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Here is a great article I found about the Bohemian Duke, Wenceslas. Who just so happens to be the topic of one of my favorite period Christmas songs that was published in 1853 by Rev. John Mason Neale. I realize that this history takes place over 900 years prior to the ACW but the song is appropriate for our period. Plus knowing a little about its origin only furthers our knowledge of the pop culture of the day. I hope you all enjoy the article!
Professing Faith: The real story of ‘Good King Wenceslas’
By Gregory Elder
Today, Dec. 26, is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church.
But while this is an interesting and doubtless profound commemoration in the calendar of the liturgical churches, the day is better known by the reference in the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas,” written by the Rev. John Mason Neale and published in 1853. It is a very odd sort of song in a number of ways. The tune appears in popular culture even more often than the words do and is played in the background to almost every film set at Christmas time that I have ever seen.
In the first place, it is not a traditional carol, a song sung by generations in honor of Christmas, although Neale published it in a book titled “Carols for Christmas.” It was entirely composed in Victorian England and was set to the tune “Tempus adest floridum,” which is an Easter song that dates to the 13th century with entirely different lyrics. The Latin title means “The time is near for flowering.”
The subject of the song, King Wenceslas, who immortalizes St. Stephen’s Day, was not even a king, nor was he English, and he actually died a rather nasty death in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic. It is a song immortalizing a medieval Catholic saint, written by an Anglican clergyman in Protestant England. But it is a fine Christmas song. The text reads as follows, and if you have consumed enough Christmas cheer, you can sing it as you read.
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night.
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
The actual Good King Wenceslas was in fact Duke Vaclav I of Bohemia, who was born around A.D. 907 and nominally came to power as a young man in 921 on the death of his father, Duke Vratislaus. Vratislaus was a Christian, but his wife, Drahomira, who was the mother of Vaclav, was a pagan. At the death of Vratislaus, a power struggle broke out between who would control the young duke, his Christian grandmother Ludmila or his pagan mother. Ludmila managed to raise Vaclav for some years, but Drahomira rallied the pagans among the nobility for political support and had the Christian Ludmila strangled. Vaclav remained Christian and by all accounts was quite devout in his faith, and on assuming the actual reins of government had his heathen mother exiled.
“Good King Wenceslas” got involved in the many wars and political conflicts of his day, but managed to keep the Bohemian peoples free from external dominance, for which he remains a nationalist hero among the Czech people today. He was known for his generosity to the poor and to the church. He also made a number of pious foundations of cathedrals, churches and monasteries to foster the Christian faith. But in September 935, Wenceslas, or Vaclav, was murdered by his bother Boleslav while the saint was riding to Mass one day. Boleslav assumed political power and is known in history as Boleslav the Cruel, although he was an efficient and able ruler. But very soon the murdered Vaclav was being hailed as a saint and a martyr for the faith, even though there is no evidence that the murder was religiously motivated. His cult spread in Bohemia and spread to England. Vaclav’s body was eventually laid to rest in St. Vitus Cathedral, a building the saint had founded.
Popular assent declared Vaclav to be the ideal medieval ruler, drawing his wisdom and strength from his deep piety. A wonderful legend describes how there is an army of his warriors, buried inside the Czech Mount Blanik. These warriors lie sleeping until the hour when the Czech peoples will find themselves in mortal danger. But at that hour Good King Wenceslas will rise, awaken his sleeping warriors to save the motherland from its evil foes and establish peace and prosperity in the land.
This sleeping king under the mountain legend clearly bears a strong resemblance to the legend of King Arthur, who in British legend sleeps in the Isle of Avalon and will one day save England in the hour of its deadly peril. Perhaps it was this similarity in the legends that attracted the attention of English John Mason Neale, who was an avid student of the Middle Ages and loved all things old and romantic.
What would the battle-hardened warrior Duke Vaclav I think of his reputation now, as the background music in shopping centers and elevators in the English-speaking world? Perhaps the warrior saint would still remind us of the need for kindness to the poor, who need our aid all year round and not just on the Feast of Stephen.
