|
1287 April 19, WERNER OF OBERWESEL (Germany)
A 16 year old boy was found dead on the shore of the Rhine.Immediately a ritual murder accusation placed the blame on the Jews. Over the next few months forty men, women and children - were killed by riots as they spread down the Rhineland. Werner himself (despite the order of King Rudolf I to burn the corpse) was buried in a chapel in Oberwesel where he was venerated as a saint. Nearby Bacharach, where his body was found, also erected a chapel. Although Pope John XXIII ordered the “holy” day deleted from diocese of Trier in 1963 it still appears in some German Saint Directories. The “Saint Werner’s Chapel” was renovated in 2001.rn
|
