Saint Ludmilla
Saint Ludmilla, a significant figure in Czech history, was a Slavic princess who married Duke Bořivoj, the first recorded ruler of the Přemyslid Dynasty in Bohemia. She and her husband converted to Christianity in 871, becoming dynamic advocates for the faith during a time of pagan resistance. Their commitment to Christianity led to conflict, and ultimately, Ludmilla became a martyr when her daughter-in-law, Drahomíra, conspired against her, resulting in Ludmilla's assassination. Notably, Ludmilla’s legacy is closely tied to her grandson, Wenceslas, whom she raised and educated in Christian principles, shaping him into a notable ruler. Her influence persisted after her death, as many miracles were reported at her tomb, and she was canonized as a saint, with her feast day celebrated on September 16. In addition to her religious significance, Ludmilla is also regarded as a symbol of Czech national identity, celebrated in cultural works like Antonín Dvořák's oratorio "Saint Ludmila." Through her life and martyrdom, she has come to embody the virtues of faith, perseverance, and national pride.
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Saint Ludmilla
Duchess of Bohemia
- Born: c. 860
- Birthplace: Mielnik, Bohemia (now in Czech Republic)
- Died: September 15, 0921
- Place of death: Tetin, near Beraun, Bohemia (now in Czech Republic)
Ludmilla converted from paganism to Christianity and set out to Christianize the duchy she ruled with her husband, Duke Bořivoj. Ludmilla also educated her grandson, Wenceslas, whose reign and martyrdom led to the full establishment of Christianity in Bohemia and later throughout the surrounding region.
Early Life
Details about the life of Ludmilla (loot-MIHL-ah) are scarce. She is not as well-known as the Western European saint Joan of Arc, and she remains most widely recognized in the Czech Republic only. Some extended studies of her life have been published, but they have not been translated from the Czech language.
As a young Slavic princess, Ludmilla married Duke Bořivoj, a member of the royal Přemyslid Dynasty of Bohemia. According to legend, the founder of the dynasty was a plowman who in the eighth century chose a Bohemian princess named Libussa to be his wife. Although little is known about the plowman and the princess, their immediate descendants united Bohemia’s warring tribes into a single duchy. By the ninth century the dukedom was ruled by Ludmilla’s husband, Bořivoj, the first Přemysl sovereign to have his life recorded. He established Prague Castle as the family seat.
Life’s Work
In 871, Saint Methodius (c. 825-884), a missionary to the Slavs, converted Ludmilla and Bořivoj to Christianity and baptized them. Although most accounts depicting their rejection of paganism stress the heroic stance they took, one story differs dramatically. In this version, Saint Methodius assured the ambitious Duke Bořivoj that once he accepted Christianity “his enemies would be made his footstool.” Whatever the original motivation, Ludmilla and Bořivoj soon turned into dynamic defenders of the faith. Instead of subduing their enemies, though, their advocacy of Christianity led to an insurrection among the pagan fanatics, including powerful families in Bohemia who were determined to hold on to their old ways. As a consequence, these elements drove the fervent converts out of Bohemia, but they were soon recalled and reigned for seven more years.
The duke and duchess had two sons, Spitignev and Wratislaw. After Bořivoj stepped down and retired with Ludmilla to their castle in Tetin, he turned the dukedom over to Spitignev, who died two years later. The younger son, Wratislaw, then assumed power in 915. He had entered into an unfortunate marriage with Drahomíra, known as “the disheveled one.” She was the daughter of the chief of the Veletians, a Slav tribe from the nearby region called Lusatia, which later became part of Germany. While pretending to be a Christian, she actually favored paganism and conspired against the spread of Christianity in Bohemia. The new duke and duchess had twin sons, Wenceslas (c. 907-929) and Boleslav I (d. 967), sometimes called Boleslav I the Cruel. The year of their births in the castle of Stochov near Prague is said to be between 907 and 910. Even though the castle no longer stands, the site has become a destination for religious pilgrims. According to tradition, Ludmilla planted the oak tree that still grows on the site in honor of Wenceslas’s birth. It is believed that she ordered the baby Wenceslas’s nurses to nourish the sapling with his bath water, which helped the tree grow strong and to flourish over the centuries.
The aging and widowed Ludmilla arranged so that she could raise Wenceslas. At the Tetin castle near Prague, Ludmilla devoted herself to molding the young Wenceslas’s character into a model of virtue. According to one record, “she undertook, with the utmost care, to form his heart to the love of God.” Paul, who served as Ludmilla’s personal chaplain, baptized Wenceslas when he was an infant. A disciple of Saint Methodius, Paul subsequently labored with Ludmilla to secure her grandson in the Christian faith and to educate him so that he would develop into a just and intelligent ruler. Their efforts must have been successful, for it is recorded that by his early teens, Wenceslas was not only admirably devout but also “understood Latin as if he were a bishop and read Slavonic with ease.”
Ludmilla likely regarded the duty of educating the young Wenceslas as her most important one. Probably not educated herself, she would have left the teaching to her faithful chaplain and would have focused her full attention on her grandson’s spiritual development. Living at the seat of power all of her life, Ludmilla was probably well-versed in the ways of the world and would have grasped fully the particulars of political intrigue. She was undoubtedly troubled by the conflicts between Christians and non-Christians that were flaring up under her daughter-in-law’s misguided rule. She saw her protégé Wenceslas as the one who could set Bohemia on the right path toward casting off paganism and embracing Christianity.
