Although St. Adalbert is one of the patron saints of Bohemia, during his lifetime he was its greatest critic. The second Bishop of Prague tried to convert the mostly pagan Bohemians to Christianity, but they resisted with all their might.
The new religion he offered them forbade slavery and polygamy, practices which were so innate not only to the Bohemians. The bishop also chastised excessive alcohol consumption, but to little effect. So after 5 years in office, in 988 he left Prague in disgust. He went to Rome with his brother and loyal companion Radim.
The fact that there was no one in the newly Prague bishopric was a thorn in the side of Prince Boleslaus II. He went to Rome to see Adalbert, who had since taken a monastic vow, which eventually persuaded him to return. The bishop took with him a group of Italian monks, who later founded the Břevnov Monastery. On the way they built St. George’s Church in what is now Doubravka in Plzeň.
However, this time Adalbert did not stay long in Bohemia. The situation was no better, so again he went into exile. This decision apparently extended his life: otherwise he would probably have died during the storming of Libice in 995 or the slaughter of the Slavniks, of which he was a part.
The bishop met a martyr’s death on a mission in Prussia, when in 997 he went to Poland to convert the pagans to Christianity. He was killed in a sacred grove by Prussian arrows. His brother Radim survived the massacre, and after his release from captivity gave testimony about his brother’s death.
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