Martyrdom of St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów

April 11 - The Patron of Poland and the city of Krakow

(April 11 - Stanislaus of Szczepanów)

St. Stanislaus was bishop of Krakow, Poland in 1072 AD. He was reluctant to take the bishopric after the death of his predecessor, the bishop who ordained him a priest. Eventually, he became one of the earliest native Polish bishops following the explicit decree of Pope Alexander II. As an advisor to the King of Poland, St. Stanislaus encouraged the king to bring in Benedictines to establish monasteries. At the time, Poland was still being converted to Christianity. 

Legends abound in Middle Ages hagiography and St. Stanislaus is no exception. One tale sees Stanislaus in a land dispute with King Bolesław in Lublin. Stanislaus had purchased the land from a man named Piotr for the diocese, but King Bolesław said the land was his. Piotr had since died. So, the legend has it that Stanislaus decided to raise Piotr from the dead to confirm the sale. He prayed for three days, led a procession to Piotr’s grave and raised him. The newly-vivified man testified in court and the king dismissed the suit. Piotr did not want to remain alive and was buried once more. 

Of course, this legend probably is not true. Nothing in the Church suggests that we must believe these hagiographical stories. They would fall closer to private revelation than anything else. What we must believe as Catholics is Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, authentically interpreted by the Magisterium, which is public revelation, the Deposit of Faith. However, other purposes are served by such stories. They provide spiritual inspiration, models of virtue and piety, political and social commentary on the time, a sense of cultural and national identity, and the legitimization and justification of religious and ecclesial authority.

Another conflict between the good bishop and King Bolesław, which bears the mark of historicity, came after a protracted war with neighboring Ruthenia. Warriors were upset to hear news from home that their overseers had seized their homes, belongings, and wives. Deserting from the war, they went home to assess the situation themselves. The king was furious at the situation and had the wives harshly and cruelly punished. Bishop Stanislaus condemned what the king did and spoke about the king’s own sexual immorality. Whether it was his writings or the condemnation of the king’s actions, there was a rift. The bishop excommunicated King Bolesław and forbade the saying of the Divine Office by the priests of the Krakow Cathedral if the king was present. The royal court found the bishop guilty of treason as a result.

King Bolesław sent his men to kill the bishop, but they would not touch a bishop let alone kill him. The account of the martyrdom of Bishop Stanislaus is that King Bolesław himself killed the bishop while he was celebrating Mass. According to legend, the guards cut the bishop’s body into pieces and scattered them to be devoured by scavenging animals. The members, however, were said to have miraculously come back together and were guarded by four eagles. 

After his three year reign, this action against the ordinary of Krakow by King Bolesław led to public outcry. He was forced to leave the throne and the country and flee to Hungary. His brother Władysław I Herman took the throne after him. Unfortunately, the fate of St. Stanislaus is not the last altercation between a king and his bishop that led to death. The murder of St. Stanislaus is reminiscent of the 12th Century martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket at the hands of King Henry II’s henchmen.

Today, St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów is one of the patrons of Poland and Krakow. Pope St. John Paul II, in 1979, referred to the martyrdom of Stanislaus as the “Confirmation” of Poland. It is undoubted that the Holy Father drew great inspiration from St. Stanislaus in his own disagreements and conflicts with the temporal authorities.