28 September - Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia, born around the year 907 in Stochov near Libušín, was the son of Prince Vratislav I of Bohemia and his pagan wife Drahomíra of Stodor, daughter of a prince of the Slavic tribe of the Velatians on the Elbe. He would have been baptized by a Slavic priest who was a disciple of the Apostle Saint Methodius.
After a very Christian childhood, especially under the influence of his grandmother Ludmilla of Pšov, he was sent to the school of St. Peter's Church in Budeč, where Latin was taught. Prince Vratislav died in battle in 921, but Wenceslas was too young to reign and Drahomira assumed the regency. She despises the Christianity of her son and mother-in-law. The young king must take refuge at his grandmother's, who is strangled on September 16, 921 on Drahomira's order. Chaos reigns then in the duchy of Bohemia and Duke Arnulf of Bavaria known as "The Evil One" takes advantage of it to invade the country in spring 922 and restore the old Germanic guardianship. Drahomira assumed power at least until 924.
Wenceslas acceded to the throne two years later and had his mother imprisoned in the castle of Budeč. The king of Germania, Henri I the Birdcatcher, threatens then to invade Bohemia but Wenceslas proposes to him to sign a pact of non-aggression and buys this peace for an annual tribute of 120 oxen and 500 talents of money: Wenceslas prefers peace to war. Many companions of the sovereign, including Boleslav his own brother, do not accept this process which they find humiliating.
Wenceslas, a fervent Christian, distinguished himself by his piety, benevolence and pacifism and transformed society in the religious and institutional fields. He changed the judicial system by reducing the use of capital punishment or torture. He leaves alive and maintains in his functions Radislav, prince of Kouřim, whom he defeated in a duel but according to tradition orders the destruction of the gallows of his duchy. Around 926, he had a rotunda built to receive the relic of the arm of Guy, patron saint of Saxony, which Henry I the Birdcatcher had offered him.
Boleslav, greedy for power and aided by several lords, conspires against his own brother. He invites him to celebrate the birth of his fourth child by luring him to the patron saint's day in the church of St. Cosmos and Damian in the town of Stará Boleslav, not far from Prague. Wenceslas comes unarmed. Attacked by his brother and other conspirators, he refuses to defend himself. He is murdered in front of the church gate on September 28, 929/935. His brother becomes Duke of Bohemia under the name of Boleslav I. Three years later, on March 4, 932 (or 938), repentant Bohemian Boleslav I had his brother's body transported to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. His tomb remains there in the Chapel of St. Wenceslas.
