ADALBERTO of PRAGUE, Saint, Martyr. — Of Czech nationality, he was called Vojtěch; among the Slavic peoples he is known and venerated under this name. Educated in Magdeburg, he was given at confirmation by Archbishop Adalberto his own name, under which he entered history and cult. He was elected bishop of Prague in 982, but some time later retired to Rome, on the Aventine, in the monastery of St. Alexis (988). Sent back to his see in 989, he founded, in accordance with ancient tradition, the monastery of Břevnov near Prague. In 994–95 he made a missionary journey through Hungary, then settled again in Rome (996). There he won the favor of Emperor Otto III, with whom he returned to his homeland. He found all his relatives murdered; with a heart torn by grief, he went to Bolesław the Brave, Duke of Poland, to devote himself to the conversion of the Prussians. But on 23 April 997, while preaching, he was killed near Tenkitten by a horde of pagans. He was buried at Gniezno.
He was immediately venerated as a martyr. Otto III, then in Rome, built in his honor a church on the Tiber Island (now St. Bartholomew’s) and in 1000 went on pilgrimage to Gniezno, where he established an archbishopric. In 1039 the Czechs removed his body and deposited it in the cathedral of Prague, where the relics were rediscovered in 1880. His feast is celebrated on 23 April.