English nationalism Siege of Calais of 1346, King Edward III expelled the inhabitants of that city because, in his words, "I wolde repeople agayne the towne with pure Englysshmen". When King Henry V conquered Harfleur in 1415, he ordered the inhabitants to leave and imported English immigrants to replace them. Edward III promoted Saint George during his wars against Scotland and France. Under Edward I and Edward II, pennons bearing the Cross of Saint George were carried, along with those of Saint Edmund the Martyr and Saint Edward the Confessor. However Edward III promoted St George over the previous national saints of
George the Confessor George the Confessor Saint George the Confessor (Greek: "Ἅγιος Γεώργιος ὁ Ὁμολογητής"), also known as Saint George of Antioch, was the Bishop of Antioch in Pisidia in the 8th century. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and his feast day is 19 April. In his youth, George became a monk and gained renown for his piety, and was later ordained bishop of Antioch in Pisidia. In 754, George attended the iconoclast Council of Hieria in Constantinople, which banned the veneration of icons. However, as an iconodule, George refused to comply with the rulings of the