Editing Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (section)

==Biography==
Wenceslaus was the son of [[Vratislaus I]], Duke of Bohemia from the [[Přemyslid dynasty]]. His grandfather, [[Bořivoj I of Bohemia]], and grandmother, Ludmila, had been converted by [[Cyril and Methodius]] to [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Byzantine Christianity]] in a still unified [[Christendom]], before the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]]. His mother, [[Drahomíra]], was the daughter of a chief of the [[Havelli]], but was baptized at the time of her marriage. His paternal grandmother, [[Ludmila of Bohemia]], saw to it that he was educated in the [[Old Church Slavonic]] [[liturgical language]] and, at an early age, Wenceslaus was sent to the college at [[Budeč (gord)|Budeč]].<ref name=mershman/>

In 921, when Wenceslaus was about 13, his father died and his grandmother became regent. Jealous of the influence Ludmila wielded over Wenceslaus, Drahomíra arranged to have her killed. Ludmila was at [[Tetín (Beroun District)|Tetín]] Castle near [[Beroun]] when assassins murdered her on 15 September 921. She is said to have been strangled by them with her veil. She was at first buried in the church of St. Michael at Tetín, but her remains were later removed, probably by Wenceslaus,<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09416a.htm Ott, Michael. "St. Ludmilla." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, [1910]. 2016</ref> to the [[St. George's Basilica, Prague|church of St. George in Prague]], which had been built by his father.<ref name=Butler/>

Drahomíra then assumed the role of regent and immediately initiated measures against Christians.<ref name=mershman/> When Wenceslaus was 18, those Christian nobles who remained rebelled against Drahomira. The uprising was successful, and Drahomira was sent into exile to Budeč.

===Reign===
[[File:PO1 revers svVaclav92-93.jpg|thumb|Seal of Wenceslaus I]]
With the support of the nobles, Wenceslaus took control of the government.<ref name=Butler>[http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/281.html Butler, Alban. "St. Wenceslas, Duke of Bohemia, Martyr", ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol. IX 1866]</ref> He reined in the dependent dukes who had become restive under the regency and used Christianity to strengthen his state."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Db76shTEM60C&q=Wenceslaus+I,+Duke+of+Bohemia Agnew, Hugh LeCaine. ''The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown''] Palo Alto, California: Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 2004. n.p., {{ISBN|9780817944926}}</ref>

After the fall of [[Great Moravia]], the rulers of the Bohemian Duchy had to deal both with continuous raids by the [[Hungarian people|Magyars]] and the forces of the [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxon]] and [[East Francia|East Frankish]] king [[Henry the Fowler]], who had started several eastern campaigns into the adjacent lands of the [[Polabian Slavs]], homeland of Wenceslaus's mother.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Timothy Reuter |last=Reuter |first=Timothy |title=Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056 |location=New York |publisher=Longman |year=1991|page=142 et seq}}</ref> To withstand Saxon overlordship, Wenceslaus's father Vratislaus had forged an alliance with the [[History of Bavaria|Bavarian]] duke [[Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria|Arnulf]], a fierce opponent of King Henry at that time. The alliance became worthless, however, when Arnulf and Henry reconciled at [[Regensburg]] in 921.

Early in 929, the joint forces of Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and King Henry I the Fowler reached [[Prague]] in a sudden attack that forced Wenceslaus to resume the payment of a tribute first imposed by the [[East Francia|East Frankish]] king [[Arnulf of Carinthia]] in 895.<ref name=Krofta>''Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids'', Kamil Krofta, ''The Cambridge Medieval History: Victory of the Papacy'', Vol. VI, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previt-Orton and Z.N. Brook, (Cambridge University Press, 1957), 426.</ref> Henry had been forced to pay a huge tribute to the Magyars in 926 and needed the Bohemian tribute, which Wenceslaus probably refused to pay after the reconciliation between Arnulf and Henry.<ref name=Krofta/> Another possible reason for the attack was the formation of the anti-Saxon alliance between Bohemia, the Polabian Slavs, and the Magyars.

Wenceslaus introduced German priests into his realm and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, which had gone into disuse in many places for want of priests.<ref name=mershman/> He also founded a rotunda consecrated to [[St. Vitus]] at [[Prague Castle]] in [[Prague]] that was the basis of present-day [[St. Vitus Cathedral]].

===Assassination===
[[File:Ermordung Wenzels (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Wenceslaus flees from his brother who is wielding a sword, but the priest closes the door of the church (from Gumpold's Codex)]]

In September 935, a group of nobles allied with Wenceslaus's younger brother Boleslav plotted to kill him. After Boleslav invited Wenceslaus to a celebration of the feast of [[Sts. Cosmas and Damian|Saints Cosmas and Damian]] in [[Stará Boleslav]], three of Boleslav's companions (Tira, Česta, and Hněvsa) fell on the duke and stabbed him to death.<ref name=Newton>[https://books.google.com/books?id=F4-dAwAAQBAJ&dq=wenceslaus+i+duke+of+bohemia&pg=PA628 Newton, Michael. "Wenceslaus I (907–935)", ABC-CLIO, 2014] {{ISBN|9781610692861}}</ref> As the duke fell, Boleslav ran him through with a lance.<ref name=Butler/>

According to [[Cosmas of Prague]], in his ''Chronica Boëmorum'' of the early 12th century, one of Boleslav's sons was born on the day of Wenceslaus's death. Because of the ominous circumstance of his birth, the infant was named [[Strachkvas]], which means "a dreadful feast".<ref name=Newton/>

There is also a tradition that Wenceslaus's loyal servant [[Podevin]] avenged his death by killing one of the chief conspirators, an act for which he was executed by Boleslav.<ref name=gibbs>[https://www.ubishops.ca/wp-content/uploads/1929-1930-Issue3.pdf Gibbs, C.H., "Good King Wenceslaus", ''The Mitre'', Volume XXXVII, No. 3, December 1929, p. 8, University of Bishop's College, Lennoxville, Quebec]</ref>

The assassination of Wenceslaus has been characterized as an important turning point in early Bohemian history, as the rule of Boleslav I saw him renounce the Franks, centralize power in Bohemia and expand the territory of the polity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Štefan |first1=Ivo |last2=Stránská |first2=Petra |last3=Vondrová |first3=Hana |date=2016 |title=The archaeology of early medieval violence: the mass grave at Budeč, Czech Republic |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=90 |issue=351 |pages=759–776 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2016.29 |s2cid=164175193 |issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free }}</ref>