John of Nepomuk

On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drowning.

[2] Jan z Pomuku came from the small market town of Pomuk (later renamed Nepomuk) in Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic, which belonged to the nearby Cistercian abbey.

The biography of the bishop (written by his chaplain) describes John of Nepomuk as "gloriosum Christi martyrem miraculisque coruscum" (English: "a glorious martyr of Christ and sparkling with miracles").

Although the theory of Hajek of Liboczan has no credit today, some historians believe the vicar's refusal to betray the seal of the confessional might have been the secret reason why Wenceslaus took vengeance on John of Nepomuk as soon as a credible excuse provided the opportunity.

The archbishop, who hastened to Rome soon after the crime, in his charge against Wenceslaus, called the victim a martyr; in the vita written a few years later miracles are already recorded, by which the drowned man was discovered.

The chronicler Wenceslaus Hajek speaks in 1541 (perhaps due to an incorrect reading of his sources) of two Johns of Nepomuk being drowned; the first as confessor, the second for his confirmation of the abbot.

The legend is especially indebted for its growth to the Jesuit historiographer Boleslaus Balbinus the "Bohemian Pliny", whose Vita beati Joannis Nepomuceni martyris was published in Prague, 1670.

Although the Prague metropolitan chapter did not accept the biography dedicated to it, "as being frequently destitute of historical foundation and erroneous, a bungling work of mythological rhetoric", Balbinus stuck to it.

But when the Jesuits came to Prague, the Nepomuk veneration had long been widespread; and the idea of canonization originated in opposition not to the Hussites, but to Protestantism, as a weapon of the Counter-Reformation.

Belief in John's supernatural powers culminated with the discovery of his supposed tongue when three centuries later his tomb was opened and a piece of reddened tissue fell out of his skull.

Statues of St. John of Nepomuk, churches consecrated to him and settlements bearing his name can be found not only in Central Europe (where they are most common), but also in many other European countries and further beyond in the Americas and in India.

His tomb, a Baroque monument cast in silver and silver-gilt that was designed by Josef Emanuel Fischer of Erlach, stands in St Vitus Cathedral, Prague.

Martyrdom of St. John Nepomuk by Szymon Czechowicz , National Museum in Warsaw .
The Dead Body of John of Nepomuk on the banks of the Vltava c. 1760 by Franz Xaver Palko .
The prototypical statue of John of Nepomuk at Charles Bridge in Prague , at the site where the saint was thrown into Vltava. Made by Jan Brokoff upon a model by Matthias Rauchmiller in 1683, on the supposed 300th anniversary of the saint's death, which was until the mid-18th century presumed to have happened in 1383. It was the basis for a number of statues of the saint all across Europe.
Cross on the bridge of St. John of Nepomuk
St. John of Nepomuk in Buchach , Ukraine . Made by Johann Georg Pinsel , 1750 (copy)
1732 monument on Cathedral Island in Wrocław , by Jan Jiři Urbansky [ 12 ]
The place on the bridge parapet where John of Nepomuk was thrown into the Vltava .
St. John of Nepomuk's Tomb in St Vitus Cathedral , Prague