Saint Adalbert of Prague

Life story

Adalbert, whose Czech name is Vojtěch, was born around 956 at Libice, to a noble family of the Slavník dynasty in Bohemia. He studied at Magdeburg in Germany, and at confirmation took the name Adalbert after the archbishop there. In 982 or 983 he was chosen bishop of Prague, but he met many difficulties with the nobility and the court, as he wanted to reform practices such as the slave trade and unlawful marriages.

He twice left his diocese. The first time, around 988, he went to Rome and joined the monastery of Saints Boniface and Alexis. The pope sent him back to Prague in 992, but in 995 he departed again, shortly before the Slavník family was massacred by rivals. He lived in Hungary and came to Poland, where Duke Bolesław the Brave supported him, and then took on a mission to the Prussians along the Baltic coast.

Around 997, Adalbert and a few companions arrived in the land of the Prussians. On 23 April 997 he was killed by some of the local people. Bolesław later ransomed his body, according to tradition for its weight in gold, and had it brought to Gniezno. A few years later Emperor Otto III made a pilgrimage to his tomb in the year 1000 and established Gniezno as an archdiocese. Adalbert is honoured as one of the patron saints of Poland and of the Czech Republic.

Works and witness

• Bishop of Prague from about 982 or 983
• Left Prague for Rome and lived in the monastery of Saints Boniface and Alexis
• Preached in Hungary and Poland under Bolesław's protection
• Killed on 23 April 997 while on mission to the Prussians
• His tomb is at Gniezno, visited by Otto III in the year 1000

Patron of

Poland, Czech Republic

Saints from the same country

Saint Wenceslaus, Saint John Neumann, Saint John of Nepomuk, Saint Ludmila

References

• Vita prior sancti Adalberti (Canaparius)
• Bruno of Querfurt, Vita sancti Adalberti
• Martyrologium Romanum

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.