] it to the arrival of good weather. On the other hand, the flower of St. George is usually decorated with elements that evoke Catalan identity, such as ties or strips with the Catalan flag, claiming the vindicative content of the day.

Nowadays, florists, corners, avenues, streets, squares... [ST] become points of sale and distribution of thousands of roses that are given to the loved ones, as tradition dictates, but also to friends, parents, colleagues, clients, etc. This flower has exceeded the original meaning of love and has also become a courtesy and friendship gift. The rose has become the main character of this day, up to the point that national production is not able to supply enough [GRAM/LEX], so it has to resort to the importations from other parts of the world.

History

In the 15th century a fair of roses [ST] was already celebrated in Barcelona, where mostly couples, the engaged ones, and young marriages came to celebrate St. George’s Day. That leads people [ST] to think that this day is the origin of the tradition of giving a rose that was celebrated at the Palau de la Generalitat in Catalonia. Converting this date as [PREP] a provisional celebration was proposed for the first time in 1436. This proposal was made in the Catalan Courts, but it was not made effective until 1456. Since the 15th century, St. George’s Day is the lovers [GRAM] day in Catalonia, and giving a red rose and a book is a tradition between couples. The monarchs Peter II the Catholic, James I, and Peter IV contributed to make the Saint popular. Despite being traditional, the popularity of giving roses was actively reestablished in 1914, due to the thrust of the Commonwealth of Catalonia.

Books

Origins

The Book Day has its origin in the 1920s, when the Valencian writer Vicent Clavel Andrés, director of the Publishing House [TIP] Cervantes, proposed to have a celebration to the Official Book Chamber of Barcelona and to the Publisher’s Guild of Catalonia in order to promote books in Catalonia. The chosen date was October 7, 1927.

In 1929, in the middle of the Barcelona International Exhibition, booksellers took to the street [NMS] and this initiative was so successful that it was decided to change the date. The new Book Day would be on April 23, a spring date, and it also coincided [TENSE/COH] with the burial of Miguel de Cervantes and with the death of the [GRAM] playwright William Shakespeare (according to the Julian calendar; he died on May 3 according to the Gregorian calendar), in 1616. Moreover, Josep Pla also died the same day in 1981. From the very beginning, this celebration contributed decisively to give a strong boost to the production and marketing of Catalan books and to the Catalan editorial production. It did not stop even during the Spanish Civil War and it still keeps this [ST] essence today.

The transcendence of the Catalan day has been so big that April 23 was declared World Book and Copyright Day by the UNESCO in 1995.

International Book Day

In November 15, 1995, the UNESCO General Conference decreed the [GRAM] April 23 as the International Book and Copyright Day. This day, readers use the opportunity to exchange their impressions on reading [NMS] on the street with their favourite writers, and writers sign the last publishing news [LEX]. For the last years [ST], this Book Day tradition has gained a strong media component, not only for the authors but also for the interest in this celebration. It confirms the influence and the success beyond Catalan borders.

Places

National Day of Catalonia

St. George’s Day has been declared national day of Catalonia [TIP] by the Government of Catalonia (or Generalitat de Catalunya), but this day is not a public holiday: it is a working day and a school day [ST]. On St. George’s Day, there are official receptions in the Palau de La Generalitat of Catalonia and in the education sector, where Floral Games are done [ST]. On this important day, the printed and recited word has the focus of attention [ST]. Following [LEX] the book Costumari Català of the [ST] folklorist Joan Amades, it was in the small town of Montblanc (Catalonia) where Saint George killed the dragon and saved the princess. For that reason, since 1987, Montblanc revives the Medieval Week of St. George’s Legend. The central aspect of this day is the performance, in the most popular places [NMS], of the legend of the noble knight who was the hero and who saved the princess [ST].

This is a protest day [ST] of [PREP] Catalan culture and there are many balconies decorated with the flag of Catalonia. There are also political demands [LEX] to help human [LEX] organisations, to raise money for schools or, [TIP] just to raise [ST] some extra money. Mass media broadcasts [GRAM] the celebration from the most emblematic places. However, it is necessary to highlight the festive atmosphere generated on this day. During this week [ADD], some activities in libraries and concerts in the street are included in the busy Catalan cultural programmation [LEX].

Books and roses are sold throughout Catalonia, but it is in La Rambla of Barcelona where this event reaches its highest expression. At these dates [ST], there are more stands than it uses to be [GR]. It is common [ST] to promote the sale of books signed by their authors, and to make discounts on prices. Nearby bookshops are overflowing, and they open even Sundays [PREP/SUP]. Moreover, poems and fragments from books are read, and theatres and showrooms make special offers. As far as roses [GR], they turn into business which is taken into advantage by everybody [GR]. Actually, it is estimated that in 2010 six millions of roses were sold in Catalonia [TIP] which means the 40% [GR] of roses sold [GR] throughout this year.

National Day of Aragon

The relation of [NMS] Saint George (Sant Chorche, in Aragonese) in the Kingdom of Aragon date [GRAM] back to 1096. That year, the belief that the mediation of Saint George in favour of the Christian forces was decisive for the victory in the Battle of Alcoraz was spread. This conflict determined the withdrawal of the Muslim Army [TIP] which tried to assist the city of Huesca and it led irremissibly to the reconquest of this valuable city for the kingdom [ST]. The help of Saint George in this kingdom [ST] was official in 1461. This happened because it was dictated by the Aragonese Corts, met [LEX] in Calatayud city upon convocation by the [ST] King John II and this convocation [ST] was enshrined by the Furs of Aragon. After the Nueva Planta decrees, this Aragonese celebration was abolished for over 250 years. However, a day after the constitution of the Aragon Government, April 10 1978 [ST], the celebration was returned [ST] [NMS]. The declaration of the 23th April [ST] as a local celebration of Aragon was voted and approved unanimously by the government advisers. From this moment it [GR/ST] was declared official under the name of “Day of Aragon”. Later [ST], this declaration became into law [LEX/ST] and was adopted by the Aragonese Corts the [GR] April 16 1984. This law establishes the condition of celebration [LEX] for April 23 of[ST/PREP] every year, a condition which is still enjoyed nowadays [NMS]. The adjective “national” appears by [PREP] the mention of the historical nature of this day, which was included in the text from [PREP] the statutory reform that the Corts ratified in 2007.

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