- In 921, when Wenceslaus was 13, his father died and he was brought up by his grandmother, Saint Ludmila, who raised him as a Christian. A dispute between the fervently Christian regent and her daughter-in-law drove Ludmila to seek sanctuary at Tetín Castle near Beroun. Drahomíra, who was trying to garner support from the nobility, was furious about losing influence on her son and arranged to have Ludmila strangled at Tetín on September 15, 921. Wenceslaus is usually described as exceptionally pious and humble, and a very educated and intelligent young man for his time.
According to some legends, having regained control of her son, Drahomíra set out to convert him to the old pagan religion. According to other legends, she was a Christian herself; however, very little is known about her rule.
After the fall of Great Moravia, the rulers of the Bohemian duchy had to deal both with continuous raids by the Magyars and the forces of the Saxon duke and East Frankish king Henry the Fowler, who had started several eastern campaigns into the adjacent lands of the Polabian Slavs, homeland of Wenceslaus' mother. To withstand Saxon overlordship Wenceslaus' father Vratislaus had forged an alliance with the Bavarian duke Arnulf the Bad, then a fierce opponent of King Henry; however, it became worthless when Arnulf and Henry reconciled at Regensburg in 921.
In 924 or 925 Wenceslaus assumed government for himself and had Drahomíra exiled. After gaining the throne at the age of eighteen, he defeated a rebellious duke of Kourim named Radslav. He also founded a rotunda consecrated to St Vitus at Prague Castle in Prague, which exists as present-day St Vitus Cathedral.
Early in 929 the joint forces of Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and King Henry 1 the Fowler reached Prague in a sudden attack, which forced Wenceslaus to resume the payment of a tribute which had been first imposed by the East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia in 895. Henry had been forced to pay a huge tribute to the Magyars in 926 and he therefore needed the Bohemian tribute which Wenceslaus probably refused to pay any longer after the reconciliation between Arnulf and Henry. One of the possible reasons for Henry's attack was also the formation of the anti-Saxon alliance between Bohemia, the Polabian Slavs and the Magyars. [1]
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- Muligens drept av broren Boleslav.
In September 935 (in older sources 929) a group of nobles—allied with Wenceslaus' younger brother Boleslav—plotted to kill the prince. After Boleslav invited Wenceslaus to the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Stará Boleslav, three of Boleslav's companions – Tira, Cesta and Hnevsa – murdered Wenceslaus on his way to church after a quarrel between him and his brother. Boleslav thus succeeded him as the Duke of Bohemia.
According to Cosmas's Chronicle, one of Boleslav's sons was born on the day of Wenceslaus' death, and because of the ominous circumstance of his birth the infant was named Strachkvas, which means a dreadful feast.
There are discrepancies in the records regarding the date of St Wenceslaus' death. It has been argued that
Wenceslaus' remains were transferred to St Vitus's Church in 932, ruling out the later date; however, the year 935 is now favored by historians as the date of his murder.
There is a tradition which states that Saint Wenceslaus' loyal servant, Podevin, avenged his death by killing one of the chief conspirators. Podevin was executed by Boleslav.
Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death, when a cult of Wenceslas grew up in Bohemia and in England.
Bildetekst:
Wenceslaus' assassination: the duke flees from his brother (with sword) to a church, but the priest closes the door, Gumpold von Mantua, 10th century. [1]
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Abt 0907 - 0935 (28 years)
[1] 