Around the World in Envelopes : Baptism of Poland

A cover from Poland 🇵🇱 with stamps depicting an important piece of its history.

1050 anniversary of Christianity in Poland

Date of issue : 30-03-2016

Mieszko I was the first Polish ruler known from contemporaneous sources. In an attempt to enter into an alliance with Boleslaus I, the Cruel - Duke of Bohemia, he decided to marry the Duke's Christian daughter, Dobrava in 964 or 965.

Mieszko I and Dobrawa

Dobrava persuaded her husband to convert Christianity one or three years later. His conversion, known as the baptism of Poland, was a milestone even in the Polish history. By wedding Dobrava, the daughter of Boleslaus I the Cruel of the Přemyslid dynasty, Mieszko entered a political union with the ruler of another powerful Slavic kingdom.

The Baptism of Poland took place on the Holy Saturday of 14 April 966, although the exact location is still disputed by historians, with the cities of Poznań and Gniezno being the most likely sites. Mieszko’s wife, Dobrawa of Bohemia, is often credited as a major influence on Mieszko’s decision to accept Christianity. The baptism was conducted by Sw. Wojciech, who was to become the future Bishop of Gniezno and the first saint of Poland and the Patron saint of Poland and Czech.

Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Summo in Poznań is considered today the most likely venue for the Baptism of Mieszko

While the spread of Christianity in Poland took centuries to finish, the process was ultimately successful, as within several decades Poland joined the rank of established European states recognised by the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Today most historians agree that without Christianisation, Poland wouldn’t have survived. Even without venturing into the realm of alternative history, one can reasonably assume that adopting Christianity meant also that the Slavic tribe of Polans avoided the fate of many other tribes and ethnicities of the region which rejected Christianity and are now just names in history books.

Patrons of Poland - St. Wojciech

Date of issue : 27-04-2019

The 1000th death anniversary of St. Aldabert of Prague

Date of issue : 19-04-1997

The 1000th death anniversary of the St. Aldabert of Prague

Date of issue : 23-04-1997

Adalbert of Prague known in Czech by his birth name Vojtěch, was a Bohemian missionary and Christian saint. He was the Bishop of Prague and a missionary to the Hungarians, Poles, and Prussians, who was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. He is said to be the composer of the oldest Czech hymn Hospodine, pomiluj ny and Bogurodzica, the oldest known Polish hymn, but the authorship has not confirmed. St. Adalbert (Święty Wojciech) was later declared the patron saint of the Czech Republic, Poland, and the former polity of Prussia.

After he survived a grave illness in childhood, his parents decided to dedicate him to the service of God. Adalbert was well educated, having studied for approximately ten years (970-80) in Magdeburg under the tutelage of St. Adalbert of Magdeburg. The young Vojtěch took his tutor's name "Adalbert" at his Confirmation.

In 981 St. Adalbert of Magdeburg died, and his young protege Adalbert returned to Bohemia. In 982, Bishop Dietmar died, and Adalbert, despite being under canonical age, was chosen to succeed him as Bishop of Prague. After six years of prayer and preaching, he had made little headway in evangelizing the Bohemians, who maintained deeply embedded pagan beliefs. His tenure was full of ups and downs , resistance by the people to convert to Christianity. Duke Boleslaw I, the Brave - son of Mieszko I , made him the Bishop of Gniezno.

Bolesław I, Duke (and, later, King) of Poland, sent soldiers with Adalbert on his mission to the Prussians. The Bishop and his companions, including his half-brother Radim (Gaudentius), entered Prussian territory and traveled along the coast of the Baltic Sea to Gdańsk.

Success attended his efforts at first, but his imperious manner in commanding the people to abandon paganism irritated them, and at the instigation of one of the pagan priests he was murdered on 23 April 997 on the Baltic Sea coast east of Truso (currently the city of Elbląg) or near Tenkitten and Fischhausen. It is recorded that his body was bought back for its weight in gold by King Boleslaus I of Poland.

The martyring of Saint Adalbert of Prague (997), which occurred while he was on a mission to the Prussians in Pomerania, was an element of this process. The death of Adalbert, who became the first Polish saint (Święty Wojciech), was used by the Polish king Boleslaus to raise his prestige as a Christian ruler.

Postcards that I have received related to the patron saint :

St. Mary Basilica and Church of St. Wojciech in the main market square , Krakow