Final Act of the Congress of Vienna/Act XII

by The plenipotentiaries of the high powers who signed the treaty

The Allied Powers having expressed their earnest desire that certain facilities should be granted to the canton of Geneva, either for connecting a disjointed part of its possessions, or for opening its communications with Switzerland; his Majesty the King of Sardinia being anxious on his part, to evince to his high and powerful Allies, the great satisfaction which he experiences in rendering them any service in his power, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed to what follows: ART. I. His Majesty the King of Sardinia places at the disposal of the High Allied Powers that part of Savoy which is situated between the river Arve, the Rhone, the limits of that part of Savoy occupied by France, and Mount Salève, as far as Veiry inclusive, together with that part which lies between the high road called the Simplon, the Lake of Geneva, and the present territory of the canton of Geneva, from Venezas to the point where the river of Hermance crosses the said road, and from thence, following the course of that river, to where it enters the Lake of Geneva, to the east of the village of Hermance (the whole of the road of the Simplon continuing to be possessed by his Majesty the King of Sardinia) in order that these countries may be united to the canton of Geneva; with the reservation, however, of determining more precisely, by Commissioners respectively appointed, their limits, particularly of that part which relates to the demarcation above Veiry and on Mount Salève. His Majesty renounces for himself and his successors in perpetuity, all rights of sovereignty, and other rights which may have belonged to him over all the places and territories comprised in this line, without exception or reservation.

ART. II. His Majesty agrees, that the communication between the canton of Geneva and the Vallais, by the road of the Simplon, shall be established, in the same manner as it has been agreed to by France, between Geneva and the canton of Vaud, by the route of Versoy. A free communication shall also be at all times granted for the Genevese troops, between the territory of Geneva and the jurisdiction of Jussy, and such facilities shall be allowed as may be necessary for proceeding by the lake to the road of the Simplon.

ART. III. On the other hand, his Majesty feeling reluctant to giving his consent to a part of his territory being united to a State, whose prevailing religion is different, without securing to the inhabitants of the country which he cedes, the enjoyment of the free exercise of their religion, and the means of keeping up their religious establishments, with the full enjoyment of all the rights of citizens;

It is agreed that:

1. The Catholic religion shall be maintained and protected, in the same manner as at present, in all those communes ceded by his Majesty the King of Sardinia, which are to be united to the canton of Geneva.
2. Those parishes which are neither dismembered nor divided by the line of the new frontiers, shall retain their present extension, and shall be served by the same number of clergymen; and with regard to the parts dismembered, which may not be sufficiently large to constitute a parish, application shall be made to the bishop of the diocese, in order to obtain their annexation to some other parish of the canton of Geneva.
3. If the number of Protestants inhabiting the communes ceded by his Majesty should the less than that of the Catholics, the school-masters residing in those communes shall always be Catholics. No Protestant church shall be established, excepting in the town of Carrouge, which shall have one.
   Two-thirds of the municipal officers shall be Catholics, and of the three individuals who fill the offices of mayor and his two assistants, two of them shall always be Catholics.
   In case it should happen that an equal number of Protestants and Catholics should reside in the same commune, the municipal body shall be composed of an equal number of Protestants and Catholics, and they shall fill the office of mayor alternately; in this case, however, there must always be a Catholic school-master, even where a Protestant one is already established.
   It is not intended by this Article to prevent Protestants residing in a commune inhabited by Catholics, from erecting at their own expense a private chapel, for the exercise of their religion, if they desire it, or from having, also at their expense, a Protestant school-master for the private instruction of their children.
4. The funds, revenues, and the administration of religious and charitable institutions, shall remain untouched, and private individuals shall not be prevented from erecting new ones.
5. The government shall make the same provision as the present Government for the support of the clergy, and places of worship.
6. The Catholic church, now established at Geneva, shall be maintained, as at present, at the expense of the State, as the laws of the Constitution of Geneva have already decreed a suitable establishment and provision shall be made for the officiating clergyman.
7. The Catholic communes and the parish of Geneva shall continue to form part of the diocese which is to govern the provinces of the Chablais, and Faucigny; unless it should be otherwise regulated by the authority of the Holy See.
8. The bishop shall not, under any circumstances, be disturbed in his pastoral visits.
9. The inhabitants of a ceded country shall be placed entirely upon the same footing in point of civil and political rights, with the Genevese of the city; they shall exercise these rights conjointly with them, excepting, however, the rights of property, of citizenship, or of communes.
10. Catholic children shall be received into the public schools. They shall not be instructed in religion with the Protestants, but separately; and persons of the Catholic communion shall be appointed for this purpose.
11. The communal property belonging to the new communes, shall be preserved to them, and they shall continue to administer them as hitherto, and to apply the revenues to their use.
12. The new communes shall not be liable to greater taxes than the old communes.
13. His Majesty the King of Sardinia reserves to himself the right of making known to the Helvetic Diet, and to support by means of his diplomatic agents accredited to it, every claim to which the non-fulfilment of the above Articles might give rise.

ART. IV. All title deeds of landed property, and documents concerning ceded effects, shall be given up by his Majesty the King of Sardinia, to the canton of Geneva, as soon as possible.

ART. V. The Treaty concluded at Turin, the 3rd of June 1754, between his Majesty the King of Sardinia and the Republic of Geneva, is hereby confirmed, with regard to all those Articles which are not at variance with the present transaction; but his Majesty, wishing to give the canton of Geneva a particular mark of his favour, contents nevertiieless to annul that part of Article XIII. of the above Treaty, which denied to the citizens of Geneva, who since that time have had establishments and property in Savoy, the privilege of making it their principal residence.

ART. VI. His Majesty consents, from the same motives, to make arrangements with the canton of Geneva, for facilitating the conveyance from his states of articles intended for the consumption of the town and canton.

Vienna the 29th March 1815.

(Signed)	De St. Marsan
Austria,	The Prince de Metternich.
	The Baron de Wessenberg.
Spain,	Gomez Labrador.
France,	The Prince de Talleyrand.
	The Duke de D'Alberg.
	The Count Alexis de Nouilles.
Great Britain,	Clancarty.
	Cathcart.
	Stewart, Lt. G..
Portugal,	The Comte de Palmella.
	Antonio de Saldanha da Gama.
	Lobo da Silveira.
Prussia,	The Prince de Hardenberg.
	The Baron de Humboldt.
Russia,	The Prince de Rasoumoffsky.
	The Count de Stackelberg.
	The Count de Nesselrode.
Sweden,	The Count de Lowenhielm

Notes

1. Hansard (1816)

References

• British Foreign Office British and Foreign State Papers. 1814—1815 Volume II. Compiled by the librarian and keeper of the papers, Foreign Office-London: James Rigway and Sons, Piccadilly, H.M.S.O., 1839. pp. 149-152. Original French. The additional formatting of this treaty from this document.
• Hansard, The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ..., Volume 32. 1 February to 6 March 1816, T.C. Hansard, 1816. pp. pp. 188-191. The translation is from this document.