Biography
Jerome of Weert
About Jerome of Weert
Jerome of Weert was a Franciscan priest and the deputy superior of the friary at Gorinchem. His church biography places his birth around 1522 in Weert. Before entering the Observant Franciscans, he served as a parish priest at Goirle.
A pilgrimage brought him to Jerusalem, where he spent time with the Franciscans caring for the Christian holy places. The church account records his return to the Netherlands by 1549 and his preaching at Bergen op Zoom in 1566. In 1570 he became deputy to Nicholas Pieck, the superior of the Gorinchem community.
Estius portrays him as ready to undertake the duties given him and as an effective speaker in both private conversation and public preaching. During imprisonment, the same account remembers him encouraging his companions and supporting Nicholas Pieck. These are the personal qualities emphasized by a writer who says he had known him.
Jerome was hanged with the nineteen Gorkum martyrs at Brielle on July 9, 1572. The group is commemorated on July 9.
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