GOOD KING WENCELAS

Wenceslas, the Good King is known from a carol written by J.M. Neale, but having little to do with the real Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia.

Born in AD907 he was a devoted Christian and worked very closely with the clergy and tried to improve the educational and religious level of his people.

Due to his support of the Christian German King Henry the Fowler as successor to Charlemagne, he was murdered by his own brother Boleslav’s followers.

His relics were taken to the church of St. Vitus in Prague, which became a cult center and a place of pilgrimage.

Within 20 years Wenceslas became Bohemia’s patron saint and his image started appearing on coinage.