I've always loved the Good King Wenceslas carol. Thank you for your hard work researching its origins. It only adds to the enjoyment of its timeless message.
It´s crazy how popular this song is in English speaking countries yet almost not a single person singing it knows who king Wenceslas was! Thanks for an interesting origin story!
I've never met a Czech who knew of the song or was interested in claiming it. They are usually just surprised and flattered that England has a song honoring one of their saints. Good work finding the original. I'm not surprised it was so difficult as the carol is unknown here in Bohemia outside of English language classes.
Reading the Czech version is a challege (Czech isn't my first language, my Czech wife helped) but I noticed the similarities. They even have the part about the paige following in the footsteps of the king.
This has always been my all time favorite song since I was a young girl growing up in the Northeast of the United States. My adoptive parents played this song for us every year. It's been about 45 years since I heard this song. I couldn't remember the title or even the words to the song. I started searching old Christmas songs here on RUclips and it took me a few minutes to find it. I just had to hear it once again. I played it twice and found the video about the origins and it piqued my curiosity since it is my favorite poem/song. I had to hear about the original song, and to my delight, I was not disappointed. Reading the comments was a treasure of information about a song I've so dearly loved since I was 8 years old! I was not expecting to find that the original was actually a 10th century Bohemian poem! Wow! Reading the comments and the original poem was probably the best Christmas gift I've ever received! I have saved the song and this video so I can reference it anytime I wish! Now that I know the origins, I can appreciate the song much better. My only disappointment is not knowing this much earlier in my life. I really wish I had known this information when I was a young child. Thank you very much for the video and the translation. Merry Christmas to you all, and God bless you! ~Sharon Rose 🌹
I’ve wondered for years why the story of this King Wenceslas hadn’t been made into a quality Christmas film; it would be amazing!👏🏼🎄😊The Carol gives me warm fuzzies every year, so a movie would too, done properly!🎄❤
Oh I just realised that the Good King Wenceslas lived ( or at least studied ) in my home village before a while ( no he didn't live in Prague ) Very good video and background pictures
I looked up the original in National Museum Library and I will check it out. They however only have opening hours on Monday and seeing how its on Christmas eve and 31st, it will take some time, but by 7th of January I should have it. Hopefully they'll let me scan it - if not, I'll at least rewrite it and post it here.
@@MLaserHistory I walk by every day effectively and I'm a student of literature and history education, so I've got no excuses to not do that. Also the new National Museum building is the old Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia, and its bad credit for me to say that I've never visited it :)
Here it is for download. Pardon my photo quality (link at the end), the librarian did not allow me to scan it (the book was sewed together with other non related ones quite poorly). I'll transcribe it in Czech for those who can't read the old Fraktur typeface (the foreword at the end cause many will not be interested). Also left the Václav spelling how it was, because syllables had to match on the beginning - otherwise i made it readable for todays Czech user. Svatý Václav a Podivín legenda od V. A. Svobody, c. a k. humanitního učitele na Malostranském gymnáziu výnos připadne vyhořelým obyvatelům městyse Dešného v Táborském kraji prodává se, bez obmezení dobročinnosti, za 3 kr. stř. I. Temná noc jest, hvězdy bodré Na obloze svítí modré, Zemčan denním trudem mdlý Klidně na svém loži spí. Wáceslaw jen slavný kníže, Na pobožný slib je víže, Jako denně, z lože vstal, By se na modlitbu bral. K oknu stoupí, blatí ledu Strnulá se jeho hledu Příroda ukazuje, V níž jen sever lomcuje. Vlídným okem vše obzírá; Praha tu se rozprostírá Pod hradem položená, Ledem, sněhem stížená. Vlídně tam na chýšky patří, Kdežto chudí bydlí bratří, (Na) ty na chatrče zří, (not sure anymore) Pojme jej milosrdí. "Zdali sen svou blahou slastí "Ubohých těch kojí strasti, "Ujmiž srdce ztrápená "Jako jsou obtížená? "Jakým želem svá děťátka, "Milená ta neviňátka "Hladem nýti zírají, "An ni soustka nemají! "A co v zimním trpí času, - "Kdož to pomní bez úžasu - "An životohubný mráz "Na ně vtírá ráz co ráz? "Na tom jest jim v pomoc spěti? "Nemám otcem svých být dětí? "Nač mi Bohem dána moc, "Než bych jim byl na pomoc? "Srdce láskou k bližním čilé "Jest nade vše Bohu