Bishopric of Constance

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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 13th century until 1802, it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire.

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.