Adalbert of Prague (; ; ; ; ; – 23 April 997), known in Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia by his birth name Wojciech or Vojtěch (), was a Czech missionary, Bishop of Prague, martyr, and Christian saint. He adopted the name Adalbert after Adalbert, bishop of Magdeburg.
Although still young, Adalbert was made bishop of Prague in 982. Political conflict and opposition led him to withdraw to Rome in 990, but Pope John XV subsequently sent him back to his diocese, where he founded the abbey of Břevnov. Continued opposition forced him to return once more to Rome. He later undertook missionary work among the Hungarians, Poles, and Prussians, who was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians to Christianity.
Adalbert's influence remained extensive after his death. He was canonized in 999, and his feast day is celebrated on 23 April. He was later declared the patron saint of the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Duchy of Prussia, and is also patron saint of the Archdiocese of Esztergom in Hungary. Adalbert has traditionally been credited with composing the oldest Czech hymn, Hospodine, pomiluj ny, and Bogurodzica, the oldest known Polish anthem, although his authorship of either work has not been confirmed.
His life Early years Born as Vojtěch in 952 or in gord Libice, he belonged to the Slavnik clan, one of the two most powerful families in Bohemia. Events from his life were later recorded by a Bohemian priest Cosmas of Prague (1045–1125). Vojtěch's father was Slavník (d. 978–981), a duke ruling a province centred at Libice. His mother was Střezislava (d. 985–987), and according to David Kalhous belonged to the Přemyslid dynasty.
He had five brothers: Soběslav, Spytimír, Dobroslav, Pořej, and Čáslav. Cosmas also refers to Radim (later Gaudentius) as a brother; who is believed to have been a half-brother by his father's liaison with another woman. After he survived a grave illness in childhood, his parents decided to dedicate him to the service of God. Adalbert was well educated, having studied for approximately ten years (970–80) in Magdeburg under Adalbert of Magdeburg. The young Vojtěch took his tutor's name "Adalbert" at his Confirmation.
Episcopacy
In 981 Adalbert of Magdeburg died, and his young protege Adalbert returned to Bohemia. Later Bishop Dietmar of Prague ordained him a Catholic priest. In 982, Bishop Dietmar died, and Adalbert, despite being under canonical age, was chosen to succeed him as Bishop of Prague. Amiable and somewhat worldly, he was not expected to trouble the secular powers by making excessive claims for the Church. Although Adalbert was from a wealthy family, he avoided comfort and luxury, and was noted for his charity and austerity. After six years of preaching and prayer, he had made little headway in evangelising the Bohemians, who maintained deeply embedded pagan beliefs.
Adalbert opposed the participation of Christians in the slave trade and complained of polygamy and idolatry, which were common among the people. Once he started to propose reforms he was met with opposition from the secular powers as well as the clergy. His family refused to support Duke Boleslaus in an unsuccessful war against Poland. Adalbert was no longer welcome and eventually forced into exile. In 988 he went to Rome. He intended to go to Jerusalem, but instead he went to the monastery of Monte Cassino, and from there to the Benedictine monastery of Saint Boniface and Alexis on Aventine Hill, where he lived for two years.
In 992, the archbishop of Mainz, Willigis, who was the superior of the Prague diocese, demanded that Adalbert return to his episcopal see – which he did. Together with a group of Italian Benedictine monks which he brought with him, he founded in 14 January 993 a monastery in Břevnov (then situated westward from Prague, now part of the city), the second oldest monastery on Czech territory. However, after another unsuccessful attempt at Christianization, he returned to the Aventine in 995. Shortly after Adalbert's departure from Bohemia, Duke Boleslaus II the Pious murdered Adalbert's five brothers and destroyed their family seat in Libice. After this, Adalbert could not safely stay in Bohemia and escaped from Prague. Strachkvas was eventually appointed to be his successor. However, Strachkvas suddenly died during the liturgy at which he was to accede to his episcopal office in Prague. The cause of his death is still ambiguous. The Pope directed Adalbert to resume his see, but believing that he would not be allowed back, Adalbert requested a brief as an itinerant missionary.
After spending a year on the Aventine, Adalbert set out on a pilgrimage through France and Germany in June 996. Between September and November, he stayed at the court of Emperor Otto III. During this time, he was released from his duties as bishop of Prague and was free to devote himself to the Christianization of pagan lands as a missionary bishop. From the imperial court, he traveled to a place referred to in the sources as Mestris, which Gerard Labuda identifies as Pécsvárad (Mons Ferreus) in Hungary. He probably baptized there Géza of Hungary and his son Stephen in Esztergom. From there, in March 997, he went to the court of the Polish duke Bolesław Chrobry in Gniezno.
Mission in Prussia
Bolesław initially planned to send Adalbert on a mission to the Veleti, but this direction was deemed too dangerous. The Bishop and his companions, entered Prussian territory and traveled along the coast of the Baltic Sea to Gdańsk. At the borders of the Polish realm, at the mouth of the Vistula River, his half-brother Radim (Gaudentius), Benedict-Bogusza (who was probably a Pole), and at least one interpreter, ventured out into Prussia alone, as Bolesław had sent his soldiers only to escort them to the border. Around 8–9 April, Adalbert arrived in Gdańsk. There, he performed a baptismal ceremony on Sunday, 11 April. He arrived in Prussia on 17 April, most likely in the region of Pomesania.
