Case file · Apparition / miracle
Saint George at the Battle of Adwa
Ethiopian tradition credits Saint George with the victory over the Italian army at Adwa on 1 March 1896, the feast day of the saint in the Ethiopian calendar, and says his tabot was carried into battle.
1896 CE · 14.02, 38.97 · status: legend
The account
Menelik II's army brought the tabot of Saint George from the church at Entoto. After the victory Menelik built St George's Cathedral in Addis Ababa, finished in 1911, partly by Italian prisoners of war. Ethiopians still mark Adwa Day each year, and the saint's role is retold in songs and paintings of the battle.
The sceptical view
The battle is fully documented; historians explain the victory by Ethiopia's numbers, modern rifles and Italian mistakes. The saint's help is a matter of faith.