Sanctus Joannes Nepomucenus - Bruges, Belgium.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 51° 12.420 E 003° 13.613
31U E 515849 N 5672868
St. John of Nepomuk is the Bohemian saint who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia.
Waymark Code: WMXET0
Location: West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Date Posted: 01/03/2018
Views: 10
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. He was born in the 1340s, his father was a certain Velflín (Welflin, Wölflin), his mother is unknown. The father's name is probably diminutive of the German name Wolfgang.
Jan first studied at the University of Prague, then furthered his studies in canon law at the University of Padua from 1383 to 1387. In 1390 he was made vicar general for the archbishop of Prague and in 1393 the archbishop, with John’s support, excommunicated one of the favourites of the King ( Wenceslas IV of Bohemia ) and thwarted the king’s ambition to make a new bishopric out of the province of Prague. As the court priest he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and he refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional to the king. In 1396 he was tortured and on March 20 thrown into the river Vltava from the Charles Bridge in Prague, hence he is also the patron saint of bridges. A brass cross is set into the bridge at the place where John was drowned
John was beatified on May 31, 1721, and canonised on March 19, 1729 by Pope Benedict XIII.
The inscription below the statue reads:
Sanctus
Joannes
Nepomucenus
anagramma
en pie mutus
en os
non accusans
Reposit 10 maji MDCCCXI
Rough translation: While speechless I shall not testify.
The statue was sculpted by Pieter Pepers sr. (1730-1795) a Flemish sculptor and erected in 1767, in 1795 it was thrown into the river then replaced on the bridge in 1811.
The figure of Saint John of Nepomuk is often encountered in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. He is usually portrayed with a halo of five stars, commemorating the stars that hovered over the Vltava River on the night of his murder. Is is said that the five stars symbolize the five letters of the Latin word "tacet", which means "silent". He has other attributes, a priestly dress, the palm of martyrs, and a large crucifix, to which he is usually looking.
As additional figures there are often one of more little angels, respectively indicating silence by a finger over the lips, with a crucifix, or with the bible.