Over the past month or more you've all been inundated with Christmas carols in shopping malls and on the media. One of the carols you've probably heard is "Good King Wenceslaus". A fictional character you may have thought. And if you aren't of Czech ancestry or up on your 14th century middle European history, you probably don't realize that Wenceslaus was a real king- and a pretty good one at that.

Anyone who has traveled in Prague probably crossed Charles Bridge, gazed about Charles Square or looked around Charles University. Still remembered as the Father of the country by the Czech Republic, Wenceslaus, Wenzel (German version) or King Charles IV of Luxembourg is venerated as king, emperor and saint to this day, even though he died in 1378.

Way back in 785 Charles the Great (Charlemagne) had united, sometimes forcibly, all of Europe under Christianity. This legacy lasted all the way up to 1914 in the German states. When he died at Aachen in 814 his tomb became a place of pilgrimage for princes and kings, and modern-day politicians from Churchill to Heinrich Himmler. Charlemagne had built up the Holy Roman Empire by incorporating the newly defeated Saxon nations into Germans and Europeans. Most didn't come peacefully, but when Charlemagne's successors were unable to keep things together after his death it was these well-educated and wealthy newcomers who were responsible for rebuilding the Empire. But by 1122 the only part of the Empire still intact was centered in its German lands.

The Church was split into two parties, one supporting the earthly authority of the king and the other defending the church's doctrine that kings were subject to God's authority. With no one central power figure in charge many of the dukes and their dynasties started to gather power. With church and state so far apart by the early 1300's the King of France refused to recognize Pope Boniface as having any authority over him. Hapsburg King Albert I of Germany was murdered by one of his own nephews. The Hapsburgs had made a lot of enemies and to make sure they continued to lose power King Philip of France put forward his own brother Charles of Valois as the successor to the Imperial crown. But as it looked like that wasn't to be. Archbishop Baldwin of Trier snuck in and arranged for his own brother Henry of Luxembourg to succeed. Henry VII was elected (you will note that German monarchs are elected; there is no primogeniture at work here). His five-year reign ended in 1308. Baldwin also helped Ludwig to the throne of Bavaria and his own great nephew Charles to that of Luxembourg.

Henry gained control over Bohemia, and then transferred it to his son John. John married Elizabeth, daughter of the king of Bohemia. While Henry battled his way to Rome to be crowned Emperor in 1311, John marched into Prague. Henry had a very dangerous enemy in Robert, King of Naples. Their war was fought with words. Robert was outlawed and condemned to death. Robert, for his part, decided it was time the Church was reformed.

John and Elizabeth's first son Wenceslaus of Bohemia and Luxembourg (named after her father) was born on May 14, 1317 in Prague. He was followed by a sister Bona (married the future King John II of France), and brother Jobst. Things between their parents were so bad that eventually Elizabeth was banished to a castle at Milnik while John ventured off on various knightly adventures. Wenceslaus was sent off to the court of his uncle French King Charles IV in 1323, where he grew up. He was married to his cousin Blanche of Valois. Upon his confirmation Wenceslaus chose the name Charles.

By the time he returned to Prague he had to relearn his own language. Eventually he was fluent in Latin, German, French, Czech and Italian.

On August 26, 1346, Charles inherited Luxembourg and Bohemia. On July 11 he had been elected King of Germany and he was crowned on November 26 in Bonn. He then crossed the Alps and was crowned King of Italy on January 6, 1347. His wife Blanche died in 1348; but because he adhered to the Hapsburg motto-make marriage, not war- and. being more of a dynastic bent than a crusader, Charles set about cementing the factions of his Empire by marrying off his two daughters. Margaret went to Louis I of Hungary, and Katharina to Rudolf IV of Austria, then Otto V, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg.

Charles had three more marriages. His second wife Anne, daughter of the Count Palatine Rudolph II, had one son Wenceslas, who died young. His third wife was Anne of Swidnica, grand-daughter of the King of Hungary. They had two children; Wenceslaus who succeeded him as Emperor, and Elisabeth who was married to Albert III of Austria. Wife last, Elizabeth of Pomerania, gave him six children. Anne (married Richard II of England), Sigismund (Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia and Margrave of Brandenburg), John, Duke of Gorliz, Charles (died 1 year old), Margaret (married John III, Margrave of Nuremberg, and Heinrich (died in infancy).

While he gathered numerous crowns he went about gathering friends among them as well. He was named Margrave of Moravia in 1334, the traditional title for heirs to the throne. He was crowned King of Bohemia on September 2, 1347 as Charles I. War and the plague had devastated the land, and because of a desire for a strong leader to unite the factions, Charles had the approval of Pope Clement VI. On Easter Sunday, 1355 he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the papal legate. Although the Pope was currently ruling from Avignon, this papal support ended years of conflict between the popes and emperors.

