Ludmila, Wenceslas and the saints who followed soon became part of the heavenly pantheon – a group of saints to protect Bohemia. The author of Legenda Christiani already mentioned Saint Wenceslas and Ludmila, as well as Cyril, Methodius, and other figures that were at the birth of Bohemian Christianity. Later, the chronicler Cosmas primarily pointed out Wenceslas and Adalbert, stating in the Princess Libuše prophecy that these heroes would make Bohemia world famous. Although Cosmas forgot about Ludmila in this prophecy, he did see to his memory – as it will be mentioned later.
In the 12th century, a group called Boemi – Bohemians – appeared in the Heavenly Jerusalem in the illumination of Augustine’s work about the City of God. Based on some opinions, Ludmila is depicted there as well. Later, Charles IV included Ludmila among six patron saints of Bohemia (along with Wenceslas, Sigismund, Vitus, Procopius, and Adalbert), placing her in the centre of the mosaic on the Golden Gate of Saint Vitus Cathedral.
Although the predominant Hussitism and pro-compacts Utraquism were critical of the cults of saints, their speeches actually differed little from the Roman Catholic Church practice. While respect towards the martyrs of Konstanz, John Huss and Jerome of Prague, prevailed among the Utraquists, reverence for the Bohemian patron saints – the first Utraquists – was part of the traditional expression of the cult of communion under both kinds at least before the clash of the Bohemian and European Reformation. The diversion from non-biblical saints in liturgy and respect of pre-White Mountain non-Catholics then de facto copies the European secularisation of the religious calendar in the Protestant milieu. Nevertheless, Saint Wenceslas and Ludmila also belonged to the ‘Bohemian heaven’ of John Amos Comenius.
After the Battle of White Mountain, the patron saints of Bohemia were viewed as an important link with the history of the Bohemian lands, providing evidence of old religious traditions. This role was further strengthened by the connection with the venerated metal relief featuring the Virgin and Child that was deposited in Stará Boleslav. It became a protection of Bohemia (Palladium). The Baroque legends linked the Palladium of Stará Boleslav with Saint Ludmila and other saints. Ludmila is said to have commissioned this relief at the recommendation of Saint Methodius from the metal of her pagan idol and dedicate it to her grandson. Saint Wenceslas was predestined to hold it at the moment of his death and other patron saints were attributed with respect of this artefact.
In early modern times, Saint Ludmila appeared among the patron saints also in liturgical books used by the Catholic Church in Bohemia and Moravia. She was depicted in decorative title pages of these liturgical materials at the side of other patron saints of Bohemia. Her identification is facilitated by her personal attributes.
Images
- Ludmila and the Saints
Rituale seu Agenda Romano-Pragensis, Prague: Archiepiscopal Printing Works: factor Jiří Samuel Beringer, 1699–1700
NKP 46 C 218, frontispiece - The Palladium of Stará Boleslav
reproduction: Central Bohemian Region - Saints Wenceslas and Ludmila with the Palladium
Laurentius Baptista: Decas Mariana, Prague: Jiří Černoch, 1673
NKP 52 F 5, picture appendix
