Prince-Bishopric of Constance
Prince-Bishopric of Constance Hochstift Konstanz | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1155–1803 | |||||||||
The Bishopric of Constance lying astride the western end of Lake Constance | |||||||||
| Status | Prince-Bishopric | ||||||||
| Capital | Konstanz Meersburg (from 1527) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Low Alemannic | ||||||||
| Government | Ecclesiastical principality | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages Early modern period | ||||||||
• Missionary diocese established | 585 | ||||||||
| 1155 | |||||||||
| 1414–18 | |||||||||
• Joined Swabian Circle | 1500 | ||||||||
| 1803 | |||||||||
• Diocese dissolved | 1821 | ||||||||
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The Prince-Bishopric of Constance (German: Hochstift Konstanz, Fürstbistum Konstanz, Bistum Konstanz) was a small ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dual capacity as prince and as bishop, the prince-bishop also administered the Diocese of Konstanz, which existed from about 585 until its dissolution in 1821, and whose territory extended over an area much larger than the principality. It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Mainz since 780/782.