milé. "Laskavě se k bratřím měj, "K Bohu bohuděk tak zej!" "Máš tu hody slavit se mnou, "Jež si v tiše ustrojím; "Mne provázej nocí temnou, Ať bol bratří ukojím. "Větším darem, větších díků "Jak potajmo dojdeme. "Pojdiž se mnou služebníku, "Oba s více budeme." - II "Podivíne, služebníku, "Z lože vstaň, ven půjdeme. "Jak ten havran poustenníku "Nuzným krm poneseme. "Dřívím též je zásobíme; "Drev teď víc než pokrmu "Potřebují, zavděčíme "Tím jim za těch zimních dnů. "Naneseme v noci temné, "Čeho jen si žádají: "Až pak svitne jitro jemné, "Kdo to zděl, nepoznají. "Krušno jest ti v noční době "Nespat a se namahat. "Útěchou však bude tobě, "Žes mohl bližním pomahat. "Rozkoš jest ti slzy stříti "Sklíčeným a hojit strast; "Máš jí teď účasten býti, "Se mnou dělit máš tu slast. III Za bouře noční šumot nedbajíce, An luna je a hvězdy zírají, Od domu k domu dary donášíce I Kněz i Sluha se odbírají. (Kněz = Kníže) Tu drva i co víc jim zapotřebí, Nuzáčkům oněm na práh skládají, A jejich radost, až pak na ponebí Se zora zdvihne, v duchu třímají. Podíl svůj stejný křesťan tu dostává Jak pohan, ctitel Prona šílený. (Prona = Peruna?) Za své a Boha za děti uznává Je oba Kníže zbožně nadšený. Jak semo tamo hojné dary nesou, Všech nuzných laskavě poděkují. Tu však se Podivínu oudy třesou, Tuhým uvondán mrazem jinoch mdlí. Jej Wácslaw uzřev zimou trnoucího Junoše vlídným srdcem litoval, A Boha o pomoc všemohoucího, By strvat mohl ve dobročinstvu, zval: "Nech Pane ve tvém zákonu mne státi, "Nech spásou bratrů být mne ubohých! "I sluze mému rač svou sílu sláti, "By slov mně pomahal vyplnit tvých!" "Tuší-tě, že jej vyslyšalo nebe, I ptá se: "Chřadneš, milý druhu můj? "Zotav se mužně! Pakli tebe zebe, "V mé šlaky za mnou nohy postavuj!" - (probably typing error - "šlapy") Uposlechl onen; páně do šlépěje, Jak Wácslaw káže, staví nohu svou, I aj tu teplo jemu nohy hřeje, Necítí již moc zimy drastivou. Kdo zbožně zákon lásky vykonává, Jejž lidstvu hlásal ctný Vykupitel, Zázračnou sílu jemu Božství dává: Protož buď chválen Bůh náš spasitel! The photos are downloadable here: uloz.to/!BUVXtFjE28lm/svaty-wacslav-a-podiwin-rar
The foreword is a dedication to Dešná town in Tábor region, which burned three times in a row the year before publication of this book (so in 1846). The book wa printed out by the Prague archbishoprical printing house on Archbishops funds, as a charity gift. The money it got from selling was to used for the town citizes it seems. I'll rewrite it fully just to be sure: Městys Dešný, v Táborském kraji, s chudými již i před tím obyvateli, minulého roku do dvou měsíců třikráte, totiž 26. a 29. srpna, pak 12. září ohněm náramně uchvácen, téměř celý s kostelem a s farou popelem lehl, až na nejchudší, stranou po různu ležící chatrče. Nevyslovná zajisté tam panuje bída, a ubozí vyhořelci - pro chudobu své malicherné jmění již ani ujistiti nemohouce - pomoc jen od Boha a pro Bůh od bližních laskavých mohou očekávati. V pomoc jim přispěti, ano - co v tom právě osoby a věci stavu mnohem chvalitebnější - spolu mnoha bratřím příležitosti podati žádaje, by tohoto skutku bohulibé lásky k bližnímu i skrovným své postatě přiměrným dárkem účastni býti, ním ubohých vyhořelců díky a zalíbení Páně sobě získati mohli, *Jeho Knížecí Milost náš všem velectěný Arcipastýř*, tuto Legendu, a ouplný výnos, co se pak ní strží, sám náklad tisku dobrotivě přejma, darem lásku k bližním nebohým vyhořelým Dešňanům věru lidumilným a o spásu duší pečlivému Pastýři přístojným zámyslem věnovati ráčil. Legenda sama, příkladem svatého patrona vlasti naší osvědčujíc, jak rodnělidská a přesněkřesťanská dobročinno(st), a láska k bližnímu Bohu milá jest, k tomu skutku lásky povzbuzuje. Doufáme tedy, že mnoho lidomilů všelikého stavu odbíráním jí tu šlechetnému tomu oučelu přispějí, ubohým bratřím svou slitovnou lásku činně proukáží, a zalíbení Bohu, jenž pramen svaté lásky jest, sobě tím dobudou, k čemu jeho požehnání budiž nápomocno. W. A. Swoboda The last sentence is an appeal for the readers to act in a way helpful to others, as the saint patron himself once did, by purchasing the legend themselves.
It is crazy how i felt while reading this. It really was like I knew most of what would be happening, only written in such archaic style I had more trouble with it. I absolutely agree that there must be some unrecognized 'inspiration' on Neales part - and I'd say this deserves a proper comparatory work. Say, do you plan on publishing these findings?
That archaic style - i think a majority of todays Czech users will have troubles understanding it too, so don't worry about it :D The word order is jumbled, the verbs are often in transgressives (almost dead verb form today), adjectives are detached from nouns completely (i think that's a Latin thing), the words themselves are sometimes barely recognizable... It's been about 170 years after all.
