National Patron of the Czech Republic, Saint and Martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. Jan Welflin was born about 1345 in Pomuku, Bohemia, which later became Nepomuk in the Czech Republic. For this reason he is called "Jana Nepomucký," or also, "John of Nepomuk," and "John Nepomucene." From about 1369 until the year 1380, Jan was a notary public in the Vicar's general office of Prague. He studied common law in Prague and Padua, Italy, obtaining a doctorate in canon law from the school in Padua from 1383 to 1387. He was the canon of St. Giles Church in Prague, and head of the Vyšehrad chapter. He later served as the Vicar General at St. Giles in 1393. That same year, Jan and four other of the Archbishop's officials were arrested by King Vaclav (Wenceslaus) IV, a supporter of the Avignon papacy, because they endorsed the Archbishop of Prague's candidate to replace the Abbott of Kladruby and not the king's selection. Later legend relates that the king also tortured Jan for not divulging the queen's confession to him. For this reason, he is considered by the Roman Catholic Church as the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional. Jan, along with the other archdiocesan officials, were executed by being thrown into the Vltava River from the St. Charles Bridge. Because of the style of his execution he is venerated as a guardian against floods and drowning. The country of the Czech Republic and a number of communities in the Philippines regard him a their patron saint. He was popularly proclaimed a saint immediately following his death, but was officially beatified in 1721 by Innocent XIII and canonized in 1729 by Benedict XIII. His elaborate tomb in St. Vitus Cathedral no longer contains his relics and for a while held imitations of his bones. St. George Basilica, behind St. Vitus Cathedral, is where his remains now rest.