The Massacre of the Slavníkovci is one of the pivotal events in the early history of the Czech state. The Czech Mint is issuing a silver commemorative medal in the year marking the 1030th anniversary of this event.

On 28 September 935, the Přemyslid prince Wenceslas was betrayed and murdered by his brother Boleslav. Although this coup was brutal and tragic, it is considered an event that gave rise to a strong Czech state. In the following decades, the Přemyslids consolidated their power and unified the government. They were not the only Czech dynasty fighting for a place in the sun. They were boldly challenged by the ancient Slavník dynasty. The descendants of the nobleman Slavník lived in a fortified settlement in Libice nad Cidlinou, where they had a comfortable wooden palace, a brick church, and even a mint where denars were minted. It was here that on 28 September 995, the Slavníkovci commemorated the important day of St. Wenceslas. They had no idea that the bloodshed that had taken place exactly 60 years earlier would be repeated... No one expected a treacherous attack by foreign armed men on Libice – during a church holiday, good Christians did not fight each other. The attackers also took advantage of the fact that the Slavníkovci's retinue was away on a campaign against the pagans, leaving the fortified settlement defended by only a small military garrison. The defenders fought valiantly for two days, but were eventually defeated. No one was spared the ruthless slaughter – not the elderly, women or infants. Even four of Slavník's sons were beheaded. Only three members of the Slavník family survived the massacre – the head of the family, Soběslav, Bishop Vojtěch and their half-brother Radim, who were away from home and never returned to their homeland... Who was behind the bloodbath? For a long time, it was believed that it was the Přemyslids who wanted to get rid of their powerful rivals. However, instead of rivalry, harmonious, even familial relations prevailed between the two dynasties. In reality, the vengeful Vršovci were behind it all – another powerful family whose warriors had recently come into conflict with Bishop Vojtěch, who excommunicated them from the Church. In the years following the massacre, the Vršovci gained a strong position in the country, but justice eventually caught up with them. They fell out of favour with the Přemyslids and were themselves mercilessly slaughtered...

Academic sculptor Michal Vitanovský dedicated the obverse side of the medal to the burning fortified settlement and a scene from the murderous rampage – an attacker stabs a Slavik man with a spear. "The figures and their costumes are not detailed and focus more on expression. The primary aim was to express the essence of the event – that is, the merciless physical destruction of the defeated enemy," explains the author of the medal. The reverse side shows a frenzied crowd brandishing weapons and imaginative symbolism – a cut Slavník denarius. The texts on both sides of the medal read MASSACRE OF THE SLAVNÍKOVI, LIBICE, 995.

Only 200 pieces of the commemorative medal will be issued.