Because his chief energies were to be spent on developing Bohemia economically and intellectually he passed Luxembourg to his brother Jobst. Petrarch the philosopher had urged him to move to Rome and start up the Roman Empire again but Charles was really liking Prague. He brought in French architects to rebuild the palace as the Karlstein, nicknamed the Bohemian Escorial (before the Spanish version was ever thought of) .He founded Bohemia's first university Alma Mater Carolina in 1348. The Karlhof Cathedral, modeled on Charlemagne's cathedral in Aachen, the Charles Bridge and other churches were built. Religious tolerance was also high on his agenda. During his reign he founded 24 monasteries, taking care to make sure the different Houses stayed separated. He set about patching up differences between his bohemian Czechs and Germans and employed 138 clerks of differing backgrounds. By the time he was done establishing trade routes all roads led to Prague and out of it again. One could travel to and from Bruges, Venice or Hamburg and still be in Empire lands. He was the first and last emperor to travel to northern Germany

In 1356 he issued his most famous and far-reaching edict. The Golden Bull was given to the Commonwealth of Nations. In it electors were ordered to ensure their sons learned to speak both the Italian and Czech languages. The Bull also codified how imperial elections were to be carried out. Seven electors met under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Mainz to elect the next Emperor. Frankfurt was named the place of election, Aachen where the coronation took place and Nuremberg where the first parliament (diet) of the reign took place. In probably the best definition of empire ever written, and one which future Hapsburgs rulers took to heart, Charles stated in his autobiography "Mirror of Princes" that "since the fame of the Holy Roman Empire arises from the variety of customs, ways of life and language found in the various nations which compose it, and it requires laws and a form of government which pays heed to this variety." To him the worst political sins were envy and ambition. He gave privileges to German towns, which later turned against him. He used two saints, Wenzel and Charlemagne, to reconcile the nations. He founded a cult to St. Wenzel. The "Wenzel" Bible is now in Vienna. He supported Pope Urban V's return to Rome, although he had renounced any imperial political interference in church affairs in Italy.

Despite the Bull and his antipathy to ambition he worked overtime to ensure his own son's election. He had acquired Brandenberg in 1373, and added to his other territories. He had to bribe the electors to name Wenceslaus King of Germany, raising the money by raising taxes in Silesia and Lusatia. The league of Swabian cities revolted and he had to scramble to offer concessions to gain peace with them. This was not so much from a power play, but as a means of keeping the Empire he had worked so hard to form into a cohesive unit together after his death. With his sister married to the future king of France Charles was maternal uncle of their son Charles V of France. Mere months before his death Charles IV visited Charles V in 1378, to enormous fanfare and celebration.

After his son Wenzel had been elected King of the Romans and received the Bohemian inheritance, he made the marriage deals for his other children, giving his youngest John the new duchy of Gorlitz, and Moravia to his nephews Jobst and Prokop.

Under Good King Wenceslaus the nature of empire was forever changed. Bohemia came of age. The rules for succession of the imperial title in the Golden Bull held for four centuries. He was a builder, a reformer, a diplomat and an economist. He drew up codes of laws, introduced new agricultural methods and expanded industries. He gave the poor special courts where they could sue their overlords. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, gaining ecclesiastic independence.

After his father's death in 1378 the new King Wenzel completely blew it. He did nothing to bridge the ongoing chasm between Pope Urban VI still in Avignon, and Pope Clement VII in Rome. He couldn't handle a German civil war, nor did he go to Rome for his coronation. In 1400 his cousin Jobst deposed him. Rupert, Elector Palatine was elected Emperor but he too fell to German opposition. Sigismund, Charles' only remaining son felt sure he was a shoe-in, but he shortly fell victim to the Hussites. These wars, which led up to the Thirty Years War, Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War, were too much for Sigismund. He fought unsuccessfully against the Poles, and lost these lands to the Teutonic Knights. He at least managed to secure the succession for his son-in-law Duke Albert of Austria as King of Bohemia and Hungary. With Albert began the rise of the House of Hapsburg which would rule Austria until 1918. But Emperor Albert II reigned less than a year.

So while he might not have been quite as saintly as the carol makes him out to be King Wenceslas lives on in the life of Prague, in the dynastic and monarchical histories of Luxembourg, Bohemia, Germany, Italy, Burgundy, Brandenburg and Austria. During his reign came the flowering of central Europe's industry, architecture, manuscript printing, monastic and religious tolerance; after it the collapse of Empire and rise of many developments leading to German socialism and communism. Charles was a born unifier, as was his ancestor Charlemagne. It's been several centuries since he died. Perhaps the world is in need of another Wenceslaus again.

However you observed the Christmas celebrations this month, or will be in January, the Jester, as always, wishes each of my readers, and their loved ones, the very best for 2007. Be safe and take care of each other.

Anon,.