Podiwin/Podiven was not only a favourite servant of duke Wenzel, but he was also an avenger of his master's death and has a truly medieval happy end: In the Legend of St Wenzel written by monk Christian/Kristian we read, that after duke Wenzel's murder, Podiwin fled to the Holy Roman Empire and stayed there in exile, fearing he will be murdered for his allegiance to Wenzel. After some time, when the dust in Bohemia had settled, he returned, but still lived in hiding. But after a while, he decided to visit (probably) Hniewsa, one of duke Wenzel's murderers. This Hniewsa was just taking a hot bath - Podiwin slain Hniewsa with a sword and fled. But Hniewsa's murder was quickly uncovered and the news soon reached the new duke Boleslaw, the brother of Wenzel and also his murderer. Duke Boleslaw ordered to encircle the forest, where Podiwin was hiding. After a short brawl, Podiwin was captured and hanged on the spot. But his body didnt rot; his hair grew white and nails long. After that they buried him in the ground, but on his grave a heavenly light shone into the night. After that, Podiwin's body was exhumed and translocated to the graveyard at the St Vitus in Prague. There he was laid to rest again - and he was resting outside the church wall, while duke Wenzel was resting insinde of the church wall. Thus the duke and his loyal servant were rejoined once more and forever.
@@bobritchie4067 Hi! This part about the life and miracles of Podiwin comes from the Christianslegende / Kristiánova legenda. The author (a so called monk Christian) dedicates the whole 9th chapter to Podiwin and my comment here is basicaly the 9th chapter re-told 😊 I am not sure if you can aquire the source text in English; however, there is surely a version in German, as well as the original Latin text.
Thank you. Really enjoyed d this search and your enthusiasm. I found you as I was so moved by a rendition of the carol this Christmas. It encapsulates how we should behave as Christians. Keep up your lovely active interest. God bless you.
I just found out king wenceslas was from bohemian watching a ww2 documentary that brought up the Saint Wenceslas crown a bohemian crown jewel. I took interest since as an American I have been told my grandmother has bohemian blood And down the rabbit hole I went
A really interesting and well researched video. Your presentation did a great job at expanding with clarity a quite complex account. Really enjoyed it, thank you. As an aside, "Good King Wenceslas' is a favourite carol of mine, perhaps because this was a tune we learned to play on the recorder back in the day I was at junior school in the UK.
Topic - St. Wenceslas from Bohemia (part of Czech republic) - so, why showing Slovak castles - Bratislava castle in the beginning (or 5:12) then Bojnice castle (4:30)??? But good job anyway.
I had no idea of what I was about to encounter when I sat down with my warmed caramel apple pie with whipped cream and naively clicked play. I had to have a second helping of both. Kudos, uploader, and a Merry Corona 2020 to you!
I'm currently doing work on my family's very extensive family tree. An aunt of mine has married a Swoboda and there are family members of the Swoboda's in my local area too. I found a connection to this song while doing searching on family members from long ago. In the song it relates to a certain area, an area where my ancestors once lived, and his name appeared but I did not know there was more than 1. I found that interesting, but nothing more came from my searching. Other than remembering how we always played this song and my father spoke his name with a german accent. Understandably because his side is mostly german descent and that is how he would've heard the name said. I'm having an interesting time going down one line that has extensive years of being in England and close to the royal families through time. Not sure how many crests I'll finally end up finding being documented, 3 so far.
🎶The words were by an English guy The music, Scandinavian Wenceslas was five-foot-six He kept his face unshaven Though just a duke throughout his life He always ruled so justly His kingly title was conferred Upon him posthumously🎶
VERY INTERESTING HOW YOU FOUND THE POEM AT LAST...THE WORDS OF VERY INSPIRATIONAL & IT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE GREATEST OF CHRISTMAS HYMNS...VANCOUVER, CANADA...;)
LoL thank you but no need for such actions. It was something, definitely didn't know how far I'll have to go to actually find out the truth when I started and ones I was on the path I already spent way too much time on the video so I might as well finish it. However there was genuinely a part of the script for a while which ended with me not finding the original, because I truly thought I wont be able to find it.
Well for our collective enjoyment, and your own curiosity, I am glad you eventually succeeded! Will definitely put more to your Patreon when I have the spare cash!!
Great! Podiwin (in czech Podiven or Podivin) is name of saint Wenceslaw servant, sometimes in legend he is his friend, in my strange view of history (which doesnt have any basis in history, just making it) he is his lover. Anyway, Podiven means something like Wonder or Amazed, even little bit of Strange.
Thank you, that was interesting (and apparently hard to find). I wonder why is he mentioned as a king when he was a duke though. I guess it simply sounds better to refer saint as king.
Hi, just a small detail: In the time 6:10 - Currency code "kr." (in this price list) is not Krone, but Kreuzer (Kreutzer). 1 "fl." (florin/gulden) = 100 "kr." (kreuzer). The crown/krone currency was in the Austria-Hungary introduced later - from 1892.. PS: ..and code "Ngr." are Neu-groschen, which at the time were the currency in neighboring Sachsen/Saxony.
my 9th GGF was Vincky/Kinsky. He was supposed to have been made a count by this king. There is a lot of interesting things during this period that is sometimes hard to be vetted
I've just found your channel, and i gotta say that your videos are amazing! I am going to be binge watching them over the next couple days. Merry Christmas!
