It was created by the merger in of the Diocese of Lausanne and the Diocese of Geneva, both prince-bishoprics until they were secularized during the Reformation. Until , it was called the Diocese of Lausanne and Geneva. The diocese has its seat at Fribourg.
The current bishop is Charles Morerod , O. Lausanne was originally a suffragan of the archbishopric of Lyon certainly about the seventh century , later [ when? In medieval times, as attested by the charter of the Emperor Henry IV , the diocese extended from the Aar , near Solothurn, to the northern end of the Valley of St. Marius was born in the Burgundian Diocese of Autun about , was consecrated Bishop of Avenches in May, , and died 31 December, Prosper of Aquitaine.
The most distinguished subsequent bishops are: Heinrich von Lenzburg d. Bishop George of Saluzzo [ 22 ] was a notable episcopal legislator. On 17 May , he formalized an agreement with the canons of the cathedral as a set of Statutes. Meanwhile, the bishops of Lausanne, who had been Counts of Vaud since the time of Rudolph III of Burgundy , and until subject only to imperial authority, were in granted the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire , [ disputed — discuss ] but their temporal power only extended over a small part of the diocese, namely over the city and district of Lausanne, as well as a few towns and villages in the Cantons of Vaud and Fribourg; on the other hand, the bishops possessed many vassals among the most distinguished of the patrician families of what is now western Switzerland.
For the government of the diocese there were, besides the bishop, two vicars-general, one living at Geneva, the other at Fribourg. At least as early as , at the Council of Mainz, summoned by Charlemagne , the bishops advised all bishops and abbots, as well as the whole clergy, that they should have good vicedomini , provosts, and advocates or defenders.
A count Anselm, perhaps a count of Equestres, is recorded between and These guardians, whose only duty originally was the protection of the diocese, enlarged their jurisdiction at the expense of the diocesan rights and even filled the episcopal see with members of their families.
