Nepomuk
or POMUK, JOHN OF, the patron saint of Bohemia, honored as a martyr of the seal of confession; born in Pomuk, a few miles S. E. of Pilsen, Bohemia, about 1330. Having studied at the University of Prague and taken holy orders, he held various ecclesiastical offices in Prague, and was appointed confessor to Sophia, wife of King Wenceslaus IV. For refusing to betray to this monarch the confession of the queen John was put to the torture, then tied hand and foot, and flung into the Moldau, in March, 1383. His memory was cherished with peculiar affection by the Bohemian people, and in 1729 he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII. His memory is celebrated May 16.
NEPOS