Nepomuk

The later canonised priest with the full but rather rarely used name John of Pomuk or John Nepomuk was born near Pilsen around 1350. The name means "God is merciful", his day of remembrance is the day of death 20 March (Austria) and 16 May (Germany). In 1380 he became a priest at Prague Cathedral. He studied canon law at Prague University and obtained a doctorate in canon law in Padua. From 1389 he was vicar general to the archbishop of Jenzenstein.

In the disputes between the Bohemian king Wenceslas IV (1361-1419) and the Prague archbishop Jenzenstein, Nepomuk was captured in 1393, tortured, burned with pitch torches by the king himself, dragged through the streets of Prague and then drowned in the Vltava. Nepomuk was the queen's confessor. Supposedly, King Wenceslas wanted to know what his wife had confided to the priest under the seal of confessional secrecy, which he refused to do despite torture. He is the patron saint of Bohemia, as well as of confessors, boatmen, millers, winegrowers and bridges. Saint Nepomuk helps against water dangers. Calendar sayings are: 1) Saint Nepomuk, drive back the water dangers. 2) Saint Nepomuk makes us the water, that a good spring smiles upon us. See also under 's Rules, and .

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Nepomuk

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