M.Laser: Have you, or anyone else in the meantime, excluded the possibility that both the Vacslav poem and the Neale's text both draw from an earlier source which contains the detail that appears in both?
I mean sure, could be a possibility but I doubt it. The original poem made by Vaclav was made to raise money for an area of Prague that got destroyed during a fire. He even mentions this at the start of the poem. I find it kind of hard to believe that the poem he made to raise money for charity would be just a copy of a previous poem. It may have been a written down version of a past down oral story but that would constitute a different thing than just completely copying an older work. Also considering that there are multiple works pointing to the fact that the English poem is a copy of the Czech one but no other writing mentions the Czech one is a copy of an even earlier work means it would be unlikely.
Nobody knows this wonderful song in Germany! (Funny, my "Like" is nr.1838, looks like a year) I intend to perform it on a Xmas celebration. Wonder if anyone knows it. Would have liked to hear the complete tune from the middle ages. Is there a source?
You kept losing me as you told the saga of tracking down information about this song & the king, but your summary at the end was great. This song is not NEARLY as popular in the U.S. as it seems to be in Europe (based on the comments below & your vid). I don't even know the first verse beyond the first 4 lines. There is another song, "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child" (Lowly in a Manger) that uses this same tune. I think this is more popular in the U.S. Do you know when those lyrics were written to go with that tune?
Hi M. Laser, would it be possible to scan the German Poem and make it accessible somewhere? I need it and in the Video it goes over it does not show all of it for me to copy down.
Could you next do an origin of the Czech song "Roll out the barrel"? It was originally a famous czech song brought to England by refugee Czech pilots during wwii. The English liked the song so much they wrote English lyrics to it. The original "Skoda Laska" has a completely different theme.
@@zdendaf3216 If you read any book about him it mentions it, even Wikipedia mentions it. It's a very well known fact that "Otto I posthumously conferred onto him the regal title". If you want a source in a book than here you go, but as stated, it's pretty much written everywhere. Antonín, Robert, and Sean Mark. Miller. The Ideal Ruler in Medieval Bohemia. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450 44. Leiden ; Boston, 2017. p. 73.
You should have name this video "The Epic Search for the Origins of the Good King Wenceslaus Carol".
I've always loved the Good King Wenceslas carol. Thank you for your hard work researching its origins. It only adds to the enjoyment of its timeless message.
It´s crazy how popular this song is in English speaking countries yet almost not a single person singing it knows who king Wenceslas was!
Thanks for an interesting origin story!
Because it's taught to young kids that get paid in gifts.
Speak for yourself.
In the Czech Republic it's the other way round - everyone knows Saint Wenceslas but hardly anyone knows there's an English carol about him 😀
I went to high school with him
I've never met a Czech who knew of the song or was interested in claiming it. They are usually just surprised and flattered that England has a song honoring one of their saints.
Good work finding the original. I'm not surprised it was so difficult as the carol is unknown here in Bohemia outside of English language classes.
Reading the Czech version is a challege (Czech isn't my first language, my Czech wife helped) but I noticed the similarities. They even have the part about the paige following in the footsteps of the king.
Yeah don't worry as a, sure lets say "native" Czech speaker it's hard for me to read as well.
I'm Czech and this is my favourite christmas carol.
This has always been my all time favorite song since I was a young girl growing up in the Northeast of the United States. My adoptive parents played this song for us every year. It's been about 45 years since I heard this song. I couldn't remember the title or even the words to the song. I started searching old Christmas songs here on RUclips and it took me a few minutes to find it. I just had to hear it once again. I played it twice and found the video about the origins and it piqued my curiosity since it is my favorite poem/song. I had to hear about the original song, and to my delight, I was not disappointed. Reading the comments was a treasure of information about a song I've so dearly loved since I was 8 years old! I was not expecting to find that the original was actually a 10th century Bohemian poem! Wow! Reading the comments and the original poem was probably the best Christmas gift I've ever received! I have saved the song and this video so I can reference it anytime I wish! Now that I know the origins, I can appreciate the song much better. My only disappointment is not knowing this much earlier in my life. I really wish I had known this information when I was a young child. Thank you very much for the video and the translation. Merry Christmas to you all, and God bless you!
~Sharon Rose 🌹
I’ve wondered for years why the story of this King Wenceslas hadn’t been made into a quality Christmas film; it would be amazing!👏🏼🎄😊The Carol gives me warm fuzzies every year, so a movie would too, done properly!🎄❤
Oh I just realised that the Good King Wenceslas lived ( or at least studied ) in my home village before a while ( no he didn't live in Prague )
Very good video and background pictures
I looked up the original in National Museum Library and I will check it out. They however only have opening hours on Monday and seeing how its on Christmas eve and 31st, it will take some time, but by 7th of January I should have it. Hopefully they'll let me scan it - if not, I'll at least rewrite it and post it here.
@@MLaserHistory I walk by every day effectively and I'm a student of literature and history education, so I've got no excuses to not do that. Also the new National Museum building is the old Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia, and its bad credit for me to say that I've never visited it :)
Here it is for download. Pardon my photo quality (link at the end), the librarian did not allow me to scan it (the book was sewed together with other non related ones quite poorly).
