Nepomuk

Nepomuk (Czech pronunciation: [ˈnɛpomuk]; German: Pomuk) is a town in the Pilsen Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Mihovka River, some 30 km (19 mi) to the south-southwest of the regional capital of Pilsen.

Nepomuk is also the seat of the Municipality with Extended Competence and Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority within the same borders.

The village of Pomuk was mentioned for the first time in 1144 when a new Cistercian monastery was built nearby. In 1384 Pomuk was merged with neighbouring Přesanice and renamed as Nepomuk which was granted a town status in 1413.

Nepomuk is the home town of Saint John of Nepomuk (also called St. John Nepomucene or Juan Nepomuceno) who was born here in around 1340.

The Zelená Hora Castle is to the north of the town.

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Nepomuk (Příbram District)

Nepomuk (Příbram District) is a village and municipality in Příbram District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.

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Coordinates: 49°38′25″N 13°50′37″E / 49.64028°N 13.84361°E / 49.64028; 13.84361

John of Nepomuk

John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (Czech: Jan Nepomucký, German: Johannes Nepomuk) (c. 1345 – March 20, 1393) is the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic), who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. 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.

Basic biographical information

Jan Velflín (Welflin, Wölflin) 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. His surname is a diminutive of the German name Wolfgang.

Born in the 1340s, 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 Saint Giles Cathedral by 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 King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia.