 thumb|good king wenceslas, illustrated in christmas carols, new and old "good king wenceslas" is a popular christmas carol that tells a story of a king braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the feast of stephan (december 26, the day after christmas). during the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. the legend is based on the life of the historical saint wenceslaus i, duke of bohemia or svatÃ½ vÃ¡clav in czech (907â935). in 1853, english hymnwriter john mason neale wrote the "wenceslas" lyrics, in collaboration with his music editor thomas helmore, and the carol first appeared in carols for christmas-tide, 1853.shane weller (1992) christmas carols: complete verses p.19. courier dover publications, 1992the hymns and carols of christmas - good king wenceslas neale's lyrics were set to a tune based on a 13th-century spring carol "tempus adest floridum" ("the time is near for flowering") first published in the 1582 finnish song collection piae cantiones. == source legend == wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death in the 10th century, when a cult of wenceslas grew up in bohemia and in england.describing the codex gigas, a thirteenth-century manuscript from bohemia in the swedish national library in stockholm, it is stated: "all this bears witness to the outstanding importance of the cult of vÃ¡clav in bohemia at the time of the devil's bible's compilation. moreover, all three festivals are inscribed in red ink, denoting their superlative degree. " within a few decades of wenceslas's death, four biographies of him were in circulation.the first slavonic life (in old church slavonic), the anonymous crescente fide, the passio by gumpold, bishop of mantua (d. 985), and the life and passion of saint vÃ¡clav and his grandmother saint ludmilla (in czech language she named ludmila) by kristian.lisa wolvertonâs hastening toward prague: power and society in the medieval czech lands, p. 150. available online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=fj6cvjttrowc&printsec=frontcover&source=gb
1853_songs Christmas_carols Piae_Cantiones