ROSTOCK
205
ROTA
GioACCHiNO Antonio Rossi
cesses were at Venice and Milan. In 1813 he wrote
"Tancredi", the first of his operas which, with
"L'ltaUana in Algeri", became celebrated throughout
Europe. In 1816 and 1817 he composed for the
Teatro Valle at Rome his happiest, if not his greatest,
work, "The Bar-
ber of Seville"
and "Ceneren-
tola". Meanwhile
he had begun his
career at the San
Carlo in Naples,
and wrote for this
important opera-
house in 1818
"Mose", in 1819
"La Donna del
Lago". In 1823
came "Semira-
mide", ^Titten for
Venice, his last
work in Italy; it
was his thirty-
fourth opera. In
1824 he spent the
season in London,
and at the first
concert he himself
sang the solo. The
same year he undertook in Paris the direction, first of
the Italian Opera, and then of the Academic. He wrote
for Paris in 1829 "William Tell", his last and finest
opera. Then followed the comparatively inactive period
of his fife, in which he ceased to write for the stage, but
still produced in 1832 his well known "Stabat", in
1847 his "Stanzas" to Pius IX, in 18G4 a "Messe
Solennelle". In 18.36 he went to live with his father
at Bologna; but from 1855 till his death he was again
in France.
Edwards, The Life of Rossini (London, 1869); Silvestbi, Delia Vita e delle opere di G. Rossini (Milan, 1874) ; Azevedo, Rossini, sa vie et ses ceuvres (Paris, 1864); Oettinger, Joachim Rossini (Leipzig, 1852).
A. Walter.
Rostock, Sebastian von, Bishop of Breslau, b. at Grottkau, Silesia, 24 Aug., 1607; d. at Breslau, 9 June, 1671. He studied classics at Neisse and from 1627 to 1633, philosophy and theology at Olmiitz. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1633 he was assii;nefl to pastoral duty at Neisse, and was distinffuished for his courage and oratorical talent. When tlie Swedes captured the city in 1642, Rostock was taken prisoner and deported to Stettin. After his release he was ennobled by the emperor, but remained pastor of Neisse until his transfer in 1649 to the cathedral of Breslau. Henceforth he played a prominent part in the administration of the diocese, and in 1653 was appointed vicar-general. It was largely through his efforts that the right of reformation (Jus rtformandi), granted the emperor by the peace of Westphalia, was effectively exercised in the territory of Breslau, so that 656 Cathohc churches which had been seized by the Protestants were restored to their former owners. Considerable difficulty was experienced in providing suitable priests for these numerous churches, and in infusing new religious life into an almo.st completely-ruined diocese. But Rostock consecrated his life to the task, in spite of the additional difficulty from the almost uninterrupted absence from their diocese of the three bishops under whom he served. In 1664 he was him- self elected bishop, and shortly after the civil ad- ministration of the district was also placed in his hands. He continued with greater independence the work of Catholic reorganization, endeavoured to suppress the power of the Protestants over affairs of the Cathohc Church, and to neutralize the anti-
Catholic influence of Protestant teachers. He suc-
cumbed to an attack of apople.xy, superinduced by an
imperial decree which suspended a decision that had
been previously granted and which was favourable
to Catholic interests.
JuNGNiTZ, Sebastian von Rostock (Breslau, 1891).
N. A. Weber.
Rostock, Universitt of, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, founded in the j^ear 1419 through the united efforts of Dukes John IV and Albert V, and on 13 February of the same year granted a Bull of foundation by Pope Martin V. At first the university included only the three secular faculties; in 1432 a theological faculty was added with the approval of Eugenius IV. The Bishop of Schwerin was appointed chancellor of the university; his present successors are the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg. The majority of the professors came from Erfurt, among them the first rector, PetrusSten- beke. The city of Rostock endowed the university most generously with lands, as did the Bishop of Schwerin, who presented his house at Rostock as a resi- dence. At a later date it received contributions from Hamburg and Llibeck. In 1427 it obtained from Martin V a unique privilege, allowing the rector in con- junction with several doctors to bestow a degree if the chancellor refused without a valid reason to grant it. WTien Rostock was placed under the bann of the empire and the Church on account of outbreaks among the citizens, the university moved to Greifs- wald (Easter, 1437). In 1443 it returned to Rostock, but when the dukes wi.shed to raise one of the churches of the city to a cathedral-church in order to give the professors the canonries as benefices, the town op- posed the procedure and there developed what is known as the cathedral feud. The university mi- grated temporarily in the summer of 1487 to Wismar and then to Liibeck. It fell into complete decay after the beginning of the Reformation in (1523) when the university revenues were lost and matriculations ceased. When an effort was made later to reorganize the university a dispute arose between the city of Rostock and the dukes of Mecklenburg as to the ad- ministration and supervision of the school. In 1563 an agreement called the "Formula concordise", was made between the contending parties, which granted nearly equal rights to both. The university now enjoyed an era of prosperity. In 1758 Duke Frederick desired the appointment of a rigidly or- thodox professor, but the theological faculty opposed him; whereupon the duke obtained an imperial patent for the founding of a university at Biitzow which was opened in 1760. The two universities proving too expen.sive for the country, the school at Biitzow was closed and united with Rostock in 1789. In 1829 the town council renounced its right of co-patronage. During the second half of the nine- teenth century the University began steadily to de- velop and gain, so that in 1911 it had about 800 students.
Krabbe, Die UniversitOt Rostock im XV. und XVI. Jahrhun- dert (Rostock, 1854); Hofmeister, Die Matrikel der Vniversitat Rostock (1899).
Karl Hoeber.
Rosweyde, Heribert. See Bollandists, The.
Roswitha. See Hroswitha.
Rota, Sacra Romana. — In the Constitution "Sapienti Consilio" (29 June, 1908), II, 2, Pius X re-established the Sacra Romana Rota, one of the three tribunals instituted by that Constitution. To it are assigned all contentious cases that must come before the Holy See and require a judicial investiga- tion with proof, except the so-called major cases. The Rota therefore tries in the first instance the cases, including criminal cases, which the pope, either motu propria or at the request of the contesting par-
