bishop in the sixth century, the jurisdiction of the bishopric extending
for a dozen leagues in all directions.

In the tenth century it became a _ville imperiale_, and by the fifteenth
it had a population of more than forty thousand souls, and the bishopric
counted eight hundred thousand adherents. To-day the city proper has
decreased in numbers to a population which hovers closely about the
five thousand mark.

[Illustration: _Constance Cathedral_]

The emperors convoked many Diets at Constance, and in 1183 the peace was
signed here between the Emperor Barbarossa and the Lombard towns.

The cathedral, or muenster, of Constance is dedicated to "Our Lady", and
is for the most part a highly satisfying example of a Renaissance
church, though here and there may be noticed the Gothic, which was
erected on the eleventh-century foundations.

The facade has been restored in recent years, and is flanked by two
pseudo-Romanesque towers or campaniles in the worst of taste.

The interior is divided into three naves by columns bearing rounded
arches. Above, in the grand nave, are a series of round-headed windows,
while those in the aisles are ogival.

The choir contains a series of Gothic stalls in stone, which, unless it
has very recently been scraped off, are covered with the ordinary cheap
whitewash.

The painted vaulting is atrocious, and, while its hideous colouring
lasts, it matters little whether it is of the Romanesque barrel style
or ogival. The nervures are there, so it must belong to the latter
variety, but it is all so thickly covered with what looks like enamel
paint and gaudy red and blue "lining" that it is painful to contemplate.

There is a fine statue of John Huss supporting the pulpit. It is an
adequate monument to one who made history so vivid that it reads almost
like legend. In the pavement is a _plaque_ of copper which indicates the
spot where Huss stood when his sentence was read out to him. According
to tradition--some have said that it was the ecclesiastical law--Huss
was hurled from the church by a _coup de pied_.

The organ-case, of the fifteenth century, which backs up the inside wall
of the facade, is one of the most gorgeous of its kind extant, although
there is no very high art expression to be discovered in the
overpowering mass of mahogany and lead pipes which, with inadequate
supports, hangs perilously upon a wall.

This particular organ-case is richly sculptured with foliage and figur