Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/45

 The wife of one of the Wirsovs, proving unfaithful to her husband, according to the heathen custom was to be put to death, the wronged husband himself performing the deed. The woman fled, seeking refuge in the church of Vojtech. The enraged Wirsovs surrounded the house, threatening to murder the bishop if he did not give up the fugitive; and the threat, doubtless, would have been carried into effect, had not one of the men bethought himself. He said to Vojtech that he would not help him to a martyr’s crown, but that, instead, he would take signal vengeance upon his brothers. At last the hiding-place of the unfortunate woman was discovered; she was dragged out, and beheaded by the public executioner.

With heart-breaking, with grief, and cursing the Wirsovs, Vojtech again left Bohemia, refusing to live in a land where such deeds of cruelty could go unpunished. In justice to Boleslav II, it may be remarked that, at the time this happened, he was suffering from a severe illness, and his son, who favored the Wirsovs, ruled in his stead.

The Wirsovs now made good their threat against the family of Vojtech. They had previously made war upon them, depriving them of all their estates, until they were left with but a single fortress. Here they were attacked by their unrelenting foes, defeated, and all murdered—men, women, and children.

When Vojtech left Bohemia, he went to Rome, determining to end his days in a monastery. But the pope, Gregory V, thought it not well that so able a man should waste his time within cloister walls; and so he again sent him to Bohemia, but on condition that, if the people refused him obedience, he would be