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WENCESLAS

Specialty Definition: Saint Wenceslas

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Saint Wenceslas (or Wenceslaus; Czech: Václav) (907-935) was the son of Vratislav I, Prince of Bohemia. His father was a Christian through his father Borivoy's conversion by Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, His mother Drahomira, however, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief who held on to the pagan belief system, as did many Czechs at the time, fearing Christianity would threaten their positions in the established pagan power structure.

When Wenceslas was thirteen his father was killed in battle and he was brought up by his grandmother, Saint Ludmilla, who raised him as a Christian. Drahomira, who was trying to garner support from the pagan nobility, was furious at her son's conversion and arranged to have Ludmilla strangled.

Having regained control of her son, Drahomira set out to convert him to the old pagan religion. Wenceslas, however, continued to practice Christianity in secrecy. After gaining the throne at the age of eighteen, he promoted the spread of Christianity throughout Bohemia both by building churches and cathedrals, such as St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, but also by his acquiescence to the rule of the Holy Roman Empire. As such, the pagan nobility of Bohemia saw Wenceslas and his faith as not only a threat to their pagan tradition, but also to their very sovereignty.

A group of these nobles allied with Wenceslas' younger brother, Boleslas, in a plot to kill the prince. In addition to having been raised in the pagan tradition by Drahomira, Boleslas had the added incentive of being Wenceslas' successor to the throne. After inviting his brother to the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian, he murdered him on his way to church and thus succeeded him as the Prince of Bohemia.

After his death, Wenceslas was canonized as a saint due to his martyr's death, as well as several purported miracles that occurred after his death. His feast day is September 28.

Various "King in the mountain" legends have been told about Wenceslas. He is also the subject of the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas"

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Saint Wenceslas."

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Wenceslaus III of Bohemia

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Wenceslaus III Premyslid (Czech \Václav), (October 6, 1289 - August 4, 1306). King of Hungary (1301 - 1305). King of Bohemia (1305 - 1306). Wenceslaus III was the son of Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia and Poland and Judith von Habsburg, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I. His father accepted the crown of Hungary on his behalf in 1301. Wenceslaus III was unable to assert his power in Hungary and relinquished the crown to Otto, Duke of Bavaria, in 1305. Wenceslaus III, however, wanted to claim his hereditary right to the Polish throne, but was murdered in Olomouc, Moravia on August 4, 1306 while on his way to Poland to be crowned. Wenceslaus was the last of the Premyslid rulers of Bohemia. His sister, Elizabeth (Eliska), heiress of Bohemia, married John "The Blind" of Luxembourg.

See also: Kings of Hungary, Dukes and Kings of Bohemia

Preceded by: Wenceslaus II of Bohemia

List of Polish rulers

Succeeded by: Ladislaus I of Poland

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Wenceslaus III of Bohemia."

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