Bernhard Boll

Born Johann Heinrich Boll, he studied theology as a Jesuit novice in Rottweil from 1772 and then at the seminary in Dillingen an der Donau.

He was assessed as intelligent but angry and arrogant and so his probation was extended by a year, meaning he only took his perpetual vows on 13 November 1776.

He quickly developed into a devout monk and scholar and was ordained priest in 1780, later becoming professor of philosophy at Salem and at Tennenbach Abbey.

Pope Leo XII suggested Boll as a compromise candidate in 1824 after Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg was rejected and the second choice Ferdinand Geminian Wanker died during the negotiations.

The Grand Duchy retained the nomination of almost all bishops in its lands and held that state power was superior to that of the church in almost every respect, leaving Boll little leeway.