I'll transcribe it in Czech for those who can't read the old Fraktur typeface (the foreword at the end cause many will not be interested). Also left the Václav spelling how it was, because syllables had to match on the beginning - otherwise i made it readable for todays Czech user.
Svatý Václav a Podivín
legenda od V. A. Svobody, c. a k. humanitního učitele na Malostranském gymnáziu
výnos připadne vyhořelým obyvatelům městyse Dešného v Táborském kraji
prodává se, bez obmezení dobročinnosti, za 3 kr. stř.
I.
Temná noc jest, hvězdy bodré
Na obloze svítí modré,
Zemčan denním trudem mdlý
Klidně na svém loži spí.
Wáceslaw jen slavný kníže,
Na pobožný slib je víže,
Jako denně, z lože vstal,
By se na modlitbu bral.
K oknu stoupí, blatí ledu
Strnulá se jeho hledu
Příroda ukazuje,
V níž jen sever lomcuje.
Vlídným okem vše obzírá;
Praha tu se rozprostírá
Pod hradem položená,
Ledem, sněhem stížená.
Vlídně tam na chýšky patří,
Kdežto chudí bydlí bratří,
(Na) ty na chatrče zří, (not sure anymore)
Pojme jej milosrdí.
"Zdali sen svou blahou slastí
"Ubohých těch kojí strasti,
"Ujmiž srdce ztrápená
"Jako jsou obtížená?
"Jakým želem svá děťátka,
"Milená ta neviňátka
"Hladem nýti zírají,
"An ni soustka nemají!
"A co v zimním trpí času, -
"Kdož to pomní bez úžasu -
"An životohubný mráz
"Na ně vtírá ráz co ráz?
"Na tom jest jim v pomoc spěti?
"Nemám otcem svých být dětí?
"Nač mi Bohem dána moc,
"Než bych jim byl na pomoc?
"Srdce láskou k bližním čilé
"Jest nade vše Bohu milé.
"Laskavě se k bratřím měj,
"K Bohu bohuděk tak zej!"
"Máš tu hody slavit se mnou,
"Jež si v tiše ustrojím;
"Mne provázej nocí temnou,
Ať bol bratří ukojím.
"Větším darem, větších díků
"Jak potajmo dojdeme.
"Pojdiž se mnou služebníku,
"Oba s více budeme." -
II
"Podivíne, služebníku,
"Z lože vstaň, ven půjdeme.
"Jak ten havran poustenníku
"Nuzným krm poneseme.
"Dřívím též je zásobíme;
"Drev teď víc než pokrmu
"Potřebují, zavděčíme
"Tím jim za těch zimních dnů.
"Naneseme v noci temné,
"Čeho jen si žádají:
"Až pak svitne jitro jemné,
"Kdo to zděl, nepoznají.
"Krušno jest ti v noční době
"Nespat a se namahat.
"Útěchou však bude tobě,
"Žes mohl bližním pomahat.
"Rozkoš jest ti slzy stříti
"Sklíčeným a hojit strast;
"Máš jí teď účasten býti,
"Se mnou dělit máš tu slast.
III
Za bouře noční šumot nedbajíce,
An luna je a hvězdy zírají,
Od domu k domu dary donášíce
I Kněz i Sluha se odbírají. (Kněz = Kníže)
Tu drva i co víc jim zapotřebí,
Nuzáčkům oněm na práh skládají,
A jejich radost, až pak na ponebí
Se zora zdvihne, v duchu třímají.
Podíl svůj stejný křesťan tu dostává
Jak pohan, ctitel Prona šílený. (Prona = Peruna?)
Za své a Boha za děti uznává
Je oba Kníže zbožně nadšený.
Jak semo tamo hojné dary nesou,
Všech nuzných laskavě poděkují.
Tu však se Podivínu oudy třesou,
Tuhým uvondán mrazem jinoch mdlí.
Jej Wácslaw uzřev zimou trnoucího
Junoše vlídným srdcem litoval,
A Boha o pomoc všemohoucího,
By strvat mohl ve dobročinstvu, zval:
"Nech Pane ve tvém zákonu mne státi,
"Nech spásou bratrů být mne ubohých!
"I sluze mému rač svou sílu sláti,
"By slov mně pomahal vyplnit tvých!"
"Tuší-tě, že jej vyslyšalo nebe,
I ptá se: "Chřadneš, milý druhu můj?
"Zotav se mužně! Pakli tebe zebe,
"V mé šlaky za mnou nohy postavuj!" - (probably typing error - "šlapy")
Uposlechl onen; páně do šlépěje,
Jak Wácslaw káže, staví nohu svou,
I aj tu teplo jemu nohy hřeje,
Necítí již moc zimy drastivou.
Kdo zbožně zákon lásky vykonává,
Jejž lidstvu hlásal ctný Vykupitel,
Zázračnou sílu jemu Božství dává:
Protož buď chválen Bůh náš spasitel!
