Agnes of Bohemia

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Saint Agnes of Bohemia
Agnes of Bohemia tending the sick, 1482
Born	1211, Prague
Died	March 6,1282 Prague
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Beatified	1874 by Pope Pius IX
Canonized	November 12, 1989, Rome
Feast	March 2

Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Czech Sv. Anežka Česká) (or Agnes of Prague) was the first saint from a Central European country to be canonized by Pope John Paul II before the 1989 Velvet Revolution. She was canonized on November 12, 1989, in Rome. Agnes was born in Prague in 1211, dying there in March 1282.

Agnes was the daughter of Bohemian king Premysl Otakar I and Constance of Hungary, the sister of King Andrew II of Hungary. She was entrusted to the Cistercian order at Trebnitz Trzebnica to be educated at the age of three, returning to Prague at the age of 6 for further education.

Agnes appears on the 50-koruna Czech banknote

In 1220, she was engaged to Henry, son of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and went to live at his court in Vienna. She remained there until 1225, when she broke off her engagement to return to Prague. Like other noble women of her time, Agnes was a valuable pawn in the marriage game. In 1226 her father Otakar went to war against Frederick II as a result of her broken engagement to the latter's son, Henry II. Otakar then planned for her to marry Henry III of England, but this was vetoed by the Emperor.

Agnes then decided to devote her life to religious works, and with the help of Pope Gregory IX, she was eventually given the freedom to devote herself entirely to God. She became a member of the Poor Clares, a religious order founded by Clare of Assisi on Franciscan principles. Using her own assets, she founded the hospital of St. Francis (ca. 1232-33) and her own abbey, built in the Gothic architecture style for which Prague is famous. She is the patron saint of Bohemia.