Ridolphus (Ital. Hidolfi), Ci.audio, a painter of the Venetian school, was born at Verona in 1574. He was descended from a noble family, and in his youth made great progress in his art. He worked in Verona, Urbino, and other cities of Italy. He died in 16-14. The works of Ridolphus show a purity of design and simplicity of composition which are seldom found in the works of the Venetian school. Among his best are, Presentation of lite ]'iri/in at the Temple: — The Assump- tum : — a I7?Yyi«, and several Saints. See Bumassuti, Guida di Verona. — Iloefer, Xour. Bio(j. Generale,s. v.
Riegger, Joseph Anton Stephan von, an em- inent teacher of jurispru<l('no(', wlio was also author, im- perial councillor, censur of Imoks, etc., and whose prin- cipal field of labor was the University of Freiburg, was born at Innspruck, Feb. 13, 1742. He wrote his first work — a review <if tlie works of Plautus and Terence — when scarcely lifteen years of age, became master in philosophy in 17t)l, and in 17(i4 entered on his first po- sition as a teacher in the Thcresianum. During his preliminary studies he had pul)lished a Bihliolheca Juris Cunoniri (17t;i): — an edition of August. Archiep.Tara- con. /M Emend, tlraliani /)ialoyi, anil a new edition of the caniinist ('ironius. and had also written verses in German and Latin. In 17r>5 he was called to a pro- fessorsliip at Freiburg, and for tlie first time ilelivered lectures on jurisprudence in the German tongue. His promotions were now so rapid that scarcely a year passed without bringing to him new honors of this kind, and his reputation secured for him the charge of
repeated government commissions of importance and delicacy ; but the payment of debts incurred by his fa- ther and by an insolvent brother so impaired his fortune that a removal from Freiburg became desirable. He became professor of civil law at Prague and government councillor of Bohemia, and died Aug. 5, 1795. He had been actively connected with the reform movements of his age, and hail given books to the world which ex- cited much attention in their time, e. g. one on the right of a prince to tax persons of clerical rank. A work on the decretals of popes, etc., in which unpub- lished MSS. were largely introduced, would have been his crowning labor, but an instalment issued under the title Bernardi Breviarium Extravagantium (1778) failed to secure the sympathy of the public and caused him to renounce the undertaking. His numerous writings in the departments of belles-lettres, jurisprudence, and canon-law are given in Mensel, Lexikon d. v. Jahre 1750- 1800 rerstorh. deutsch. Schriftsteller (Leips. 1811), vol. xi; and in Weidlich, Biogr. Nachrichten, etc. (Halle, 1751), part ii. See tiriinwald, Bioffraphie d. heid. Bitter ron Rief)(]er (Prague, 1798) ; Schlic.htegroll, A'cc?-o/o5r ctvf d. Jithr. 1795, 1st half. — Wetzer M.'WtMt, Kirchen- Lex. s. V.
Riegger, Paul Joseph von, father of J. A. S. Riegger (q. v.), and professor of canon-law in the Uni- versity of Vienna from 1753 to 1775, was born at Frei- burg, June 29, 1705, and received his education in his native town. At the age of sixteen years he obtained the degree of master in philosophy, and at the age of twenty-eight he became doctor of both civil and eccle- siastical law. Soon afterwards he was called to the chair of jurisjirudence and German historv at Innspruck, where he subsequently attained to the highest honors, being twice elected rector and eight times dean of the university, frequently acting as its chosen agent in transactions with the imperial court, and also serving as counsel to the courts of Lower Austria. The empress INIaria Theresa placed him over the Imperial Theresa School and the Academy of Savoyard Knights as teach- er of public and canonical law in 1749, and in 1753 he became professor of ecclesiastical law in the Universitj' of Vienna, though retaining the positions he already held. His Institutiones Jurisprudent iw Ecclesiastics (4 vols.) were generally introduced into the schools of Austria. His next preferment was to the posts of im- perial councillor and censor of books, and in 1764 to the knighthood and to the Bohemian branch of the gov- ernment. Many laws relating to the establishing and execution of spiritual functions owe their origin to him, as does the abolition of trials for magical practices and witchcraft. He is the father of the ecclesiastical sys- tem of Austria as subsequently taught in all its schools. The liberal influence exerted by him crowded the ultra- montane theories out of use, and caused him to be re- garded at Rome as an important promoter of reforms in the Church. It is said that he was threatened with ex- communication in consequence, and that his works were placed in the Index. He died Dec. 8, 1775. A list of his works is given in Mensel and Weidlich. See Bi- of/1-aphie d. heid. Bitter von Bieyyer (Prague, 1798). — Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lex. s. v.
Rienzo, Coi.a di {Xicolo di Lorenzo), Rome's "last trihinie," was born of humble parentage, in the year 1313, at Rome. He was endowed with an ambi- tious and daring spirit, and. as the event proved, with an overweening vanity, and he jiossessed the gift of a fiery eloquence. His first public appearance was in 1343, in the character of notary to an embassy of Roman citizens sent to greet pope (,'lement VI and persuade him to re- turn to Rome, where the families of Colonna and Ursini were then contending against each other — the power of the nobles generally liaving grown to excessive propor- tions— and the oppression of the people and their sinking into immorality were keei)ing equal pace. Rienzo be- came acquainted with Petrarch — subsequently his en-