Who was 'Good King Wenceslas' ?

[left-of-center2012]

Who was “Good King Wenceslas”

Good King Wenceslas (ca. 907 - 935 AD) was the Duke of Bohemia (now the western portion of the Czech Republic).
His grandfather and father had turned from paganism to Christianity.
His mother, however, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief.
When Wenceslas was 13, his father died, and his mother, having embraced paganism once more, tried to turn him away from Christ.

But when Wenceslas was 18, he gained the throne, had his mother exiled, and sought to reign over his people with mercy and justice as a truly Christian monarch.

He is best known for his acts of kindness - one of which is immortalized in the carol we sing at Christmas.

Though he ruled for but a decade, he was beloved by his people.
At the age of 28, Wenceslas was assassinated on his way to church by his brother, but his influence lived on.
He was considered a martyr, was canonized by the Catholic Church, and today is the patron saint of the Czech state.

[Angry Dragon]

1. and the Birthday Season is upon us

[TomSlick]

2. The last line has the moral:

Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

Something our conservative friends should hear.

[BigmanPigman]

3. Rick Steves did a travel show on PBS and last

week's show taught about him. The only time I ever had heard his name was when The Beatles would release their annual Christmas message to members of their fan club and Ringo and John sang about "Good King Wenceslas...something, something...on the feast of Steven"? What the Hell does that mean?

[left-of-center2012]

4. "the feast of Steven"

Saint Stephen's Day, or the Feast of Saint Stephen

... a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr ...
celebrated on 26 December in the Latin Church and 27 December in Eastern Christianity.

Saint Stephen

Stephen ... traditionally venerated as the Protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity, was according to the Acts of the Apostles a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings.

Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death.

His martyrdom was witnessed by Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee who would later himself become a follower of Jesus and known as Paul the Apostle.

[struggle4progress]

5. The lyrics are Victorian, the tune from a medieval Latin paean to spring, perhaps originally Swedish

[struggle4progress]

6. Good King Sauerkraut

[Act_of_Reparation]

7. Right.

The saintly Christian Duke of an ostensibly Christian duchy in middle of Christian Europe is assassinated by the evil pagans because evil pagans are evil.

Seems legit.