{{Infobox Saint
|name=Saint Adalbert of Prague
|birth_date=c. [[956]]
|death_date=[[997]]
|feast_day=[[April 23]]
|venerated_in=[[Roman Catholic Church]]
|image=Adalbert of Prague.jpg
|imagesize=200px
|caption=
|birth_place=[[Libice nad Cidlinou]], Bohemia
|death_place=[[Truso]] ([[Elbląg]]) or [[Kaliningrad Oblast]]
|titles=Martyr and Bishop
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=[[Bohemia]]; [[Poland]]; [[Prussia]]
|major_shrine=[[Gniezno]], [[Prague]]
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}

'''Saint Adalbert''' ([[Czech language|Czech]]: {{Audio|Cs-svaty_Vojtech.ogg|''Vojtěch''}}; {{lang-de|Adalbert}}; {{lang-pl|Wojciech}}; c. [[956]]–[[April 23]], [[997]]), a [[bishop of Prague]], was martyred in his efforts, to which he had been instigated by the [[king of Poland]] [[Bolesław I the Brave]], to convert the [[Baltic peoples|Baltic]] [[Old Prussians|Prussians]]. He was later made the [[patron saint]] of [[Bohemia]], [[Poland]], [[Hungary]], and [[Duchy of Prussia|Prussia]].

== Birth and youth ==
Adalbert (Vojtěch) was born in a Czech noble family of Prince [[Slavník]] and his wife [[Střezislava]] in [[Libice nad Cidlinou]], Bohemia. His father was a rich and independent ruler of the [[Zlicans|Zličan]] princedom that rivaled Prague (see [[Slavník's dynasty]]). Adalbert had five full brothers: Soběbor (Slavnik's heir), Spytimir, Pobraslav, Porej, Caslav and a half-brother [[Radim Gaudentius|Radim (Gaudentius)]] from his father's liaison with another woman. Radim chose a clerical career as did Adalbert, and the name Gaudentius. Adalbert was a well-educated man, having studied for about ten years (970-80) in [[Magdeburg]] under Saint [[Adalbert of Magdeburg]]. Upon the death of his mentor, he took on the name Adalbert. Gifted and industrious, Adalbert soon became well-known all over Europe.

== Religious acts ==
In 980 Adalbert finished his studies at Magdeburg school and returned to Prague where he became a priest. In 981 his father, Prince Slavnik, and both his mentors died.[[Image:Sanctus Adalbertus.jpg|thumb|right| Saint Adalbert.]] In 982, still not yet thirty years old, Adalbert became the [[Bishop of Prague]]. However, he strongly resented the participation of formally Christian inhabitants in the [[slavery|slave]] trade. Although Adalbert descended from a rich family and could afford comfort and luxury, he lived poorly of his own free will. He was noted for charity, austerity, and zealous service to the Church. His duty was difficult even in baptized Bohemia, as the pagan creed was deeply embedded in the peoples' minds. Adalbert complained of polygamy and idolatry, which still were not unusual among the Czechs.

In 989 he resigned from his bishop's cloth and left Prague. He went to Rome and lived as a hermit in St. Alexis Benedictine monastery.

Four years later, in 993, [[Pope John XV]] sent him back to Bohemia. Adalbert became the Bishop again. That time he founded a [[Brevnov Monastery|monastery in Břevnov]], near Prague, the first one for men in the Czech lands. However, he continued to meet with the same kind of opposition to his ministry from the nobility that he had faced earlier. Also, according to Cosmas' chronicle, high clerical office was a burden to Adalbert, and in 994 he offered it to [[Strachkvas]] who was Přemyslid and Duke Boleslav's brother. Strachkvas, nevertheless, refused.

[[Image:Bishopcoa.png|100px|left]]

In 995 Slavniks' former rivalry with the [[Přemyslids]] resulted in the storming of Libice and a cruel murder of four (or five) of Adalbert's brothers. All this was done by the will of [[Boleslav II of Bohemia]], and the key executioners were his confederates from a powerful clan of [[Vršovci]]. Thus the Zličan princedom became part of the Přemyslids' estate.

Adalbert damned the Vrśovci in church and predicted that they would be severely persecuted. After the tragedy he could not stay in Bohemia and escaped from Prague, despite the Pope's call for him to return to his episcopal see. Strachkvas was eventually appointed to be his successor. However, when he was going to assume the Bishop office in Prague, he suddenly died during the ceremony itself. Circumstances of his death are still unclear.

As for Adalbert, he went to [[Hungary]] and baptized [[Géza of Hungary]] and his son [[Stephen of Hungary|Stephen]] in the city of [[Esztergom]]. Then he went to Poland where he was cordially welcomed by Bolesław I the Brave. After the short visit Adalbert went to Prussia with a Christian mission.

== Mission and martyrdom in Prussia ==
[[Image:Adalb.jpg|right|frame|Saint Adalbert being killed by [[Prussians]], part of [[Gniezno Doors]]]]

Adalbert of Prague had already in 977 entertained the idea of becoming a [[missionary]] in [[Prussia (Baltic)|Prussia]]. After he had converted Hungary, he was sent by the Pope to convert the heathen [[Prussians]]. [[Boleslaus I of Poland|Boleslaus the Brave]], duke of Poland (later king), sent [[soldiers]] with Adalbert. The bishop and his followers - including his half-brother Radim (Gaudentius) - entered Prussian territory and went along the [[Baltic Sea]] coast to [[Gdańsk]].

