Saint Stanislaus, a Polish nobleman, was the son of Wielis³aw, of the clan Turzyna. Wielis³aw was the possessor of Szczepanów and Raba near the old Polish capital of Kraków. Wielis³aw's wife Bogna, was of the clan Nowina (of the same Polish noble clan as the current Grand Master of the Order of Saint Stanislaus). St. Stanislaus was born in 1035 and from his very early years devoted himself to the service of God and to the poor. In December 1071, Stanislaus was elected 9th Bishop of Kraków. 

At that time in history, Poland was ruled by King Boles³aw II, nicknamed "The Fierce" (1058 - 1079). It was the time of the wars of investiture between the German King and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1056 - 1105); and Pope Gregory VII (1073 - 1083). Boles³aw sided with the Pope while his brother-in-law, Wratis³aw of Bohemia, sided with the Emperor. Boles³aw was crowned in 1075 by Saint Bogumi³, Archbishop of Gniezno, another great ecclesiastic of the XIth century Poland. Boles³aw was a successful ruler, as far as making war was concerned. He twice took Kiev, restoring his brother-in-law, Iziaslav I, to the Russian throne, but as Gall pointed out, he was sometimes over generous in rewards, careless in battles, fierce, proud and extremely cruel. 

Sometime in 1078, the King and Bishop Stanislaus came into conflict. History does not know the exact reasons, but what is known is that there was a discontent amongst the population because of the constant wars and expeditions, that took most of the men away from their homes for many years. This situation was no doubt exploited by the King's younger brother, W³adys³aw Herman, who ruled Masovia as his principality. It is known that W³adys³aw was a friend of the Bishop, whose sympathy was with him rather than the King. Early in April of 1079, the conflict between the King and the Bishop neared its tragic end. The Bishop was siezed by the King's friends of the Jastrzêbiec clan and brought over to him for his judgement, which took place on the hill of Ska³ka above the church of Saint Michael. The King sentenced Stanislaus to the punishment known then as "truncatio membrorum". The sentence was carried out by the King's friends of the Jastrzebiêc clan with such violence that it resulted in the death of the Bishop on 11 April 1079. 

Within two months revolt spread, headed by the King's younger brother W³adys³aw Herman from Masovia and supported by the invasion of the Czechs under King Wratislav. Most of the Polish people, horrified by the deed of the King, abandoned him. By July 1079, Boles³aw "The Fierce" had lost his throne. He was a refugee in Hungary but still a proud and unbroken man. When the Hungarian King Saint Ladislas came in person to greet him on the frontier, Boles³aw would not dismount his horse, treating him as a vassal. Within two years, Boles³aw died at the age of 41 in the lonely monastery of Osyak now in Slovenia. His grave there is marked only by a stone slab depicting his last faithful companion, his horse. 

W³adys³aw Herman took Kraków in July 1089, and one of his first acts was the political rehabilitation of his friend, Bishop Stanislaus. Already miracles were reported at his grave in the Church of Saint Michael on Ska³ka. The remains of the martyred Bishop were taken from Saint Michael's church on Ska³ka, placed in a silver coffin and taken to the Royal Castle in Kraków, the Wawel Castle. This ceremony took place on 27 September 1089. 

During the next one hundred and fifty years, many miracles occurred around his tomb, especially the healing of the sick and the crippled. Hundreds of pilgrims came from not only Poland but all over Europe to touch his tomb and to pray to be cured. On 8 May 1253, Pope Innocent IV proclaimed Bishop Stanislaus a Saint and a second patron of Poland after Saint Wojciech, who was martyred in 997. The 8th of May was established as the feast day of Saint Stanislaus. 

As the years and centuries passed, so the veneration and the fame of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr grew. The silver coffin of the Saint is still in the Royal Castle, where it hangs suspended above his altar, but most of his bones were used as relics and were divided through the ages between many churches, especially those that bear the name of Saint Stanislaus. 

Copyright 1994 The Order of Saint Stanislaus. An extract from the book Order of Saint Stanislaus 1765 by Michael Subritzky-Kusza Ct, GCStS Three Feathers Publishing ISBN: 0-473-02931-6