Tower of Strength

Chantlers' April 2014 Shakespeare Challenge - 'Tower of Strength"

The phrase, 'Tower of Strength" appeared in Richard III, spoken by Richard:
"Why, our troops amount to three times that. Besides, the king’s name is a tower of strength; the opposition doesn’t have that advantage."
The play was believed to be written in 1592.

But the phrase has an earlier origin - appearing in the marriage ceremony of the Book of Common Prayer in 1549, when the minister prays to God, asking that he be a "towere of strength" to the couple.

After a conversation about dragons this morning, I opted for St George, the tower of strength you would need, should dragons appear.

The real St George was a Roman Soldier in Palestine, son of a Greek Christian mother. The Emperor at the time was Diclotian, who issued an edict that said no Christian could be in the Roman army, on pain of death. George went to plead with Diclotian, but to no avail, and was decapitated for refusing to recant his religion, on Nicodemia's city wall on 23 April 303AD. Which makes me 3 days early for celebrating St. George. But since it is Easter Sunday, I hope I can be forgiven for nominating St George, patron saint of England, as the Tower of Strength and inspiration to uphold belief.