It was a standard procedure of Christian missionaries to try to chop down sacred oak trees (see [[Iconoclasm]]), which they had done in many other places, including [[Saxony]]. Because the trees were worshipped and the spirits who were believed to inhabit the trees were feared for their powers, this was done to demonstrate to the non-Christians that no supernatural powers protected the trees from the Christians.

When they did not heed warnings to stay away from the sacred oak groves, Adalbert was executed for sacrilege, which his co-religionists interpreted as [[martyr]]dom, in April 997 on the Baltic Sea coast east of [[Truso]] (currently [[Elbląg]], Elbing), or near [[Tenkitten]] and [[Fischhausen]] (see external link map St. Albrecht) It is recorded that his body was bought back for its weight in [[gold]] by Boleslaus the Brave.

== Canonization and memory ==
[[Image:Socha_Svateho_Vojtecha_a_Radima.jpg|right|thumb|150px|St. Adalbert (Vojtech) and his brother Gaudentius (Radim) monument in [[Libice]] (Czech Republic)]]

A few years later Adalbert was [[canonization|canonized]] as '''Saint Adalbert of Prague.''' His life has been written about in ''[[Vita Sancti Adalberti]] Pragensis'' by various writers, the earliest being traced to imperial [[Aachen]] and [[Liège (city)|Liège/Lüttich]]'s bishop [[Notger von Lüttich]], although it was assumed for many years that the [[Rome|Roman]] monk [[John Canaparius]] wrote the first ''Vita'' in 999. Another famous biographer of Adalbert was Saint [[Bruno of Querfurt]] who wrote his hagiography in 1001-1004.

Notably, Bohemian rulers (i.e., Přemyslids) initially refused to ransom Saint Adalbert's body from the Prussians who murdered him, so it was purchased by Poles. This fact may be explained by Saint Adalbert's belonging to the Slavniks family; it highlights the strength of the two clans' conflict. Thus Saint Adalbert's bones were stored in Gniezno and helped Boleslaus the Brave to improve Poland's position in Europe.

It is said that in 1039 the Bohemian duke [[Bretislav I]] retrieved the bones of Saint Adalbert from Gniezno and moved them to Prague. According to another version, he took only part of the bones, while the rest of Saint Adalbert's relics (including the skull) were hidden by the Poles (according to ''Roczniki Polskie'') and found in 1127. In 1928, one of the arms of Saint Adalbert, which Bolesław I had given to [[Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto III]] in the year 1000, was added to the bones preserved in Gniezno. Today Saint Adalbert has two graves, and which bones are authentic is still not clear. For example, the saint has two skulls - one in Prague, a second in Gniezno (stolen in 1923).

June 1997 was the thousandth anniversary of Saint Adalbert's martyrdom. It was commemorated in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Russia and other countries. Representatives of Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Evangelical churches pilgrimaged to Gniezno, to the saint's tomb. [[John Paul II]] visited Gniezno and held a ceremonial divine service in which heads of seven European states and about a million believers took part. In [[Kaliningrad Oblast]], near [[Beregovoe]] village (former [[Tenkitten]]), where Adalbert's death hypothetically took place, a ten-meter cross was established.

==See also==
[[Image:Relikwiarz Wojciecha Gniezno.JPG|right|thumb|Silver coffin of St. Wojciech (Cathedral in [[Gniezno]])]]

* [[History of the Czech lands in the Middle Ages]]
* [[Congress of Gniezno]]
* [[Gniezno Doors]]

==References==
*{{Reflist}}
*Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.

==External links==
*[http://wwwtest.library.ucla.edu/libraries/mgi/maps/blaeu/prvssia.jpg Map of Prussia from c 1660 with St. Albrecht] location between Tenkitten and Fischhausen, west of Königsberg.
* {{findagrave|6871802}}


{{National symbols of Poland}}

[[Category:Czech saints]]
[[Category:Christian martyrs of the Medieval era]]
[[Category:Bohemian nobility]]
[[Category:Bishops of Prague]]
[[Category:Czech Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:10th century bishops]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic missionaries]]
[[Category:History of Hungary]]
[[Category:History of Prussia]]
[[Category:956 births]]
[[Category:997 deaths]]

[[cs:Svatý Vojtěch]]
[[de:Adalbert von Prag]]
[[es:Adalberto de Praga]]
[[eo:Vojtěch]]
[[fr:Adalbert de Prague]]
[[gl:Adalberto de Praga]]
[[it:Sant'Adalberto di Praga]]
[[sw:Adalbert wa Prague]]
[[hu:Szent Adalbert]]
[[nl:Adalbert van Praag]]
[[pl:Święty Wojciech]]
[[ru:Адальберт Пражский]]
[[fi:Adalbert]]
[[sv:Vojtěch Adalbert av Prag]]
[[tl:Adalberto ng Prague]]
[[uk:Адальберт Празький]]