Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc
Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc (born April 18, 1725 in Spanish exile; † July 14, 1797 in Valletta , Malta ) comes from the wealthy and influential Rohan family in France (see also the Rohan tribe list ) and was from November 12, 1775 the 70th Grand Master of the Order of Malta until his death in 1797 .
Life
Emmanuel de Rohan was a different kind of person than his popularly unpopular predecessor Francisco Ximenes de Texada . He did his best to enforce the principles and teachings of the Order. But it was too late, the decline of the Order had already begun and could not be stopped. The knights came from a new generation and had long forgotten their monastic vows and the vows of poverty. The Ottoman Empire was in retreat and the order's original task had become redundant. Incidents between the Knights of the Order and the Maltese population were the order of the day. This was a time of decline for the Order. During his reign, Rohan did his best to preserve the order and for the welfare of the Maltese people; No wonder then that after his death despair came over the island.
To replenish the decimated treasury, the ships were sold to the kings of Naples and Spain. The ships of the order were magnificent, beautiful and majestic, but no longer contemporary.
After the French Revolution, the Order was stripped of its real estate in France.
During his reign, Fort Tigné was built and the St. Lucian Tower and battery were modernized. The tower was later renamed Fort Rohan .
Rohan was the author of the Code de Rohan , a new code of law that appeared in two volumes in 1782.
In 1777 Rohan gave the village of Żebbuġ city rights and gave it the name Città Rohan . To commemorate this event, the people of Żebbuġ built an archway at the entrance to the town, which was named Il-Bieb il-Gdid (New Gate).
literature
- Constantin von Wurzbach : Rohan, Emanuel de . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 26th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1874, p. 278 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- Emmanuel de Rohan de Polduc at cilialacorte.com
- Emmanuel de Rohan de Polduc at smom-za.org
- The 79 Grand Masters ( Memento from December 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Francisco Ximenes de Texada |
Grand Master of the Order of Malta 1775–1797 |
Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rohan-Polduc, Emmanuel de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rohan de Polduc, Emmanuel de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Knights and Hospitallers of St. John in Jerusalem |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 18, 1725 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 14, 1797 |
| Place of death | Valletta in Malta |