Basic Biographical Information
Jan Velflín (Welflin, Wölflin) z Pomuku came from the small market town of Pomuk (later renamed Nepomuk) in Bohemia, which belonged to the nearby Cistercian abbey. He was born in the decade 1340-1349, and he first studied at the University of Prague, then furthered his studies in canon law at the University of Padua from 1383 to 1387. In 1393 he was made the vicar-general of Jan of Jenštejn (1348–1400), who was the Archbishop of Prague from 1378 to 1396. In the same year, on March 20, he was tortured and thrown into the river Vltava from Charles Bridge in Prague at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia (as Wenceslaus IV).
At issue was the appointment of a new abbot for the rich and powerful Benedictine Abbey of Kladruby; its abbot was a territorial magnate whose resources would be crucial to Wenceslaus in his struggles with nobles. Wenceslaus at the same time was backing the Avignon papacy, whereas the Archbishop of Prague followed its rival, the pope at Rome. Contrary to the wishes of Wenceslaus, John confirmed the archbishop's candidate for Abbot of Kladruby, and was drowned on the emperor's orders on March 20, 1393.
This account is based on four contemporary documents. The first is the accusation of the king, presented to Pope Boniface IX on April 23, 1393, by Archbishop John of Jenštejn, who went immediately to Rome together with the new abbot of Kladruby.
A few years later Abbott Ladolf of Sagan lists John of Nepomuk in the catalog of Sagan abbots, completed in 1398, as well as in the treatise "De longævo schismate", lib. VII, c. xix.
A further document is the "Chronik des Deutschordens"/Chronik des Landes Preussen, a chronicle of the Teutonic Order compiled by John of Posilge, who died in 1405.
In the above accusation, John of Jenštejn already calls John of Nepomuk a "saint martyr". The biography of the bishop (written by his chaplain) describes John of Nepomuk as "gloriosum Christi martyrem miraculisque coruscum" (in English: "a glorious martyr of Christ and sparkling with miracles").
Thus, the vicar put to death for defending the laws and the autonomy of the Catholic Church became revered as a saint directly after his death.
Read more about this topic: Johann Nepomuk
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