The photos are downloadable here:
uloz.to/!BUVXtFjE28lm/svaty-wacslav-a-podiwin-rar
The foreword is a dedication to Dešná town in Tábor region, which burned three times in a row the year before publication of this book (so in 1846). The book wa printed out by the Prague archbishoprical printing house on Archbishops funds, as a charity gift. The money it got from selling was to used for the town citizes it seems. I'll rewrite it fully just to be sure:
Městys Dešný, v Táborském kraji, s chudými již i před tím obyvateli, minulého roku do dvou měsíců třikráte, totiž 26. a 29. srpna, pak 12. září ohněm náramně uchvácen, téměř celý s kostelem a s farou popelem lehl, až na nejchudší, stranou po různu ležící chatrče. Nevyslovná zajisté tam panuje bída, a ubozí vyhořelci - pro chudobu své malicherné jmění již ani ujistiti nemohouce - pomoc jen od Boha a pro Bůh od bližních laskavých mohou očekávati. V pomoc jim přispěti, ano - co v tom právě osoby a věci stavu mnohem chvalitebnější - spolu mnoha bratřím příležitosti podati žádaje, by tohoto skutku bohulibé lásky k bližnímu i skrovným své postatě přiměrným dárkem účastni býti, ním ubohých vyhořelců díky a zalíbení Páně sobě získati mohli, *Jeho Knížecí Milost náš všem velectěný Arcipastýř*, tuto Legendu, a ouplný výnos, co se pak ní strží, sám náklad tisku dobrotivě přejma, darem lásku k bližním nebohým vyhořelým Dešňanům věru lidumilným a o spásu duší pečlivému Pastýři přístojným zámyslem věnovati ráčil.
Legenda sama, příkladem svatého patrona vlasti naší osvědčujíc, jak rodnělidská a přesněkřesťanská dobročinno(st), a láska k bližnímu Bohu milá jest, k tomu skutku lásky povzbuzuje. Doufáme tedy, že mnoho lidomilů všelikého stavu odbíráním jí tu šlechetnému tomu oučelu přispějí, ubohým bratřím svou slitovnou lásku činně proukáží, a zalíbení Bohu, jenž pramen svaté lásky jest, sobě tím dobudou, k čemu jeho požehnání budiž nápomocno. W. A. Swoboda
The last sentence is an appeal for the readers to act in a way helpful to others, as the saint patron himself once did, by purchasing the legend themselves.
It is crazy how i felt while reading this. It really was like I knew most of what would be happening, only written in such archaic style I had more trouble with it. I absolutely agree that there must be some unrecognized 'inspiration' on Neales part - and I'd say this deserves a proper comparatory work. Say, do you plan on publishing these findings?
That archaic style - i think a majority of todays Czech users will have troubles understanding it too, so don't worry about it :D The word order is jumbled, the verbs are often in transgressives (almost dead verb form today), adjectives are detached from nouns completely (i think that's a Latin thing), the words themselves are sometimes barely recognizable... It's been about 170 years after all.
For a history buff like me this was really fantastic like candy.
Podiwin/Podiven was not only a favourite servant of duke Wenzel, but he was also an avenger of his master's death and has a truly medieval happy end:
In the Legend of St Wenzel written by monk Christian/Kristian we read, that after duke Wenzel's murder, Podiwin fled to the Holy Roman Empire and stayed there in exile, fearing he will be murdered for his allegiance to Wenzel.
After some time, when the dust in Bohemia had settled, he returned, but still lived in hiding. But after a while, he decided to visit (probably) Hniewsa, one of duke Wenzel's murderers. This Hniewsa was just taking a hot bath - Podiwin slain Hniewsa with a sword and fled. But Hniewsa's murder was quickly uncovered and the news soon reached the new duke Boleslaw, the brother of Wenzel and also his murderer. Duke Boleslaw ordered to encircle the forest, where Podiwin was hiding. After a short brawl, Podiwin was captured and hanged on the spot. But his body didnt rot; his hair grew white and nails long. After that they buried him in the ground, but on his grave a heavenly light shone into the night. After that, Podiwin's body was exhumed and translocated to the graveyard at the St Vitus in Prague. There he was laid to rest again - and he was resting outside the church wall, while duke Wenzel was resting insinde of the church wall. Thus the duke and his loyal servant were rejoined once more and forever.
Where did you acquire this information about the history/story of King Wenceslas?
@@bobritchie4067 Hi! This part about the life and miracles of Podiwin comes from the Christianslegende / Kristiánova legenda. The author (a so called monk Christian) dedicates the whole 9th chapter to Podiwin and my comment here is basicaly the 9th chapter re-told 😊
I am not sure if you can aquire the source text in English; however, there is surely a version in German, as well as the original Latin text.
It started with a good Christmas king, and ended with a bath murder. Very dramatic.
@@allanturmaine5496 those were simpler times 😅
And btw thanks to everyone who stopped by to read this medieval thriller 😁
"čo tu šeci robite?"
Astounding piece of research. Congratulations and thanks for setting this open question to rest, permanently. A monumental accomplishment. Bravo.
Glad you could find it.
Thank you. Really enjoyed d this search and your enthusiasm. I found you as I was so moved by a rendition of the carol this Christmas. It encapsulates how we should behave as Christians. Keep up your lovely active interest. God bless you.
You deserve more subscribers.
I just found out king wenceslas was from bohemian watching a ww2 documentary that brought up the Saint Wenceslas crown a bohemian crown jewel. I took interest since as an American I have been told my grandmother has bohemian blood And down the rabbit hole I went
A really interesting and well researched video. Your presentation did a great job at expanding with clarity a quite complex account. Really enjoyed it, thank you. As an aside, "Good King Wenceslas' is a favourite carol of mine, perhaps because this was a tune we learned to play on the recorder back in the day I was at junior school in the UK.
Oh man, how coud you have such a low number of subscribers and views? What an incredible dedication and work has been put in this video.
Topic - St. Wenceslas from Bohemia (part of Czech republic) - so, why showing Slovak castles - Bratislava castle in the beginning (or 5:12) then Bojnice castle (4:30)??? But good job anyway.
Damn, that was actually thrilling. Good job.
Excellent detective work!
I had no idea of what I was about to encounter when I sat down with my warmed caramel apple pie with whipped cream and naively clicked play. I had to have a second helping of both.
Kudos, uploader, and a Merry Corona 2020 to you!
I'm currently doing work on my family's very extensive family tree.
An aunt of mine has married a Swoboda and there are family members of the Swoboda's in my local area too.
I found a connection to this song while doing searching on family members from long ago. In the song it relates to a certain area, an area where my ancestors once lived, and his name appeared but I did not know there was more than 1. I found that interesting, but nothing more came from my searching.
Other than remembering how we always played this song and my father spoke his name with a german accent. Understandably because his side is mostly german descent and that is how he would've heard the name said.
I'm having an interesting time going down one line that has extensive years of being in England and close to the royal families through time. Not sure how many crests I'll finally end up finding being documented, 3 so far.
Thanks for the hard work. Your efforts have made me appreciate King Wencelaus even more.
This is awesome! The Librarians couldn't have done a better job 😉 Thank you for sharing your fascinating research.
Every year, I get obsessed about some aspect of Christmas; this year, it is the carol, GOOD KING WENCESLAS. thank you for helping me feed my OCD
Wow! Great scholarship. Thank you for posting this!
Boy you went into a lot of trouble to dig this out. Thanks mate.
The singing part at 5:19 was pretty funny! 😆👏🏻
Really good work, thank you! I always liked this carol. Gives me a warm feeling. ✝
🎶The words were by an English guy
The music, Scandinavian
Wenceslas was five-foot-six
He kept his face unshaven
Though just a duke throughout his life
He always ruled so justly
His kingly title was conferred
Upon him posthumously🎶
lol
This is making my brain hurt, glad I didn’t have to do this homework, thank you for your service 🙏
I hope wikipedia got edited with the additonal reference information. Great Post!
VERY INTERESTING HOW YOU FOUND THE POEM AT LAST...THE WORDS OF VERY INSPIRATIONAL & IT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE GREATEST OF CHRISTMAS HYMNS...VANCOUVER, CANADA...;)
Thank you for the history. Up until now I’d only known the song from the US TV special A Muppet Family Christmas.
This video was outstanding :D Thank you for this!
I gave this a like just for the amount of effort on the research good shit my dude
Totally loved this video... its my favorite christmas carol too
Excellent research. Well done.
This was very good and meaningful research. Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!
Thank you
99.8k subs as of Feb 2021, looks like you made it buddie Im happy for ya!
Yeah it's great, thank you :)
Now if my add revenue was half of what everyone else is I might actually be able to do this full time someday.
Thank you for clearing this up for me
The amount of research you did just for this video nearly made me prostrate myself in your honor.
LoL thank you but no need for such actions.
It was something, definitely didn't know how far I'll have to go to actually find out the truth when I started and ones I was on the path I already spent way too much time on the video so I might as well finish it.
However there was genuinely a part of the script for a while which ended with me not finding the original, because I truly thought I wont be able to find it.
Well for our collective enjoyment, and your own curiosity, I am glad you eventually succeeded! Will definitely put more to your Patreon when I have the spare cash!!
Great! Podiwin (in czech Podiven or Podivin) is name of saint Wenceslaw servant, sometimes in legend he is his friend, in my strange view of history (which doesnt have any basis in history, just making it) he is his lover. Anyway, Podiven means something like Wonder or Amazed, even little bit of Strange.
Best and somewhat unsurprising story of a song. Merry Christmas everyone!!
i can't belive, one of the biggest mysteries of my life has been solved. Thank You!!!!
Thank you, that was interesting (and apparently hard to find). I wonder why is he mentioned as a king when he was a duke though. I guess it simply sounds better to refer saint as king.
Wow! Great research! Thank you!
Incredible research on your part. Moc dobre! 🎄
It was when the Pils Lager Booze arrived into England and that's good enough history for me.
I just liked my own comment so there you go Google love actually good king wenclas we rock this shit we turned it into the Beatles Christmas thing
@@littleplot1060hell yea turn it up
Hi, just a small detail: In the time 6:10 - Currency code "kr." (in this price list) is not Krone, but Kreuzer (Kreutzer).
1 "fl." (florin/gulden) = 100 "kr." (kreuzer).
The crown/krone currency was in the Austria-Hungary introduced later - from 1892..
PS: ..and code "Ngr." are Neu-groschen, which at the time were the currency in neighboring Sachsen/Saxony.
Yeah, I find that out later thanks to Military History Visualized.
Weird, I've never heard of this song before. Did it not catch on across the pond?