The agreement that permitted Ludmilla’s custody of Wenceslas lasted until the death of the young man’s father, who was killed fighting against the Magyars, a tribe from the area of Siberia that settled in the ninth century in what is now Hungary. After determining that Wenceslas who was about thirteen at the time of Wratislaw’s demise was too young to rule, his scheming mother, Drahomíra, took over as regent. Drahomíra refused to allow Wenceslas to see his grandmother, fearful that Ludmilla would plot to overthrow her. Drahomíra’s suspicions of Ludmilla’s intentions were probably well-founded.
Resentful and fearful of Ludmilla’s continued influence over Wenceslas, Drahomíra took action. It is generally believed that she arranged for the hiring of assassins to break into the castle at Tetin and murder Ludmilla. Tradition has it that the duchess was at prayer when Drahomíra’s agents strangled Ludmilla with her own veil.
As punishment for her apparent role in the murder, Drahomíra was sent into exile. When Wenceslas assumed power at the age of eighteen, he allowed his mother to return to Bohemia. Wenceslas’s service as duke of Bohemia comprises another story, but he fulfilled his grandmother’s expectations during an impressive reign that ended with his murder in 929.
Tradition tells us that Ludmilla’s death did not diminish her influence, for many miracles took place over her tomb following her martyrdom and her manifestation as a saint. In a hypocritical twist, Drahomíra ordered a church, named Saint Michael’, built in Tetin to mark the site of Ludmilla’s death. Drahomíra was buried in this church. Wenceslas later moved his grandmother’s remains to a church in Prague named for Saint Vitus, where her relics are still venerated. Saint Ludmilla’s Feast Day falls on September 16.
Significance
Ludmilla, with Duke Bořivoj, Christianized Bohemia. The libretto that Emil Frída (also known as Jaroslav Vrchlicky; 1853-1912) wrote for Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s (1841-1904) oratorio Saint Ludmila (1886) celebrates the conversion of the duchess, who pleads in one of her recitatives,
The true God, I long to find Him.
Her long and pious life fulfilled this resolution. After she died a martyr’s death, she continued to spread the truth and conquer falsehood as thousands over the centuries have venerated her.
Ludmilla made her second vital contribution by educating Wenceslas and ensuring that he was firmly grounded in the Christian faith. Her training of him turned him into a stern but fair ruler who carried out his grandparents’ desire to spread Christianity throughout Bohemia. Although Wenceslas has emerged over the centuries as a more widely recognized saint partly through the Christmas song “Good King Wenceslas” he remains inextricably bound to Ludmilla, his loving mentor and spiritual guide.
Finally, Ludmilla’s significance extends beyond religion into the national arena. When Dvořák set out to compose the oratorio celebrating Saint Ludmilla, he intended to depict her as a player in monumental scenes from Czech history, scenes that would give the nation self-confidence and reveal the greatness of the Czech historical tradition. A British publisher had commissioned the oratorio for the Leeds Festival in 1886. For Dvořák, the invitation to participate in one of England’s great musical events provided an opportunity to compose a purely Czech oratorio that would place his country’s music and history in an international milieu. With these objectives in mind, he conceived of Saint Ludmila as being more nationalistic in character than religious. Although Frída’s libretto, which stresses the antitheses of the pagan and Christian worlds, did not at all fulfill Dvořák’s intentions, the composer accepted it, determined to let his music alone turn Ludmilla into a pivotal figure in Czech history.
Dvořák saw Ludmilla as a distinctive personage in his country’s tradition. First she had long served as a patron saint, which in its fullest definition means advocate, protector, and defender. Equally important to Dvořák, she had emerged as the mother of the nation. In her dual roles as patron and as mother, Saint Ludmilla has witnessed and overseen a torrent of historical events in her corner of the world during the past thousand or so years, but she has survived it all. With the resurgence of Catholicism in the post-communist era, Saint Ludmilla along with her grandson Saint Wenceslas reign once more.
Bibliography
Demetz, Peter. Prague in Black and Gold: Scenes from the Life of a European City. New York: Hill and Wang, 1997. Traces the history of Prague from its beginning to the present and combines myths about the city with historical facts. Includes details on the period in which Ludmilla lived.
Dvořák, Antonín. Saint Ludmila: An Oratorio. London: Novello, Ewer, 1968. Contains Emil Frída’s complete libretto (in English translation) for Saint Ludmila. Provides an introduction to the work that explains Dvořák’s approach to the story of Ludmilla.
The Encyclopedia of Catholic Saints. Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1966. A twelve-volume work arranged according to dates of the saints’ feast days. Provides general information on saints worldwide. Illustrations.
Rosenwein, Barbara H. A Short History of the Middle Ages. Orchard Park, N.Y.: Broadview Press, 2002. A readable and succinct overview of Medieval History/Middle Ages and the development of Europe from 300 to 1500, including material on the former kingdom of Bohemia.
Ryan, Patrick J. “Rival Brothers.” America 169 (September 18, 1993). Discusses the story of Ludmilla’s family, in particular the rivalry between Wenceslas and Boleslav. Applies the story to the post-communist Czech Republic, stressing that the lives of Ludmilla and Wenceslas serve as models in the present pursuit of peace and justice.
Sayer, Derek. The Coasts of Bohemia. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998. Examines the kingdom of Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, from medieval to modern times, and stresses the country’s important position in Central Europe. Interweaves discussions of Czech art, literature, music, and cultural traditions into the text.