Johann Baptist von Roll

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Epitaph of Baron von Roll in St. Margareta (Brühl)

Baron Johann Baptist von Roll zu Bernau (* 1683 ; † May 5, 1733 in Brühl ) was a Commander of the Teutonic Order . Most recently he was Minister for the Affairs of the Order at the court of Grand Master and Elector Clemens August of Bavaria . His death in a duel triggered considerable changes in the politics of the Electorate of Cologne .

Life

He came from the Upper Austrian or Swiss noble family von Roll . Von Roll zu Bernau had been a Knight of the Teutonic Order since 1709. Among other things, he took part in the battle of Malplaquet . Since the end of the War of the Spanish Succession , he rose in the administration of the order, was among other things Komtur zu Mörstadt and was finally President of the government in the Mergentheim mastery . After Clemens August von Bayern was elected Grand Master, von Roll was appointed Minister for the Affairs of the Order at the Court in Bonn . As a result, he became the elector's closest friend and confidante.

On May 5, 1733, he dueled against the express order of the Elector with Friedrich Christian von Beverförde zu Werries . Under circumstances that were not entirely clear, von Roll was killed by a sword from Beverförde to Werries.

Clemens August was deeply affected by this death. He had him buried in the parish church of St. Margareta in Brühl , donated a magnificent epitaph and a silver lamp in the shape of a flaming heart under a crown of thorns. At the place where the duel took place, Clemens August had a statue of St. Set up Nepomuk . The corpse was exhumed on May 7, 1734 by order of the elector. It was allegedly found that the body was unchanged, which the elector took as evidence of Rolls' innocence. This exhumation is still recorded today in the Brühl parish register of deaths.

Since the elector did not believe in death in a duel but in murder, he had those allegedly complicit in prosecution. Among them was his first minister, Ferdinand von Plettenberg , who fell out of favor and lost all offices. In the place of a halfway predictable policy came the influence of various confidants and, especially in foreign policy, there were repeated changes of course.

In order to get over the despair over the death of his friend, the elector corresponded with the later beatified mystic Maria Crescentia Höss . This was able to convince the elector that his friend had gone to heaven. Nevertheless, he could never get over the death of his friend. Particularly on the anniversaries of death, he was repeatedly overcome by restlessness and melancholy.

literature

  • Elector Clemens August. Sovereign and patron of the 18th century. Exhibition in Augustusburg Palace in Brühl 1961. Cologne 1961, p. 159.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ P. Johannes Gatz - "Correspondence between Blessed Crescentia von Kaufbeuren and Elector Klemens August 1733-1743", page 8 and page 33
  2. ↑ a b P. Johannes Gatz - "Correspondence between Blessed Crescentia von Kaufbeuren and Elector Klemens August 1733-1743" page 14
personal data
SURNAME Roll, Johann Baptist von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roll zu Bernau, Johann Baptist von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Commander of the Teutonic Order
DATE OF BIRTH 1683
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1733
Place of death Bruehl