St Stanislaus of Krakow (1030-79) bishop and martyr
Priest and bishop at Krakow
Stanislaus was born
in 1030 of noble and pious parents at Szczcepanow and was educated at
the cathedral school at Gniezno, then the capital of Poland, and
possibly at Paris.
He was ordained priest and served as a canon of the
cathedral at Krakow. He was elected bishop of Krakow in 1072. He gained a
reputation as a preacher and benefactor of the poor.
Conflict with Boleslaus the Bold
Stanislaus came
into conflict with Boleslaus II, called the Bold, who by asserting his
power in Bohemia, Hungary and south Russia, became king of Poland in
1076.
Stanislaus had reproved him for abducting a nobleman's wife and,
when he refused to repent, excommunicated him. Boleslaus attacked and
murdered Stanislaus while he was saying Mass.
For this the pope, Gregory
VII, with whom Boleslaus had previously made an alliance against Henry
IV of the Holy Roman Empire, put Poland under interdict.
The murder
caused outrage and soon the nobles revolted and deposed Boleslaus,
who spent the rest of his life as a penitent in the Benedictine abbey in
Osiak.
Another view
Some historians, however, suggest
that Stanislaus was involved in a land dispute and that he was guilty of
plotting to dethrone the king.
Veneration
Soon after his death Stanislaus was
honoured as a martyr and in 1088 his relics were brought to Krakow's
Wawel cathedral where he is still honoured today.
He was canonised at
Assisi by Pope Innocent IV in 1253.