Vita Wenceslai (Legenda Gumpoldi)

A Prince's Formation and Rise

Wenceslas is sent to Budec to learn letters, swiftly masters the psalter and divine works, and upon his father's death is elevated to the ducal throne despite his own reluctance.

He, who was of wonderful renown and lovable character, while he was first reaching the blooming age of youth, with his father still alive, wanting his mind to be arranged for literary exercises, and frequently turning his attention aside by his father's urgent urging, was sent to the city of Budec and placed there to learn letters. Therefore, with his swift talent and divinely instructed capacity, in a short time of study he thoroughly learned the psalter and several other divine works, and he fastened them more firmly in his inner memory. Meanwhile, when his father, as was already said, had entered the way of all flesh, the young man himself, setting forth the examples of the elders by his deeds, under the shining power of the most serene King Otto, by the favorable assent of the peoples, was chosen to succeed his father's dukedom, though he himself refused too much, and was elevated to the seat of princely dignity.