Werner of Oberwesel; b. 1271 in Womrath

Womrath

Womrath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

, Hunsrück

Hunsrück

The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...

; d. 1287) was a 16-year-old boy whose unexplained death was blamed on Jews, leading to revenge killings of Jews across Europe. He was long worshipped as a Catholic saint, and his memorial day was 19 April. A "Saint Werner's Chapel" in Oberwesel

Oberwesel

Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Sankt Goar-Oberwesel, whose seat is in the town.-Location:...

 on the Rhine was established in 1289 and became a popular pilgrimage site. His worship prompted other allegations of alleged Jewish crimes such as Host desecration

Host desecration

Host desecration is a form of sacrilege in Christianity involving the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated host— the sacred bread used in the Eucharistic service or Mass...

, ritual murder, and miracles. His name will remain connected with Christian pogroms, anti-Semitic violence and Christian anti-Jewish propaganda. Werner's name was deleted from the list of Saints in 1963.

Background

Werner came from a poor background. On Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...

 1287 his body was found near Bacharach

Bacharach

Bacharach is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rhein-Nahe, whose seat is in Bingen am Rhein, although that town is not within its bounds....

. His murder was blamed on the Jews by Christians, who claimed they had used his blood for the Jewish ritual of Passover (the blood libel against Jews).

The alleged murder was followed by a wave of pogroms against the Jewish Community. Violence spread from the Middle Rhine to the Moselle and the Lower Rhine region. The Jewish community turned to King Rudolf I, who was convinced the accusations were groundless. He fined the murderers of Jews and ordered the burning of the corpse of Werner to prevent any further veneration.

Worship

The royal instructions to burn Werner's body, to prevent any further worship, were not followed. Werner was buried on 30 April 1287 and "miracles" began to be reported as the "martyr" was venerated. The Lloyd Chapel in Bacharach was expanded beginning in 1289 to become the present Saint Werner's Chapel. The planned expansion of the chapel into a large church remained unfinished after 1338. A further construction also failed owing to the decline of the worship of martyrs and shrinking revenue to the church from pilgrims.

The 1338 Latin legend alleges the Jews hung Werner by his feet. Then they had him thrown into the Rhine. At the point in Bacharach where the body was supposedly washed ashore, Saint Werner's Chapel was built. A second sanctuary was built in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit Hospital of Oberwesel, 7 kilometers downstream.

Count Palatine Ludwig III

Louis III, Elector Palatine

Louis III, Count Palatine of the Rhine , was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach in 1410–1436....

 aspired to a revival of the cult. Canonisation from 1426-1429 brought formal recognition. The chapel was finally completed. After 1548 some of the relics were transferred to Besançon

Besançon

Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...

, spreading the Werner mythology.

Although the chapel was destroyed in the 17th century, Werner was worshipped by the diocese of Trier until 1963.

History

Such anti-Jewish legends were widely circulated in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. Allegations of alleged "ritual murder", "host desecration", "well poisoning", and epidemics like the Plague were all blamed on the Jews, and used to stoke anti-Semitism amongst the Christian masses.

Recent studies estimate that Werner was probably a sex crime victim.

In 1963 the Werner cult in the calendar of the Diocese of Trier was deleted, but "Holy Werner of Oberwesel" still appears in German saint directories. The chapel dedicated to him on side of the town wall facing the Rhine has been renovated. The chapel was in ruins as they added a plaque with the prayer of Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

.

As a saint, Werner is depicted with a sickle as well as a shovel and pan, and has been used as the patron of winemakers.