Tormented and Glorified Body – The Example of St. Adalbert and St. Stanislaus

The two medieval patron saints of Poland, St. Adalbert and St. Stanislaus, both suffered martyrdom. The tradition of the life and the martyrdom of St. Adalbert developed from the end of the tenth century until the late Middle Ages. On the contrary, the tradition of St. Stanislaus’s martyrdom arose at the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and had a fully developed form. Information about the details of the martyrdom of both saints are contained in various types of sources: hagiographical, historical and liturgical poetry. In the accounts of martyrdom there are mentions of gestures made by three subjects: the martyr, the killers and God. As a result of these acts, the body is martyred and destroyed, but the soul of the martyr is glorified. Numerous marks on the martyr’s body visible during martyrdom confirm the glory achieved by his soul.