HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Werner of Oberwesel (also known as Werner of Bacharach or Werner of Womrath; 1271 – 1287) was a 16-year-old boy whose unexplained death was blamed on
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, leading to revenge killings of Jews across Europe. He was venerated as a Christian
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
, and his memorial day was 19 April. Saint Werner's Chapel in
Oberwesel Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Geography Location Oberwesel lies ...
on the
Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
was established in 1289 and became a popular pilgrimage site. His veneration prompted other allegations against Jews, such as
Host desecration Host desecration is a form of sacrilege in Christian denominations that follow the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It involves the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated host—the bread used in the Eucharistic s ...
and
ritual murder Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease deity, gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of veneration of the dead, dead ancestors or as ...
.


Background

Born in 1271 in
Womrath Womrath is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kirchb ...
,
Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...
, Werner came from a poor background. On
Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...
1287, his body was found near
Bacharach Bacharach (, also known as ''Bacharach am Rhein'') 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 withi ...
. Certain Christians blamed his murder on the Jews, claiming that they had used his blood for the Jewish ritual of Passover (the
blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
against Jews). Similar anti-Jewish legends were widely circulated in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. The alleged murder was followed by a wave of pogroms against the Jewish community. Violence spread from the
Middle Rhine Between Bingen and Bonn, Germany, the river Rhine flows as the Middle Rhine (german: Mittelrhein) through the Rhine Gorge, a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift in the region, leaving the river a ...
to the Moselle and the
Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...
region. The Jewish community turned to King
Rudolf I Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
, 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.


Veneration

The royal instructions to burn Werner's body, to prevent any further veneration, were not followed. Werner was buried on 30 April 1287 and alleged
miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
began to be reported as the veneration spread as a
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
. The Cunibert 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 veneration 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 aspired to a revival of the cult. Attempts towards
Canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
were made 1426-1429 , the chapel was finally completed. After 1548 some of the relics were transferred to
Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
, spreading the Werner mythology. Although the chapel was destroyed in the 17th century, Werner was venerated in the Diocese of Trier until 1963. In iconography, Werner is depicted with a sickle as well as a shovel and pan. He has been acknowledged as a patron saint of winemakers.


Contemporary attitudes

In 1963, Werner was removed from the calendar of the
Diocese of Trier The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
, recognizing the brotherhood of Christians and Jews, and asking for forgiveness for "the curse that we unrightfully affixed to the Jews’ name."


See also

*
Blood Libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
*
The Prioress's Tale "The Prioress's Tale" ( enm, The Prioresses Tale) follows "The Shipman's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales''. Because of fragmentation of the manuscripts, it is impossible to tell where it comes in ordinal sequence, but it is s ...
*
Andreas Oxner Anderl (Andreas) Oxner von Rinn, also known as Andreas Oxner, (c. 1459 – 12 July 1462) is a folk saint of the Roman Catholic Church. A later writer alleged that the three-year-old boy had been ritually murdered by the Jews in the village of Ri ...
*Saint
Gabriel of Białystok Gabriel of Białystok ( pl, Gabriel Białostocki, russian: Гавриил Белостокский - ''Gavriil Belostoksky'' or Gabriel of Zabłudów, pl, Gabriel Zabłudowski, alternatively ''Gavrila'' or ''Gavriil''; April 2 O.S. 1684 - April ...
*
Harold of Gloucester Harold of Gloucester (died 1168) was a supposed child martyr who was falsely claimed by Benedictine monks to have been ritually murdered by Jews in Gloucester, England, in 1168. The claims arose in the aftermath of the circulation of the fi ...
*
Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln Hugh of Lincoln (1246 – 27 August 1255) was an English boy whose death in Lincoln was falsely attributed to Jews. He is sometimes known as Little Saint Hugh or Little Sir Hugh to distinguish him from the adult saint, Hugh of Lincoln (died ...
*
Robert of Bury Saint Robert of Bury (died 1181) was an English boy, allegedly murdered and found in the town of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in 1181. His death, which occurred at a time of rising antisemitism, was blamed on local Jews.Patricia Skinner ''The Jews ...
*
Simon of Trent Simon of Trent (german: Simon von Trient, also known as Simon Unverdorben (meaning Simon Immaculate in German); it, Simonino di Trento), also known as Simeon (1472–1475), was a boy from the city of Trent (now Trento in northern Italy), in the ...
*
William of Norwich William of Norwich (2 February 1132 – 22 March 1144) was an English boy whose disappearance and killing was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder. ...


References

* * Jeffrey L. Sammons: ''Heinrich Heine: A Modern Biography:: (Princeton University Press, 1979), pages 89 to 96 — Heinrich Heine: ''Der Rabbi von Bacherach'' (= "The Rabbi of Bacharach", unfinished historical novel, 1840). * Rheinfriede Gleisner: ''Nach Juden-Pogromen kam Heiligen-Legende''; in: Hunsrücker Zeitung, 18. April 1987, S. 27. * * Gerd Hergen Lübben: ''Der Textfund zu Bacherach''; in: Die Brücke – Forum für antirassistische Politik und Kultur, Heft 140, 2/2006 (Saarbrücken), S. 126–128; and in: Gerd Hergen Lübben, ''VERSIONEN III'' (»Fund zu Bacherach«), E-Book 2014, . * Gerd Mentgen: ''Die Ritualmordaffäre um den „Guten Werner“ von Oberwesel und ihre Folgen''; in: Jahrbuch für Westdeutsche Landesgeschichte 21 (1995), S. 159–198. * Werner Wendling: ''Der „gute Werner“ hat ausgedient''; in: Rhein-Hunsrück-Zeitung, 4. Juli 2006, S. 17. * Thomas Wetzstein: ''Vom „Volksheiligen“ zum „Fürstenheiligen“. Die Wiederbelebung des Wernerkults im 15. Jahrhundert''; in: Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte 51 (1999), S. 11–68. * Daniela Wolf: ''Ritualmordaffäre und Kultgenese. Der „gute Werner von Oberwesel“''; Bacharach: Bauverein Wernerkapelle Bacharach, 2002; .
Eintrag im Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon


Further reading

* Henri de Grèzes, ''Saint Vernier (Verny, Werner, Garnier), martyr, patron des vignerons en Auvergne, en Bourgogne et en Franche-Comté, sa vie, son martyre et son culte'' (1889)


External links

*http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90238 *https://religionnews.com/2018/11/09/kristallnacht-pittsburgh/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Werner Of Oberwesel 1271 births 1287 deaths 13th-century German people Roman Catholic child saints German Roman Catholic saints Folk saints Incidents of violence against boys Murdered German children Antisemitism in Germany Medieval anti-Jewish pogroms Blood libel Christian anti-Judaism in the Middle Ages People from Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis People from Oberwesel