Back in the year 1004 the German emperor Henrik II handed over a piece of the March of Carniola to Bishop Albruin of Vixen. What people don't know is why.
Henry II was a tormented man, angry with the church but in particularly he hated Bishop Albruin of Vixen. The Bishop was an evil and brutal man who intimidated people to handing over land and valuables and giving them to the church which often left them clean of pocket with the promise of having a clean soul and eternal life after death.
Emperor Henrik's wife, Kunigunda, was one of these people who suffered badly when her family was stripped of their possessions, her father killed and her mother left poor then forced to work for the clergy for a bit of food and a place to sleep in the stables. Bishop Albruin was the one who oversaw the demise of Kunigunda's family and the abandonment of Kunigunda when she was deemed too young to be of purpose and left in the street.
So why did Emporer Henrik give the area to Bishop Albruin?
For years, ever since Henrik took over the area, he felt it was cursed. His people would go missing at night and all that was left for a clue was a big wet trail. To protect his people he started to build a castle above the lake but in the time it was taking and the people who kept on going missing he decided to leave. As he and his people were leaving, his wife who had been contemplating the idea for a while, suggested that they give the land away to Bishop Albruin. The Bishop was still travelling around cheating people out of their money and land and causing misery wherever he went. To gift this half built castle and cursed area to the bishop was the perfect trap to exact Kunigunda's revenge.
The Bishop arrived in 1004 to receive the lake and the foundations of the castle and Emporer Henrik, Kunigunda and their faithful people left the area for newer pastures.
On the first night, two of the Bishop's people vanished. Nothing was suspicous about this except for the wet trail left behind. The next night another one went missing and the trend continued. The Bishop didn't care about the livelihood of his people but he thought people were running away and soon it became apparent that he wouldn't have enough people to help him build the castle. So that night he made his guards keep watch of the area to make sure there was no more runaways.
It was that night that the great serpent of Carniola was first seen. It was enormous. The guards described it as 30 metres long and 2 metres wide. They saw it slide out of the lake and to the edge of the servants' settlement where it consumed two people in one easy bite before it slid and weaved its way back into the lake.
The guards were shocked and ran to the Bishop to report their sighting.
The Bishop was obviously concerned but being a tough and ruthless man he had no desire to leave the area. The next night he sat up with the guards and watched for himself as the serpent left the dark brown lake and consumed another villager. This went on for another week as the Bishop thought about what to do. His men suggested they put cattle and sheep around the lake to stop the serpent eating viallagers but the Bishop had no mind for this. The people weren't so valuable as food and there were still enough people to build the castle, even though it might take a little more time.
In this week the Bishop did his research and he found out that there used to be a Dragon living in Ljubljana. He found out that the great St George was there and killed the Dragon but when he researched further it became apparent that the story was taken up by the church and it was really Jason from the Argonauts that slayed the dragon. The Bishop then found out that Jason had an illegitimate child with a local woman and the blood line from this child was suppose to have extreme strength, wit, cunning and intelligence. The bishop searched for a descendent of Jason and found Kiko Zeme, the great great grandson of Jason.
The Bishop sent for Kiko who was more than happy to do a favour for the church and even more happy to have the chance to fight such a creature as the Great Serpent of Carniola.
Kiko made his way down from his home town of Slovenska Bistrica with sword and armour and the might and resolve to fight this evil beast.
At this stage it was January 1005 and it was a cold cold winter. Kiko found misery and illness amongst the people. They were cold, had little food and were living in fear. He felt evermore the determination to kill this beast. On the first night he ate at the Bishop's residence and was then invited to watch from the castle as the mighty serpent left the dark murky lake. What he saw sickened him. Three village people tied down as bait for the serpent to devour. The Bishop did this to make sure Kiko saw the whole thing. But what Kiko saw was more than the serpent of the dark murky lake he saw the evil in the bishop too.
In the morning Kiko prepared for the serpent. He set a trap of cattle and sheep and poured their blood around to attract the serpent in that direction. The next night around midnight the serpent left the lake and went to the bait. It flicked its tongue and scented the animal blood but it seemed unsatisfied. It had become used to the fine taste of humans and changed its direction and once again devoured a couple of innocent villagers.
It became clear to Kiko that he would have to prepare to sacrifice himself as bait the following night rather than kill more animals or see more innocent lives go. He asked the bishopt to summon all the people up to the half built castle. The bishop didn't want this as it was demeaning for him to have his his servants and slaves in his presence but even more so it scared him that the serpent would somehow make its way up to the castle to eat if nobody was down below for the serpent to eat.
With hesitation the Bishop Albruin agreed to Kiko Zeme's request as the serpent and to die and tonight was the night.
Kiko went out alone in the freezing night. He stood out there by himself from sunset till midnight when the serpent emerged. Kiko was worried that the smeel of the villagers in the castle might be stronger than his own smell so he cut himself on the arms and legs to attract the serpent.
The serpent smelled the blood but also scented something different about Kiko. The serpent went into the village to look for others but nobody else was there. The serpent went back in through the ice hole of the cold freezing lake, hungry and angry.
The following night the same thing happened and Kiko wasn't sure why the serpent wouldn't go for him. The Bishop was frustrated with all the villagers being up at the castle with him and wanted them back down in the village but Kiko refused for this to be allowed so the bishop made them build a protective wall to prevent the serpent coming in and put on his bravest face to deal with the scum for just a bit longer.
On the fifth day, the serpent came out and with such hunger he started to make way fro the castle. This was further than the serpent was ever known to venture. Kiko chased after it and when the serpent got to the top of the hill and came across the newly built wall it went crazy. Kiko pulled out his sword and started stabbing the serpent. the serpent went crazy bumping and slamming into the wall trying to get in and when Kiko started stabbing the sepent it let out a horrifying wail that was so high pitched it cracked the facade of the hill breaking off a cliff like face. The serpent came tumbling down with Kiko falling behind it. Kiko was injured but so was the serpent. The serpent also appeared trapped by the collapse of the hill. Kiko went to the serpents head which was as big as an elephant and stabbed the serpent between the eyes.
It was then that the blood started pouring out. It was a bright warm torquise blue. It poured into the once brown dirty lake making it bigger bluer and most beautiful. The people from the castle cheered and cheered. The serpent was dead and their once dirty brown lake was now big blue and beautiful.
Bishop Albruin came down to congratulate the new hero but Kiko was in no mood to take praise from such a tyrant. The people of The March of Carniola had also come together and were inspired by the bravery of Kiko Zeme while seeing him stand outside for 5 days while waiting for the Serpent to attack. They decided then it was the time to revolt against Bishop Albruin and Kiko agreed. The raised their new hands and screamed Kiko the King Kiko the King. Long live Kiko the King.
Kiko was flattered and humbled by the peoples praise. He accepted the title of King but didn't know what he was king of, it couldn't be Carniola or even the King of the March of Carniola. So they named the town Bled. The blood of the serpent represented new beginnings, a fresh start. New blood was what ran through the hearts of the people there and the blood of the serpent was what turned the lake from a small dirty brown lake into the wonderful lake it is today.
and that is the story of how Bled got its name.
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