Innocent XIII 1721 Execution St. John Nepomuk

Bohemia silver papal medal, approx 43mm across, struck in 1721 in a chronogram (add the letters on the reverse in capital letters as Roman numerals and it totals 1721), for the inauguration of Pope Innocent XIII. Depicts Saint John Nepomuk being martyred by being thrown off a bridge and drowned in the Vltava river. (Rarity=3)

John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene), 1345 –1393, is a national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods.