Si)0 



ROGIER ROMAGNA. 



R(x;iKK. See Roger. 



ROHAN, Loois RKNK EDOUARI>, prince de, car- 

 dinal-bishop oi Strasburg, born in 1734. was at 

 f.rxt known under the title of Prince Louis. The 

 paiion in which the young ecclesiastic indulged 

 did not prevent him from attending to study, nor from 

 forming ambitious projects. In 1772, he went ;is am- 

 bassador to the court of Vienna. He derives his 

 notoriety, however, chiefly from the affair of the 

 necklace, (See Marie Antoinette and Lamotte.) He 

 was then grand almoner of France, and being 

 thrown into the Bastile, continued in prison more 

 tlian a year, when he was acquitted and released by 

 the parliament of Paris, August, 1786. He was 

 afterwards a member of the constituent, assembly, 

 but, on account of his opposition to the revolution- 

 ary principles, was obliged to retire to Germany, 

 win-re he died in 1803. See the Memoires of 

 (Jeorgel, Campan, &c., and the Recueil des Pieces 

 conctmant I Affairi du Collier 



ROLAND, JEAN MARIK BAPTISTS DE LA PLA- 

 TIERE, born in 1734, was previous to the revolution 

 engaged in manufactures. Being sent to Paris by 

 the city of Lyons, on official business before the 

 national assembly (1791), he became connected with 

 Brissot and other popular leaders, through whose 

 influence, he was appointed-minister of the interior 

 in 1192 ; his principles, however, were so far from 

 lwii:g agreeable to the king, that he was dismissed 

 afi er a few months ; but after the 10th of August, 

 (see Louis XFf.) he was recalled to the ministry, 

 and continued to hold his place until the proscrip- 

 tion of the Girondists (q.v.) compelled him to leave 

 Paris. On receiving, at Rouen, the news of the 

 death of his wife, he killed himself with a sword- 

 cane. Roland was the author of the Dictionary of 

 Manufactures, (3 vols. 4to,) forming part of Panc- 

 koucke's Encyclopedic Methodique, and of several 

 other work*. Hi* wife Manon Jeanne, was born at 

 Paris, in 1751, and was the daughter of an engra- 

 ver. She was remarkable for her beauty, and re- 

 ceived an excellent education. The study of Greek 

 and Roman history early inflamed her imagination, 

 and gave her a tendency to republican sentiments. 

 After her marriage, in 1779, Madame Roland took 

 !>art in the studies and tasks of her husband, and 

 accompanied him to Switzerland and England. The 

 revolution found in her a ready convert to its prin- 

 ciples ; and, on the appointment of her husband to 

 the ministry, she participated in his official duties, 

 writing and preparing many papers, and taking a 

 share in the political councils of the leaders of the 

 Girondist party. (See Girondists.) On the fall of 

 her husband, she was arrested. She conducted 

 herself with great firmness during the trial, and at 

 the time of her execution, " Oh Liberty, what 

 crimes are committed in thy name!" was her ex- 

 clamation, when she arrived at the scaffold Novem- 

 ber 8, 1793. Madame Roland had laid aside the 

 modesty and softness of her sex, and had adopted 

 (teistical notions in religion. While in prison she 

 wrote Memoirs of her Life, which have since been 

 published, with her other writings relating to the 

 events of the revolution. The most complete edi- 

 tion is that forming part of the memoirs relating to 

 the French revolution, under the title Memoires de 

 Madame Roland, avec une Notice sur sa Fie, with 

 notes (1820). See Memoirs. 



ROLAND, OR ORLANDO ; a celebrated hero 

 ot ihe Romances of Chivalry, and one of the pala- 

 dins (q. v.) of Charlemagne, of whom he is repre- 

 sented as the nephew. His character is that of a 

 brave, unsuspicious, and loyal warrior, but some- 

 what simple in his disposition. According to the 

 romances he fell on the retreat of Charlemagne from 



Spain, in the Roncesvalles (Roncevaux), a pass of 

 the Pyrenees, with the flower of the Frnnkish chi- 

 valry. 1 1 is adventures are contained in the fabulous 

 Chronicle of Turpin, (De Vita Caroli Magni et Ro- 

 landi,) and the Old French Romances relating to 

 Charlemagne and his Paladins. (See Romance.) 

