EN
The origins of the Czech Přemyslid state overlap time wise with the acknowledgement and proliferation of Christianity in Bohemia, further on, the Přemyslid state develops in symbiosis with Christianity. This fact is reflected in the Czech monarch’s position and conduct, and also in the „historians’” presentation informing about it. The symbiosis between the profane power of the monarch and the Church’s authority is also integrated in the Přemyslid era. Not only did the monarch rely on the representatives of the Church as the only experts in written culture, needed for the state administration, but the Czech princes, who wouldn’t govern through their own sacred charisma, relied on their predecessor on the Czech throne and a saint at the same time, Saint Wenceslas, when it came to the matters of ruler’s legitimacy and the monarch’s ideology and propaganda. They relied on the Saint Wenceslas’ charisma during battles, but they would use him for propaganda on coins and seals as well. Saint Wenceslas appeared on Přemyslid coins during the reign of Jaromír at the latest. Another phase of the Saint Wenceslas’ change into political saint took place during the reign of Vratislaus II, when a spear became the saint’s attribute. In the battle of Chlumec in 1126 he had the Wenceslas’ spear with the St. Adalbert of Prague’s flag. Since then, this has become a permanent attribute of Saint Wenceslas. According to the official propaganda, Saint Wenceslas helped the monarch and his people in battle, ensured „peace” for the people and their monarch. The „peace” of the ruling prince, meaning the security, law and justice for those ruled by living prince, were all in the hands of Saint Wenceslas, as the transcriptions of the monarch’s seals claimed. Wenceslas as the „eternal ruler” bestowed his power to the ruling prince and ensured the „peace” for those ruled by the prince. This prince would take care of the peace, win the battles, come to help his people in need. The company of the protectors of the Czech monarch and the Czechs grew in the twenties in the 12th century while accepting Saint Adalbert of Prague and Sanit Procopius in the beginning of the sixties in the 13th century. However, Saint Wenceslas became the main and permanent protector of Czech people.