Vojtěch, likely born in 956 in Libice into the ducal family of Bohemia as the son of Slavník, was educated at the episcopal school in Magdeburg. There, upon receiving confirmation, he took the name of the confirming prelate, Adalbert. Ordained as the Bishop of Prague (the second to hold this seat), Adalbert began a vigorous apostolic ministry, though it was undoubtedly filled with challenges. He faced failure early in his episcopate: he could not overcome the resistance of pagans, and his zeal was deemed too demanding. He resigned his episcopal duties to Pope John XV and became a monk at the monastery of Saints Alexis and Boniface on the Aventine Hill in Rome.
After three years, he was compelled to resume his pastoral role. Upon returning to his homeland, he founded the monastery of Břevnov near Prague under the Rule of Saint Benedict. However, his renewed episcopal efforts also met with little success. Adalbert then chose a more accessible field for his missionary work: Poland and Hungary. He was appointed regional bishop for all the countries he evangelized. He later traveled through Prussia as far as Gdańsk and the coast of Samland. In Tenkitten, between the Nogat and Vistula rivers, pagans martyred him in 997. However, they allowed his brother Gaudentius and a priest named Benedict to escape, and they testified to his martyrdom.
Bolesław Chrobry, Duke of Poland and a friend of the saint, recovered the mutilated remains and had them buried in Gniezno, where they were visited by another friend of the saint, Emperor Otto III. In 1039, the relics were transferred to Prague.
Two years after his martyrdom, in 999, he was canonized. Since the 11th century, Adalbert has been invoked as the patron saint of Poland. On the occasion of the millennium of his martyrdom in 1997, the Polish Pope John Paul II introduced the saint’s name into the universal calendar.