Upon arriving in Prussia, Adalbert dismissed his escort and remained only with his brother Gaudentius and the priest Benedict on a small island surrounded by a river called "Ilfing" near its mouth into the sea. The 9th-century account by Wulfstan uses the name "Ilfing" to refer to the channel connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the lake on which the Prussian settlement of Truso was located. Gerard Labuda identifies this location with Lake Drużno, which flows into the Vistula Lagoon near present-day Elbląg. There, they encountered the Prussians, who did not welcome them warmly. They were taken to a market village, most likely Truso, located on the opposite bank. They spent the day there, and after a tribal assembly was held, they were deemed dangerous and ordered to leave, which they did on 18 April.
Martyrdom The missionaries spent the following five days in a safe location, most likely on the Pomeranian side. From there, on 22 April, they crossed the river once again and set out toward another settlement called "Cholinun". Along the way, they passed through a forest and rested in a clearing, where they took a meal. According to Gerard Labuda, the settlement was the village of Pachoły (recorded in old sources as Bacculen, Bacolln, Bkollen, Pachollen), located on the Dzierzgoń River, which flows into Lake Drużno. Upon arriving at the settlement, Adalbert struck the gate, but since he was standing in a ditch, likely a dry moat, the guard told them to climb up to the hill. When the missionaries did so, one of the guards recognized them as the men previously expelled from the market settlement for bringing bad luck. According to the Passio from Tegernsee, the guard let out a "wild and strange cry," summoning the townspeople to the gate, where an interrogation of the newcomers began.
The inhabitants reacted with hostility, and their anger only grew due to Adalbert's demeanor, he "stood motionless, continuing to preach". The crowd began to stone him, and Adalbert collapsed to the ground. After that, the Prussians left them alone, and the missionaries withdrew from the site. The earliest hagiographies differ in the details of Adalbert's martyrdom. However, they agree that his death occurred after the group had left the settlement, that the wounds were inflicted solely on Adalbert and not on his companions, and that after his death, the bishop's head was cut off and impaled on a stake.
The Vita attributed to Canaparius names the instigator of the killing as Sicco, a priest and leader of the group, who was the first to strike with a spear. Bruno of Querfurt's account adds that this Prussian leader had a brother who had been "killed by the Polans," suggesting a motive rooted in vengeance. According to the Passio from Tegernsee, the bishop died while praying, struck down by the first blow of an axe, which severed his head.
The reasons for Adalbert's death remain unclear to this day. None of the three oldest hagiographies provide them, as none of Adalbert's companions knew the motives behind the actions of the Prussians. The most probable interpretation is that Adalbert ignored the decision of the tribal assembly and returned to Prussian territory. Another potential interpretation is the imperious manner with which he preached, but potentially because he preached using a book. The Prussians had an oral society where communication was face to face. To the locals Adalbert reading from a book may have come off as a manifestation of an evil action. According to other interpretations, on their way to "Cholinun", the missionaries may have unknowingly passed through a sacred grove of the Prussians, thereby violating a taboo. This is suggested by the ritual nature of the murder and the leading role played by the pagan priest. Such an interpretation is supported by a later account from Adam of Bremen, who, in describing Adalbert's mission and martyrdom, notes that the Prussians did not allow Christians to enter their sacred forests.
This encounter may also have taken place in Tenkitten and Fischhausen (now Primorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia). It is recorded that his body was bought back for its weight in gold by Boleslaus of Poland.
Veneration and relics
Canonization and initial veneration Immediately after the death of Adalbert, his close friends and promoters of his cult, Emperor Otto III, Bishop Notker of Liège, and Duke Bolesław the Brave, began building churches and chapels dedicated to him. Notker did this in the capital of his bishopric, founding a church near the older Church of St. John the Evangelist. Bolesław the Brave founded the Church of St. Adalbert on the Warta River, opposite the cathedral located on the island. All the early sites connected with the cult of St. Adalbert shared a link to water, being located on islands or near bodies of water.
The main effort of Bolesław the Brave, however, was the pursuit of the canonization of St. Adalbert, undertaken immediately after the ransom of his body and its transfer to Poland. A key role in this was played by Radim Gaudentius, the martyr's brother and a witness to his death, who was sent to Rome, where, together with John Canaparius, he wrote the Vita sancti Adalberti (known as the Vita prior). Adalbert was most likely declared a saint on 29 June, 999, in Rome. Another famous biographer of Adalbert was Bruno of Querfurt who wrote a hagiography of him in two versions, the first written in 1004, the second in 1008 (known as the Vita altera). Around 1025, the third hagiography of the saint was created, known as the Passion from Tegernsee, from the Bavarian Benedictine abbey where the memory of Saint Adalbert was venerated.