Adalbert of Prague

Who they were

Vojtěch was born around 956, son of a Bohemian prince and a German mother related to King Henry I. Destined for the army, he fell gravely ill and his parents vowed him to God; healed, he was sent in 972 to Magdeburg under Archbishop Adalbert, whose name he took at confirmation. In 982 clergy and people acclaimed him bishop of Prague.

His missionary zeal took him finally to the pagan Prussians on the Baltic. When his captors threatened him he asked, 'What is more beautiful than to spend our life for the most sweet Jesus?' and was killed with a spear on 23 April 997. The Polish prince ransomed his body and buried it at Gniezno.

The miracles

He was proclaimed a saint only two years after his death by Pope Sylvester II; in the year 1000 his friend the emperor Otto III made Gniezno an archbishopric. His relics were taken to Prague in 1039.

Why that counted as sanctity

Adalbert, given to God as a child, gave his life to bringing Christ to peoples who had not heard of Him, and died glad to spend it for Jesus.

Connected on this site

• Adalbert Saint Teacher
• Radim Gaudentius Saint Brother or sister
  “The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 11 October as the bishop at Gniezno who was brother and companion of Saint Adalbert of Prague and witnessed his martyrdom.” — this site's research
• Bruno of Querfurt Saint
  “His writings, including the Life of Adalbert of Prague and the Life of the Five Brothers, provide significant insight into the politics, diplomacy, and ecclesiastical relations of Central and Eastern Europe around the year 1000.” — Wikipedia
• Stephen I of Hungary Saint
  “Inspired by St Adalbert of Prague, he surrounded himself with wise counsellors; at his request the Pope made him King of Hungary, gave him the right to name its bishops, and sent the crown with which he was crowned 'Apostolic King' at Christmas in the year 1000.” — this site's research