The
Bishopric of Constance was a
diocese of the
Roman Catholic Church that existed
from about 585 until 1821.
Its seat was Konstanz
at the
western end of Lake
Constance
in the
south-west corner of Germany. The diocese covered,
in present-day borders, a large part of Switzerland
, the largest part of Baden-Württemberg
, and a small part of Austria
.
The
Bishopric of Constance was founded in the 6th century when the seat
of the bishop of Vindonissa
was moved to Constance. The Bishopric was
originally subordinate to the
archbishop of Besançon, since
the 8th century it was subordinate to the
archbishop of Mainz. From the 12th
century until 1802 it was an
Imperial
estate of the
Holy Roman
Empire, confirmed by
Frederick I Barbarossa in
1155.
During the Early
Middle Ages the bishop was also the political ruler of Constance
, but towards the end of the 12th Century his power
in the Free City State was reduced to a small zone around the
Cathedral. Numerous bishops hence fell into conflict with
the city.
In 1527,
during the Protestant
Reformation, the seat of the bishop was moved to Meersburg
. In 1802, the Bishopric was dissolved as a
state and became part of
Baden.
The diocese was finally dissolved by
Pope
Pius VII in 1821, after
Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg
had been elected bishop in 1817. While Wessenberg was supported by
the government of Baden, the Pope never recognized his election.
The Pope disagreed with Wessenberg's liberal views, and dissolved
the diocese in order to prevent Wessenberg from becoming bishop.
The diocese became part of the
Archdiocese of Freiburg.
Famous bishops
See also
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