Like the new animated style you did! Also congrats on doubling of subs!
my 9th GGF was Vincky/Kinsky. He was supposed to have been made a count by this king. There is a lot of interesting things during this period that is sometimes hard to be vetted
I've just found your channel, and i gotta say that your videos are amazing! I am going to be binge watching them over the next couple days. Merry Christmas!
Great research. Subscribed.
Now I wonder whether this obscure paige from the carol, originally Podiwin, led eventually to the paige in the Star Wars universe 'Padawan'.
Wow, great work researching all this! Akorát takový plagiátorství :D
@Scientific Humanist Not by the author of the video, but by the guy who popularized the english version
@Scientific Humanist I agree with you. I meant it as more of a joke :)
Happy Feast of St King Wenceslaus!
Great effort!!! Thanks for this!!!
Enjoyed the History. Richest Blessings.
Very cool. Good work
A very good video.
I'm impressed. Merry Christmas from Sweden🎄♥
The work he invested is insane, I would give up after looking at the first Google page
Thank you, sir. Excellent job of research and presentation. Most interesting!
Pretty cool knowing the origin of the song, I used to play it on the oboe back in highachool. Really good tune.
very informative i did know who the song is about but not the origin of the song. fun fact Wenceslaus I, is my 34th great uncle
I like this song too... very much
Excellent video and great example of dogged research - well done!
Desde El Salvador..i like this Christmass Carols
is there a final verse of how they got together laughing singing and swearing at the weather, where the neighbor come by bringing pumpkin pie?
It was very interesting study. My name is Vencislav and I am from Bulgaria 😊
Fantastic video
This is neat, thanks.
Great story! 😊
6:55 These times are just the beginning of information bieng hidden. if was this Hard to find a simple christmas song.........
WOW thank you
Amazing video dude! Ok i want you to to help me with something! Are you Czech?
M.Laser: Have you, or anyone else in the meantime, excluded the possibility that both the Vacslav poem and the Neale's text both draw from an earlier source which contains the detail that appears in both?
I mean sure, could be a possibility but I doubt it. The original poem made by Vaclav was made to raise money for an area of Prague that got destroyed during a fire. He even mentions this at the start of the poem. I find it kind of hard to believe that the poem he made to raise money for charity would be just a copy of a previous poem. It may have been a written down version of a past down oral story but that would constitute a different thing than just completely copying an older work.
Also considering that there are multiple works pointing to the fact that the English poem is a copy of the Czech one but no other writing mentions the Czech one is a copy of an even earlier work means it would be unlikely.
Thank you from Prague/Bohemia
Nobody knows this wonderful song in Germany! (Funny, my "Like" is nr.1838, looks like a year) I intend to perform it on a Xmas celebration. Wonder if anyone knows it. Would have liked to hear the complete tune from the middle ages. Is there a source?
Supposedly one of the first Christmas Carols done that was not about the birth of Jesus....
Are you going to continue with more in depth histories of different countries or periods at least? I liked the ones of the Slavs a lot.
Even Nardwuar is impressed!
I have been curious about this song since Hugh Grant sang it with his driver in Love, Actually. I always thought it was an old English song.
Google doesn't have everything. I have been disappointed with previous searches because they don't know everything.
I do know about Good King Wenceslas :)
Would love to see an English translation of the poem you found.
You kept losing me as you told the saga of tracking down information about this song & the king, but your summary at the end was great. This song is not NEARLY as popular in the U.S. as it seems to be in Europe (based on the comments below & your vid). I don't even know the first verse beyond the first 4 lines. There is another song, "Gentle Mary Laid Her Child" (Lowly in a Manger) that uses this same tune. I think this is more popular in the U.S. Do you know when those lyrics were written to go with that tune?
And he was an Orthodox martyr.
Hi M. Laser, would it be possible to scan the German Poem and make it accessible somewhere? I need it and in the Video it goes over it does not show all of it for me to copy down.
www.patreon.com/file?h=23406174&i=3015576
Read the description next time.
History is a funny thing, isn’t it?
Well, that was anti climactic actually. After 6 minutes of saying I can't find the poem, he just finds the poem. Great detective work though.
Could you next do an origin of the Czech song "Roll out the barrel"? It was originally a famous czech song brought to England by refugee Czech pilots during wwii. The English liked the song so much they wrote English lyrics to it. The original "Skoda Laska" has a completely different theme.
Anglickou verzi složil také pan Vejvoda.
Always credit your source
Denkuji!
Fun fact, he was not a king. He was only a duke.
He was posthumously crowned as a king.
@@MLaserHistory i don't mean it in a mean way but what arw your sources on this. Wherever you search for him, he is always listed as dux not rex
@@zdendaf3216 If you read any book about him it mentions it, even Wikipedia mentions it. It's a very well known fact that
"Otto I posthumously conferred onto him the regal title".
If you want a source in a book than here you go, but as stated, it's pretty much written everywhere.
Antonín, Robert, and Sean Mark. Miller. The Ideal Ruler in Medieval Bohemia. East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450 44. Leiden ; Boston, 2017. p. 73.
Tbf I just assumed the song came from Czech, obviously. Just not as directly as I thought.
Mary Xmas