Saint Wenceslaus would not have become a martyr and patron of the Krakow cathedral if it were not for his brother's morbid lust for power. Prince Bolesław Srogi - the father of our princess Dobrawa - was ready to murder his closest relative to take over the throne.
Wenceslaus, who ruled in Prague from about 925, was not an ordinary ruler. Details are lost in the mists of history and in the inventions of life writers, there is no doubt, however, that the Czechs experienced an eccentric leader.
He was characterized by deep religiousness, even devotion, about which rumors were circulating even in distant Saxony. It was said that under his princely robes he always wore a hairpiece in order to please God. The open secret was Wacław's reluctance to pass court sentences, as well as the fact that he abhors exaggerated violence and avoids entertainment. His fear of sin was also known.
Prince Wenceslaus, known as Saint Wenceslaus, in a 17th century painting
Whenever the prince happened to drink too much in the company of his subordinates or to hang out, he immediately went to the church to apologize to God. Sometimes he did it, it seems, the same night, still drunk and semiconscious. More often, however, he did not do propitiatory prayers and penance until the next day. His younger brother Bolesław knew it perfectly well. And he decided to use his knowledge.
A full-blown feast
It was early morning on September 28, 935, when Wenceslaus, sleepy, left his residence in Stará Boleslav, walking unhurriedly towards the nearby church. He couldn't be in a good mood. Not only was he forced to celebrate too much, but his companion was none other than his brother Bolesław.
Bolesław Srogi. 19th century painting by Anton Petter.
It had been sparking between the siblings for a long time. The younger prince, devoured by ambition and convinced of his own superiority, could not come to terms with the fact that a stupid accident had spoiled his life. It was Wacław, who made a constant mockery of himself, weak and devoid of vision, fell to the supreme authority, and the only - absolutely the only, in Bolesław's opinion - justification was the fact that he was born a few years earlier.
Bolesław must have felt that he was beyond his brother in every respect:as a warrior, organizer, speaker, judge and, above all, a ruler. He made new conspiracies, trying to forge new powers, forts and honors for himself. Still, he didn't have enough. Finally, he decided to fight for everything. And it is in a style that his mother would not be ashamed of - bloodthirsty, morbidly power-hungry and removed from the affair of the state not by someone else, but by the young Wacław, Princess Drahomira.
Brother against brother
Wacław pulled the door handle of the heavy church faith, but it did not help. The building was closed with four triggers, despite the fact that the hour of the morning mass was approaching. Was the deacon overslept? He probably thought at first. Surprise was far too slowly giving way to anxiety. Before he noticed, a large figure of Bolesław had grown up at his side.
This was apparently not surprising. Stará Boleslav Castle was the seat of his brother and it was at his request that Wenceslaus had come here the previous day. The pretext was to celebrate the day of the martyrs Kosma and Damian. Bolesław presented the family feast as an occasion for reconciliation. And he stressed that he would consider the refusal to be a slap on himself. Wacław reluctantly gave in, which he regretted more and more. Several hours of feasting in no way brought him closer to his brother. This one still seemed tense, and his subordinates were constantly watching the superior prince as if they were expecting an attack from him ...
- Thank you for the feast, brother, and for serving me so well - Wenceslaus muttered, masking his uncertainty in an official phrase. Bolesław's mouth suddenly opened in a broad, mocking smile.
- Now I want to be even better for you! He exclaimed, yanking the sword from its scabbard. The prince had not realized what was going on yet, but his reflexes and many years of combat training did their job. He jerked aside instinctively, and the blow aimed straight at the head missed him by centimeters. Without waiting for anything, Wacław caught up with his brother - clearly surprised that he still had a living human in front of him, and not a blood-drenched corpse - tore the sword from his hand and tossed it aside.
Saint Wenceslaus in a modern painting.
Expecting an unclean play, maybe a poisoned knife, or maybe only his hands clasped around his neck, he knocked Bolesław to the ground with a strong thrust.
"I could kill you like a tiny animal," he gasped angrily. - But I won't stain my hands with my brother's blood!
The Mark of Cain
Bolesław looked at him with eyes full of rage. It was not, however, because the attack was unsuccessful. He just heard the jokes and teasing in his mind. He, a fearless and ruthless commander, succumbed to some ineffectual plague pretending to be a prince ... Well, at least he had a throne as a consolation, because his plan also included the worst possibility.
A small squad of armed warriors burst from behind the nearest building. In the front ran the young prince's bodyguards:Czest, Tir and Gniewosz, who without hesitation rushed to Wacław. The swords started to move, and for a brief moment the screams of the terrified ruler could be heard. They quickly gave way to the gasps and insults of the attackers. The faint smell of blood filled the air. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, had only one prince.
Birth of a black legend
It is possible that the whole scene took place just a few dozen meters from the room in which a tiny, born about a year earlier wailed in a cradle suspended from the ceiling. princess Dobrawa . It could have happened otherwise - and Bolesław fathered Dobrawa somewhere between purges, fights and executions accompanying the seizure of power after Wacław.
In the illustration, Bolesław murders Wacław, and the bribed priest cuts off the victim's escape route. Illumination from one of the most valuable Czech books - the codex from Wolfenbüttel.
Period texts say that the new prince ruthlessly murdered his brother's supporters. First of all, those who managed to escape abroad survived. However, the death and flight of members of the hostile party were not enough to silence Bolesław's anger.
It is said that he had their children drowned in the Vltava River and forcibly married their widows or abandoned wives to other men. Even a forty-five-year-old Drahomira ran away . Apparently, she sensed that Bolesław would not turn out to be as compassionate and forgiving son as Wenceslaus. Her intuition did not disappoint her .
Notes:
- I am writing about a cradle suspended from the ceiling, because this was what the priests and educators of the time recommended, who tried to counteract cases of strangling children sleeping with their parents. See eg D. Żoładź-Strzelczyk, The Child in the Polish Medieval Family , "Quaestiones Medii Aevi Novae", vol. 4 (2009).
- Reconstruction of events based on the oldest lives of St. Wenceslas. The statements of the characters are authentic - or at least this is how they are presented in the surviving legends.