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Saint Stanislaus in mitre and gold cope between angels and the white eagle of Poland, painted by Stanisław Samostrzelnik about 1532

Saint Stanislaus of Kraków

Bishop of Kraków killed at Mass by the king he had rebuked

Patron of
Poland, Kraków and its diocese
Western calendar
11 April
Orthodox calendar
Not kept

Stanislaus was born at Szczepanów in the Diocese of Kraków in 1030, gave his inheritance to the poor when his parents died, and became Bishop of Kraków only at the explicit command of Pope Alexander II. He spoke against vice among high and low, and above all against King Boleslaw II, whose cruelty and lust had darkened his victories, until the king was excommunicated. Boleslaw followed the bishop to the Chapel of Saint Michael outside the city, and when his guards dared not obey him he killed Stanislaus himself during Mass, on 8 May 1079.

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