Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 1.djvu/490

476 persecutor of the Church. They had twin sons, St. Wenceslaus whom they allowed Ludmilla to adopt, and Boleslaus the cruel whom they brought up themselves; and a daughter. Wratislaus died in 916 and is buried in the church of St. George, which he built at Prague and which became a famous nunnery under his granddaughter.

Wenceslaus, the much-beloved hero and patron saint of Bohemia, was then eight years old. He was taken to Wissegrad and set up on his father's throne for all the people to see and acknowledge as their leader. This throne consisted of an immense hewn block of stone, which anciently stood in the middle of the fortress at Wissegrad in the open air, but was removed in the 10th century to Prague, where it may still be seen. Great importance attached to the stone, the man who was crowned sitting on that stone was king indeed and his person was sacred. When the young prince had been received and acclaimed by his subjects he returned to live with his grandmother at Tetin. Ludmilla had been appointed regent by her son, but his widow, Drahomira, by gifts and wiles, won over the chief personages and got the power into her own hands. She persecuted the Christians, destroying the churches and killing or banishing the priests. In vain Ludmilla resigned all claim to power and withdrew from public life, devoting herself to prayer and works of charity. Drahomira said to herself, "How long shall I submit to have this woman superior to me?" Ludmilla hearing that her life was threatened, received the Holy Sacrament and prepared for death. At last by bribes and promises Drahomira engaged two of the princes to murder her mother-in-law. With an armed band they burst into her apartment in the night and rudely awoke her; they dragged her from her bed and gave her but a short time to pray in her oratory. She requested them to cut off her head with a sword, but instead they strangled her with her own veil, knocking her head against a stone, on which are shown to this day, the stains of the martyr's blood. She was buried at Tetin and began immediately to work miracles. Drahomira was frightened when she found she had murdered a saint, and a revulsion set in against her. Her son Wenceslaus commanded her to leave meddling with the affairs of the nation and retire to her own province. There is a doubt about the year of Ludmilla's death, Palacky says 927 is the most likely of the different dates given. A few years afterwards, when Wenceslaus built the cathedral at Prague he removed her venerable body thither. The present cathedral of Prague was bidlt in the 12th century, just in front of the old one, and, like it, is dedicated in the name of St. Vitus. Here lies St. Ludmilla and here is kept her pearl-bedecked golden crown, beside the sword of St. Wenoeslaus, still used in the coronation of Bohemia's kings. Here also sleeps Wenceslaus, in a chapel called by his name, paved with Bohemian precious stones; his tomb of gold is gone but his helmet and coat-of-mail and the great iron ring of the church door which he grasped as he fell by his brother's hand are kept in veneration near him, and it is said that he still appears when Bohemia is in dire need, leading on her army or bringing a band of saints and angels to her aid.

For many years Ludmilla was the only native female patron saint of Bohemia, her colleagues being her grandson St. Wenceslaus, his servant, and two ancient saints. In course of time six women were promoted to the honour of sharing with her the patronage of her country: three of these were her descendants, her granddaughter,  her great grand daughter, and   daughter of Ottocar II. As for Drahomira, when she had added to her many crimes that of stirring up one of her sons to slay the other, Balbinus testifies that it is certain that the earth opened and swallowed her up and that a pillar stands in the midst of the city of Prague to mark tho spot and prove the story.

Palacky, Böhmen. AA.SS., Sept 16 and 28. Dlugosch, ''Hist. Poionicæ''. Eneas Silvius, ''Hist. Bohemiæ''. Martinov. Le Mire, De Rebus Bohemicis, Balbinus, Miscellanea and ''Hist. Ducibus ac Regibus''