Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
City. Captured by the Romans, 120 B.C., first bishop , Saint Isaac (c.400). From 1154 , under Emperor Conrad II, the bishops were princes of the Holy Roman Empire, but had to maintain a long struggle for their independence against the counts of Geneva and of Savoy. Protestantism was established by law in 1535 , the bishop was driven from his see, and the city became the “Protestant Rome” under Calvin ‘s absolute rule. Saint Francis de Sales , while bishop (1602-1621), restored to Catholicity a large part of the diocese , which was joined to Lausanne in 1819 .