Gregory Elder, a Redlands resident, is a professor of history and humanities at Moreno Valley College and a Roman Catholic priest. Write to him at Professing Faith, P.O. Box 8102, Redlands, CA 92375-1302, email him at askfathergregory@verizon.net or follow him on Twitter at Fatherelder.
Professing Faith: The real story of ‘Good King Wenceslas’
By Gregory Elder
Today, Dec. 26, is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian church.
But while this is an interesting and doubtless profound commemoration in the calendar of the liturgical churches, the day is better known by the reference in the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas,” written by the Rev. John Mason Neale and published in 1853. It is a very odd sort of song in a number of ways. The tune appears in popular culture even more often than the words do and is played in the background to almost every film set at Christmas time that I have ever seen.
In the first place, it is not a traditional carol, a song sung by generations in honor of Christmas, although Neale published it in a book titled “Carols for Christmas.” It was entirely composed in Victorian England and was set to the tune “Tempus adest floridum,” which is an Easter song that dates to the 13th century with entirely different lyrics. The Latin title means “The time is near for flowering.”
The subject of the song, King Wenceslas, who immortalizes St. Stephen’s Day, was not even a king, nor was he English, and he actually died a rather nasty death in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic. It is a song immortalizing a medieval Catholic saint, written by an Anglican clergyman in Protestant England. But it is a fine Christmas song. The text reads as follows, and if you have consumed enough Christmas cheer, you can sing it as you read.
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night.
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear them thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
The actual Good King Wenceslas was in fact Duke Vaclav I of Bohemia, who was born around A.D. 907 and nominally came to power as a young man in 921 on the death of his father, Duke Vratislaus. Vratislaus was a Christian, but his wife, Drahomira, who was the mother of Vaclav, was a pagan. At the death of Vratislaus, a power struggle broke out between who would control the young duke, his Christian grandmother Ludmila or his pagan mother. Ludmila managed to raise Vaclav for some years, but Drahomira rallied the pagans among the nobility for political support and had the Christian Ludmila strangled. Vaclav remained Christian and by all accounts was quite devout in his faith, and on assuming the actual reins of government had his heathen mother exiled.
“Good King Wenceslas” got involved in the many wars and political conflicts of his day, but managed to keep the Bohemian peoples free from external dominance, for which he remains a nationalist hero among the Czech people today. He was known for his generosity to the poor and to the church. He also made a number of pious foundations of cathedrals, churches and monasteries to foster the Christian faith. But in September 935, Wenceslas, or Vaclav, was murdered by his bother Boleslav while the saint was riding to Mass one day. Boleslav assumed political power and is known in history as Boleslav the Cruel, although he was an efficient and able ruler. But very soon the murdered Vaclav was being hailed as a saint and a martyr for the faith, even though there is no evidence that the murder was religiously motivated. His cult spread in Bohemia and spread to England. Vaclav’s body was eventually laid to rest in St. Vitus Cathedral, a building the saint had founded.
Popular assent declared Vaclav to be the ideal medieval ruler, drawing his wisdom and strength from his deep piety. A wonderful legend describes how there is an army of his warriors, buried inside the Czech Mount Blanik. These warriors lie sleeping until the hour when the Czech peoples will find themselves in mortal danger. But at that hour Good King Wenceslas will rise, awaken his sleeping warriors to save the motherland from its evil foes and establish peace and prosperity in the land.
This sleeping king under the mountain legend clearly bears a strong resemblance to the legend of King Arthur, who in British legend sleeps in the Isle of Avalon and will one day save England in the hour of its deadly peril. Perhaps it was this similarity in the legends that attracted the attention of English John Mason Neale, who was an avid student of the Middle Ages and loved all things old and romantic.
What would the battle-hardened warrior Duke Vaclav I think of his reputation now, as the background music in shopping centers and elevators in the English-speaking world? Perhaps the warrior saint would still remind us of the need for kindness to the poor, who need our aid all year round and not just on the Feast of Stephen.
Gregory Elder, a Redlands resident, is a professor of history and humanities at Moreno Valley College and a Roman Catholic priest. Write to him at Professing Faith, P.O. Box 8102, Redlands, CA 92375-1302, email him at askfathergregory@verizon.net or follow him on Twitter at Fatherelder.
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