Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel
"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."
"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather
"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."
In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
The Bohemian duchy was subjected to raids and attacks by various outside forces such as the Magyars and Franks. As it turns out, however, the greatest danger was inside Wenceslaus' own borders. His younger brother Boleslaus hungered for power and when he came of age, Wenceslaus had granted his brother a large portion of the country to control in order to prevent trouble with him. It seems, though, that this wasn't enough for Boleslaus and in 935 he invited Wenceslaus to a feast in his territory. While this was going on, three of Boleslaus' compatriots jumped the Duke and stabbed him to death. As Wenceslaus fell, Boleslaus came forward and ran his brother through with a lance.
Wenceslaus was almost immediately considered to be a saintly martyr and the Holy Roman Emperor at the time- Otto I- posthumously conferred on him the title of King, which is why he's referred to as "Good King Wenceslas" rather than "Good Duke Wenceslas". Meanwhile, his brother went down in history with the moniker "Boleslaus the Cruel", so there is that.
Pius II, who was Pope in the mid-1400's, confirmed this account as accurate and then imitated it, walking 10 miles barefoot through the snow as an act of piety.
In 1853, Neale and his music editor Thomas Helmore produced Carols For Christmas-tide, which was a collection of twelve christmas songs using music from Piae Cantiones. Then in 1854, they published the follow-up collection Carols For Easter-tide and it was, oddly enough, in this songbook that Good King Wenceslas first appeared. It has, of course, become a very popular standard, played and sung the world over at Christmas time. When I joined the school band program in grade five, it was one of the first songs I learned to play, for the Christmas concert that year. It's a rousing good tune.