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Stanisław Szczepanowski or Stanislaus of Szczepanów (July 26, 1030 – April 11?, 1079) was a Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been slain by Polish King Bolesław II the Bold. Stanis&
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Elevation of Bishop and King
There is little credible information about Stanis&
According to tradition, Stanis&322;aw was born at Szczepanów, a village near the town of Bochnia in southern Poland, the only son of the noble and pious Wielisław and Bogna. He was educated at a cathedral school in Gniezno (then Poland's capital) and later, according to different sources, in Paris or Liège. On return to Poland, Stanis&322;aw was ordained a priest by Lambert Suła, Bishop of Kraków.
After the Bishop's death (1072), Stanis&322;aw was elected his successor but accepted the office only at the explicit command of Pope Alexander II. Stanis&322;aw was one of the earliest native Polish bishops. He also became a ducal advisor and had some influence on Polish politics.
Stanis&322;aw's major accomplishments included bringing papal legates to Poland, and re-establishment of a metropolitan see in Gniezno. The latter was a precondition for Duke Boles&322;aw's coronation as king, which took place in 1076. Stanis&322;aw then encouraged King Boles&322;aw to establish Benedictine monasteries to aid in the Christianization of Poland.
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Property dispute
Stanis&322;aw's initial conflict with King Boles&322;aw was over a land dispute. The Bishop had purchased for the diocese a piece of land on the banks of the Vistula River near Lublin from a certain Peter (Piotr), but after Piotr's death the land had been claimed by his family. The King ruled for the claimants, but – according to legend – Stanis&322;aw resurrected Piotr so that he could confirm that he had sold the land to the Bishop.
According to Augustin Calmet, an 18th-century Bible scholar, Stanis&322;aw asked the King for three days to produce his witness, Piotr. The King and court were said to have laughed at the absurd request, but the King granted Stanis&322;aw the three days. Stanis&322;aw spent them in ceaseless prayer, then, dressed in full bishop's regalia, went with a procession to the cemetery where Piotr had been buried three years earlier. He had Piotr's grave dug up until his remains were discovered. Then, before a multitude of witnesses, Stanis&322;aw bade Piotr rise, and Piotr did so.
Piotr was then dressed in a cloak and brought before King Boles&322;aw to testify on Stanis&322;aw's behalf. The dumbfounded court heard Piotr reprimand his three sons and testify that Stanis&322;aw had indeed paid for the land. Unable to give any other verdict, the King dismissed the suit against the Bishop. Stanis&322;aw asked Piotr whether he would remain alive but Piotr declined, and so was laid to rest once more in his grave and reburied.
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Bishops chastisement of King
A more substantial – and historically more credible – conflict with King Boles&322;aw arose after a prolonged war in Ruthenia, when weary warriors deserted home, alarmed at tidings that their overseers were taking over their estates and wives. According to Kadłubek, the King punished the soldiers' faithless wives very cruelly and was criticized for it by Bishop Stanis&322;aw. Jan Długosz, however, writes that the Bishop had in fact criticized the King for his own sexual immorality.
Whatever the actual cause of the conflict between them, the upshot was that the Bishop excommunicated King Boles&322;aw. The excommunication aided the King's political opponents, and the King accused Bishop Stanis&322;aw of treason and had him killed.
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Martyrdom
Legend has it that King Boles&322;aw sent his men to execute Bishop Stanis&322;aw without trial, but that when they dared not touch the Bishop, the King decided to kill the traitor himself. He is said to have slain Stanis&322;aw while he was celebrating mass in the Skałka outside the walls of Kraków. The Bishop's body was then hacked to pieces and thrown into a pool outside the church. According to the legend, his members miraculously reintegrated while the pool was guarded by four eagles.
The exact date of Stanis&322;aw's death is uncertain. According to different sources, it was either April 11 or May 8, 1079.
The murder stirred outrage through the land and led to the dethronement of King Bolesław II the Bold, who had to seek refuge in Hungary and was succeeded by his brother, Władysław I Herman.
Whether Stanis&322;aw should be regarded a traitor or a hero, remains one of the classic unresolved questions of Polish history. Stanis&
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Veneration as a saint
The cult of Saint Stanis&
Subsequently Pope Clement VIII set the Saint's feast day for May 7 throughout the Roman Catholic Church, though Kraków observes it May 8, the supposed date of the Saint's death. The first feast of Saint Stanis&322;aw in Kraków was celebrated May 8, 1254, and was attended by many Polish bishops and princes.
As the first native Polish saint, Stanis&322;aw is the patron of Poland and Kraków, and of some Polish dioceses. He shares the patronage of Poland with Saint Adalbert of Prague and Our Lady the Queen of Poland.
Wawel Cathedral, which holds the Saint's relics, became a principal national shrine. Almost all the Polish kings beginning with Władysław I the Elbow-high were crowned while kneeling before Stanis&322;aw's sarcophagus, which stands in the middle of the cathedral. In the 17th century, King Władysław IV Vasa commissioned an ornate silver coffin to hold the Saint's relics. It was destroyed by Swedish troops during The Deluge, but was replaced with a new one ca. 1670.
Saint Stanis&322;aw's veneration has had great patriotic importance. In the period of Poland's feudal fragmentation, it was believed that Poland would one day reintegrate as had the members of Saint Stanis&
Each year on May 8, a procession, led by the Bishop of Kraków, goes out from Wawel to the Church on the Rock. The procession, once a local event, was popularized in the 20th century by Polish Primate Stefan Wyszyński and Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła. The latter, as Pope John Paul II, called Saint Stanis&322;aw the patron saint of moral order.
Roman Catholic churches belonging to Polish communities outside Poland are often dedicated to Saint Stanis&
In iconography, Saint Stanis&322;aw is usually depicted as a bishop holding a sword, the instrument of his martyrdom, and sometimes with Piotr rising from the dead at his feet.
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See also
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