Saint John of Nepomuk, national patron of Bohemia, patron of Bavaria and many towns around the world, is a significant figure in Czech history and in European cultural heritage whose significance extends to other continents. John of Pomuk (today's town of Nepomuk) was the vicar general of the Prague Archbishop John of Jenštejn. He lived in the 14th century.
In the wake of the conflict of the archbishopric with King Wenceslaus IV, who wanted to interfere with the rights of the Church, he was dismissed in 1393. John of Nepomuk, along with other church officials, was captured and tortured. While the others were later released, John died under torture and his body is said to have been thrown from the bridge into the Vltava River. The king himself took part in John's torture. On the basis of this, some historians admit the possibility that another reason for John's torture might have been the king's desire to find out what his wife, Queen Sophie, had confessed to John. Or so the legend has it. But the tortured John did not reveal the confessional secret.
John of Nepomuk is thus venerated as the defender of the rights of the Church and the guardian of the confessional confidentiality. Because of his character traits and martyrdom, St. John has become the patron saint of lawyers, shipwrights, sailors, millers and all those who are associated with water, a symbol of secrecy, courage and reliability, and the guardian of bridges and secrets. People have also worshipped St. John as a protector against floods. His images can be found in many places in churches throughout the world.
St. John's statues are a typical feature of the Czech landscape, especially on bridges. The veneration of St. John of Nepomuk had spread long before his canonization (1729); John's relics have been preserved in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague since 1396 (i.e. three years after his death); he was held in esteem as the patron saint as early as around 1600. The statue of St. John of Nepomuk standing at Charles bridge since 1683, near the alleged place from which he is said to be thrown into the river, then became the model for more than 30,000 statues that feature on bridges nearly all over Europe.
Due to historical inaccuracies in chronicles and biographies, in some periods the veneration of Saint John of Nepomuk in the Czech lands was questioned, attacked or even banned. In spite of this it has persisted to the present day. The veneration of St. John is part of the spiritual and cultural wealth of our ancestors, which we strive to preserve for future generations. At present, only a small part of the local population of his birthplace embraces and recognizes the legacy of St. John. A number of philosophical traditions have contributed to this, namely the efforts on the part of the dictatorships during the 20th century to suppress and eradicate the cult of St. John (and Christianity in general) from the minds and hearts of the people living both in his birthplace and his native land. They did not manage to suppress his legacy completely, for God did not abandon his faithful people.
Today we are witnessing that what had come out of John's birthplace is returning. People from different countries, especially from Europe and Latin America, are coming to visit the hometown of St. John of Nepomuk, and in doing so reminding the locals of John's legacy, fostering partnerships between towns in which St. John is revered as patron saint, inspiring international projects. Today once again, St. John is the one who connects and builds bridges between people and nations.