The Real 'Good King Wenceslas'

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At this time of year, many of us will find ourselves singing about a royal personage who braves the snow on the Feast of Stephen – the Second Day of Christmas – so that he can distribute alms to a poor peasant. But who was the real Good King Wenceslas and was he as pious and saintly as the Christmas song suggests?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman is joined by Czech historian Dr. David Kalhous to learn about the tenth century Bohemian Duke, posthumously declared to be a king and patron saint of the Czech state.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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1:35.0	Hello and welcome to Gone Medieval. I'm Dr Cat Jamon. Now this time of year, many of us will
1:42.0	find ourselves singing about a certain royal character who proves the weather so that he can
1:47.4	distribute arms to a poor peasant on the feast of Stephen. That's the second day of Christmas.
1:53.2	In snow that's deep and crisp and even.
2:17.4	But have you ever stopped to wonder who exactly Good King Wenceslaus really was? Did he exist?
2:47.4	And if so, when and where? And why has his story become a staple of our Christmas carols?
	...

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