#wenceslaus i

Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max (b.1840 - d.1915), ‘The Martyrdom of St. Ludmilla’, oil on canvas, c.1864, Austrian, sold by Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts to The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, New York, USA.

Saint Ludmilla (c.860 - 921), born as a Princess of the Sorbs, was the grandmother of Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, and a convert to Christianity along with her husband Borivoj of Bohemia. Her daughter in law, Drahomira, Duchess of Bohemia and mother of Wenceslaus, resented her influence over her son, and, according to legend, had her strangled with her own veil.

After her death, Wenceslaus canonised her, and since she has become the patron saint of Bohemia and Czechia, of duchesses, widows, and those having certain issues with their in-laws (hopefully, so their relationship don’t also end in murder).