 The celebrated romantic epics of Boiardo (Orlando 

 Innamorato), and Ariosto (Orlando Furioso), relate 

 to him and his exploits. 



ROLAND'S, OR RULAND'S COLUMNS, are 

 stone statues of a man in armour, generally rudely 

 formed, and found in twenty-eight German cities. 

 According to tradition, they were erected in honour 

 of Charlemagne's paladin Roland ; but if ever this 

 hero existed (see Roland), the Germans, particularly 

 the Saxons, in whose former territory they are found, 

 would probably have been the last to erect statues to 

 him. Besides, they are evidently of a later age: pro- 

 bably they were the same with the fVeichbild, the 

 symbol of incorporated towns,possessing jurisdiction 

 over their own members ; and thus the name has been 

 considered a corruption of RUgelandssaulen (Ruege- 

 land's columns), from Ruge, which was equivalent, 

 formerly, to Courts of Justice. See Tuerk De Sta- 

 tuis Rolandmis (Rostock, 1824). 



ROLLER (coracias) ; a genus of birds allied to 

 the crows and jays, found in Europe, Asia, Africa, 

 and in the hot climates of America. They are more 

 wild and untractable than their congeneres, and do 

 not appear to possess the imitative faculty of the jay 

 or magpie, as all attempts to teach them to speak 

 have been unsuccessful. The plumage of almost all 

 the species is very beautiful, being in general an as- 

 semblage of blue and green, mixed with white, and 

 heightened by the contrast of more obscure and less 

 vivid colours. The rollers are very shy, inhabiting 

 the thickest and most unfrequented woods, though 

 like the crows they are frequently seen in newly 

 ploughed fields, searching for worms and larva. 

 They are not carnivarous, except in cases of neces- 

 sity, and their flesh is'said to be palatable. 



ROLLIN, CHARLES, a historian, was born at Pa- 

 ris in 1661. His father was a cutler, who intended 

 him for the same business ; but his talents obtained 

 the notice of a learned Benedictine, who procured 

 him a place in the college of Du Plessis, by which 

 he was enabled to gratify his inclination for learn- 

 ing. After going through a course of theology at 

 the Sorbonne, he received the tonsure. In 1 688, 

 he obtained the chair of eloquence in the royal col- 

 lege, of which he became rector in 1694 ; reformed 

 the academical course in many particulars, and re- 

 vived the study of the Greek language. In 1698, 

 he was chosen coadjutor or head of the college of 

 Beauvais, which was also much benefited by his at- 

 tention. In 1720, he was again chosen rector of 

 the university of Paris ; but was displaced in con- 

 sequence of his connexion with the Jansenists. His 

 productions are Traite des Etudes (<726). Histoire 

 Ancienne (13 vols., 1730 and 1738) ; and Roman 

 History (5 vols.), to the war against the Cimbri, 

 (completed by Crevier, 16 vols., 12mo.) He died in 

 1741. Rollin's writings are distinguished for purity 

 and elegance of style, but they are diffuse and pro- 

 lix, and his historical works are deficient in critical 

 sagacity. There is an edition of his works in 30 

 vols. 8vo. (Paris, 1827,) with notes on the histori- 

 cal parts by Guizot. His Ancient History has been 

 often reprinted in English. The best edition is that 

 with notes, by James Bell, Glasgow, 2 vols. Svo. 



ROMAGNA ; formerly a provinre of the States 

 of the Church, bordering on the Adriatic, forty-five 

 miles in length by thirty in breadth. The dele- 

 gations of Forli and Ravenna have been formed 

 from it. 



