The story of St. Stanislaus has become clearer on this trip after a 2nd trip to the rock church in Krakow. Weigel writes in City of Saints:
'...Stanislaw was accused of treason, and while the historical record is murky as to the source of the chrage, it may have had to do with the king's harsh treatment of the unfaithful wives of noblemen who had been long absent at war. Citing the King's own infidelities, the bishop excommunicated the king, thus gravely weakening the monarch's position. King Bolelaw responded by condemning the bishop to death for treason, and when his retainers would not touch Stanislaw, Boleslaw slew him while he was at Mass at Skalka'.
Well, there's nothing new under the sun. The obvious analogy to the British religious liberty hero Thomas a Becket raises itself, but so does something else from my De Alvarez' Plutarch training: the Polish army fell into immorality in just the same way that the Spartans did as described in the life of Lykurgus. The Spartan men were away so often that Spartan women became over time notorious all over Greece for their infidelity, just as their men were. The Spartan infidelity problem was never remedied- it became one of the nagging issues like Helot slavery instability that eventually brought them down. But the Polish problem was alleviated by Christian morality.
That is not to say Polish culture does not have prominent examples of infidelity- again just read history. The last King of Poland famously gave away his kingdom for a chance to cheat with Catherine the Great of Russia. But I can't help but notice on my current trip to Poland how many young, beautiful, well dressed Couples I see- not singles- and how many of them have baby carriages. Many rightly attribute that phenomenon to the positive influence of St JPII. But we should not forget that JPII Fully tapped into the long history of Polish culture at every opportunity. The Poles have always been fighters- as such, one of the only European nations that does not have to deal with extreme guilt about what happened in the 20th century. They are a race of Christian warriors- That goes back to the beginning of Poland as a known entity, and St Stanislaw. A Christian contrast to the Pagan warrior race of Sparta.
Interesting. I have read that how big a genetic imprint an invading or occupying army made on a nation was whether or not the invaders brought their wives. Makes sense that the moral code of the invaders would result in a similar difference in their impact.
Cf. Hugh Leibert, Plutarch's Politics: Between City and Empire, pp. 124-142, on the Lives of Lysander and Agesilaus.