 |
 |
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Today (28. September) is the feast day of: Wenceslas (d. 935). The very pious W. (Latin: Wenceslaus; Czech: Václav; German: Wenzel), who is said to have taken a vow of virginity, succeeded his Christian father Wratislaus (Vratislav) as duke of Bohemia. Generally said to have been a dutiful client of the German king Henry the Fowler, he moved his dominion into the Christian and Germanic orbit of the western empire. This state of affairs did not sit well with his non-Christian mother, who as regent had opposed the expansion of Christianity in Bohemia, and with other members of his family. His brother Boleslaus (Boleslav) had him murdered as he was about to hear Mass at an oratory in today's Stará Boleslav (German: Altbunzlau) in the Czech Republic. W. was buried there but was later moved by B. to a tomb in the predecessor of Prague's present cathedral of St. Vitus. By the 980s he was honored as a saint. W. is a Czech national hero and a patron saint of the Czech Republic. His hagiographic dossier is extensive. One of his early Passiones (BHL 8821) was written at the behest of Otto II by bishop Gumpold of Mantua (d. 985). A later one of some literary merit (BHL 8824) was written by Lawrence of Montecassino (Lawrence of Amalfi, d. 1048). A view of the dedication portrait of an early copy of Gumpold's _Passio sancti Vencezlai martyris_ now in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, showing W. receiving a martyr's crown from Christ while Hemma (d. 1006), wife of duke Boleslaus II, prostrates herself at his feet: http://www.hab.de/ausstellung/ma-erzaehlt/ma01.htm The first illustration on this page is an expandable view of an illumination showing W. enthroned, from a late eleventh-century Gospels (Codex Vyssegradensis) made, probably at Regensburg, for the Bohemian monarchy: http://libraries.theeuropeanlibrary.org/CzechRepublic/treasures_en.xml Two views of the twelfth-century crypt in W.'s memorial church at Stará Boleslav: http://tinyurl.com/jnroz http://tinyurl.com/ru5nq Various views of W.'s chapel in Prague's cathedral of St. Vitus: Exterior: http://www.pbase.com/duncanburt/image/1333156 http://www.pbase.com/duncanburt/image/1333153 Interior (decor is originally of the fourteenth century): http://tinyurl.com/2s4zxd http://tinyurl.com/2joblk http://old.hrad.cz/castle/svvac1v_uk.html http://users.bigpond.net.au/paulnika/Images/Photos/photo0060.JPG http://www3.worldisround.com/photos/0/487/358.jpg A panel portrait of W. from a mid-fourteenth-century triptych by Tommaso di Modena in the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karl¨tejn Castle, Karl¨tejn, Czech Republic: http://www.volny.cz/ikonaciko/vaclav.htm Some views of the mostly fifteenth-century Stadtkirche St. Wenzel in Naumburg (Sachsen-Anhalt), a replacement for a church of the same dedication first documented from 1228: http://www.globopix.de/detail.asp?idi=82&i=16&pagina=10 http://tinyurl.com/yu4xwu http://tinyurl.com/2awp5n Best, John Dillon (last year's post lightly revised) ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html