St. John of Nepomuk - Trutnov, Czech Republic
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N 50° 33.704 E 015° 54.691
33U E 564560 N 5601486
Beautiful Baroque statue depicting death of St John of Nepomuk, when he was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV in 1393. The statuary from 1728 is located on the square named after hin - Svatojánské square - in Trutnov.
Waymark Code: WMT09N
Location: Královéhradecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 09/02/2016
Views: 25
The beautiful Baroque statuary lacated on Svatojánské námestí (St John square) near center of town Trutnov comes, according to Latin chronogram hidden in engraved sign "SanCto IoannI NepoMVCeno Coronae CzeChICae et RegInae VrbIs TrVtnoVI ae InsIgnI proteCtorI", from 1728. Its author is famous sculptor from near village Žírec at Dvur Králové nad Labem J.A. Pacák. The statuary was originally loacted on a former bridge nearby: Such location - on a bridge - is quite usualkfor the saint as he was martyred being throwned from Charles bridge in Prague down to Moladu river. The statue was during centuries moved to the current location. In 1990 it was moved to the current place.
John of Nepomuk
He was born c1354 in the small town of Nepomuk in Bohemia (the Czech Republic) to a wealthy Christian family. He was sent to study Theology and Canon Law at the Universities of Prague and Padua. He was well connected with the wealthy nobility and in In 1393 he was made the vicar-general which brought him into close contact with royalty. The ruling monarch was the Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (aka Wenceslas) who was also the King of Bohemia (February 26, 1361 – August 16, 1419). Saint John Nepomuk became the confessor of the the fourth wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The name of the Empress was Elizabeth of Pomerania (1347–1393). Rather than reveal the confession of the Empress, at the command of the Emperor Charles IV, he allowed himself to be cast into the river Moldau from the bridge at Prague and died by drowning on March 20, 1393.
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.
John of Nepomuk is seen by Catholics as a martyr to the cause of defending the Seal of the Confessional, by romantic nationalists as a Czech martyr to imperial interference, and by most historians as a victim of a late version of the inveterate investiture controversy between secular rulers and the Catholic hierarchy.
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