Editing Geneva (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Geneva}}
{{For timeline}}
{{For|the Catholic ecclesiastical history|bishopric of Geneva}}

[[File:DV307 no.80 From Vile Rousean, Geneva Aug 4 1858.png|thumb|left|A view of Geneva by [[Frances Elizabeth Wynne]], 4 August 1858]]

Geneva was an [[Allobroges|Allobrogian]] border town, fortified against the [[Helvetii]] tribe,<ref name="CathEncy-LausanneGeneva">{{Catholic|wstitle=Lausanne and Geneva|inline=yes}}</ref> when the [[Roman Republic]] took it in 121 BC. It [[Christianization of the Roman Empire|became Christian]] under the Late [[History of the Roman Empire|Roman Empire]], and acquired its first [[bishop of Geneva|bishop]] in the 5th century, having been connected to the [[Bishopric of Vienne]] in the 4th.

[[File:ETH-BIB-Genf = Genève-LBS H1-026493.tif|thumb|Aerial view (1966)]]
In the [[Middle Ages]], Geneva was ruled by a [[county of Geneva|count]] under the [[Holy Roman Empire]] until the late 14th century, when it was granted a charter giving it a high degree of self-governance. Around this time, the [[House of Savoy]] came to at least nominally dominate the city. In the 15th century, an [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]] republican government emerged with the creation of the [[Grand Council of Geneva|Grand Council]]. In the first half of the 16th century, the [[Protestant Reformation]] reached the city, causing religious strife, during which Savoy rule was thrown off and Geneva allied itself with the [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Swiss Confederacy]].

In 1541, with Protestantism on the rise, [[John Calvin]], the [[Protestant]] [[Reformation|Reformer]] and proponent of [[Calvinism]], became the spiritual leader of the city and established the [[Republic of Geneva]]. By the 18th century, Geneva had come under the influence of [[Catholicism|Catholic]] France, which cultivated the city as its own. France tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, which inspired the failed [[Geneva Revolution of 1782]], an attempt to win representation in the government for men of modest means. In 1798, [[Revolutionary France]] under the [[French Directory|Directory]] annexed Geneva. France lost Geneva, which recovered its independence, at the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. On May 19, 1815, Geneva joined the [[Swiss Confederation]]. In 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of many international organizations.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Geneva |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552135/Geneva_(Switzerland).html#s3 |encyclopedia=[[Encarta]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029012940/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552135/Geneva_%28Switzerland%29.html#s3 |archive-date=29 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>