Who was King Wenceslas? And the Feast of Stephen?
As every Czech knows, ‘Good King Wenceslas’ (907–935) is known by several names. These include Saint Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia and Václav. The story of his short life is like a plotline from Game of Thrones —.
According to legend, Václav/Wenceslas was an unusually good man, but unfortunately this did not enhance his life chances. He came to a sticky end, murdered by his wicked brother Boleslav the Bad.
Václav was later declared a Christian martyr and beatified. The Pope even took the liberty of posthumously promoting the new saint to King Wenceslas (he was technically a duke).
A cult developed around Wenceslas. He became a symbol of Czech nationalism, as well as a venerated Catholic saint. Tales were told of his boundless courage and self-sacrifice.
One of these legends was that he had sacrificed his own life to save that of his page. According to the version celebrated in Neale’s famous carol (1853) the two men were out in the snow giving alms to peasants on n the feast of Stephen
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel
As night closed in, the page was losing the will to continue, but Wenceslas urged him on. The Good King ensured the miraculous survival of his servant at the expense of his own life.
Why ‘the feast of Stephen’?
Stephen is widely acknowledged as the first Christian martyr — his death was witnessed and recorded by Paul. His ‘feast’ is the Second of the Eight Days of Christmas celebrated by Christians — the 26th December. This is now more commonly known as Boxing Day in most of the English-speaking world (though not the USA).
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Why is the 26th December Boxing Day in the UK & Ireland?
There is no agreement about this. We can be pretty sure it is not because family members were ready to fight each other after spending Christmas Day together. Nor was it traditionally the day you boxed up and sent unwanted presents back to the shop.
The holiday is, of course, the feast day of Saint Stephen — as described in abpve. There has also been an association since the early Christian period with charity — metal boxes were left outside churches.
In Britain, Boxing Day has always been seen as the holiday of the working classes. Typically, there would be acts of charity, including gifts to servants. This is not something that involves many households today.
In Ireland St Stephen’s Day was a time for visiting neighbours with gifts of food and drink. This is described in the Irish American song Christmas in Killarney — though it misleadingly implies that these home visits would happen on the 25th. Visiting another family on Christmas Day was, in fact, seen as a transgression of social protocol. John McGahern alludes to this gloomily in Amongst Women his classic novel about rural Irish life in the mid 20th Century.
Sport
One custom that has continued to thrive is the organisation of sporting events for the masses. Major football matches are scheduled for this day in the knowledge that (typically male) family members will jump at the chance to escape the house.
In 2020, alas, this traditional escape from domestic merrymaking has been closed off by you-know-what.
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