,
Imperial Abbey of St. Gallen,
County of Toggenburg,
Rapperswil,
Uznach,
Windegg (Gaster),
County of Sargans,
Pfäfers Abbey,
Werdenberg,
Lordship of Hohensax,
Barony of Sax-Forstegg and
Rheintal Prehistoric human activity in the area of the canton of St. Gallen is evidenced by the findings of stone tools and animal bones at
Wildenmannlisloch cave in the
Toggenburg region, which date back to the
Paleolithic period (40,000–35,000 years ago). Slightly older are the finds at () cave in the
Sarganserland region. The
Tabula Peutingeriana shows a
Roman road and a settlement,
Ad Rhenum (around present-day
Rheineck/
St. Margrethen), near the southern coast of Lake Constance.
Centum Prata was a Roman vicus, now located in the municipality of
Rapperswil-Jona. The , a Roman watchtower in the municipality of
Amden, dates back to 15
BC. The canton of St. Gallen is an artificial construct of various historical territories, defined by
Napoleon Bonaparte in the
Act of Mediation in 1803. About half of the canton's area corresponds to the acquisitions of the
abbey of St. Gallen over centuries. The city of
St. Gallen became independent of the abbey in 1405. At the same time, the abbey lost control of
Appenzell. Conversely, the
Toggenburg was acquired by the Abbey in 1468. Both the city and the abbey were associates (
Zugewandte Orte) of the
Old Swiss Confederacy, but unlike Appenzell never joined as full members. Before the
1798 French invasion, the territory of the modern canton of St. Gallen consisted of the
free city of St. Gallen, the territories of the
Abbey of St. Gallen (including the
Fürstenland and
Toggenburg), the free city of
Rapperswil,
Pfäfers Abbey,
Sargans and the independent lordships (
bailiwicks) of
Rheintal,
Sax-Forstegg,
Hohensax,
Werdenberg,
Windegg and
Uznach. In the
Helvetic Republic (1798–1803), the northern parts of the modern canton of St. Gallen, together with Appenzell, became the
canton of Säntis (named after the
Säntis), while its southern parts, together with
Glarus and parts of
Schwyz, became the
canton of Linth (named after the river
Linth). However, the two new cantons had immediate financial problems and were forced to institute a number of unpopular taxes and laws. The Abbey was secularized on 17 September 1798 and the
Prince-Abbot Pankraz Vorster fled to Vienna (
Austria). The unpopular laws and the closing of the Abbey caused unrest throughout the area. When the
War of the Second Coalition broke out in 1799, an Austrian army marched into eastern Switzerland and returned the Prince-Abbot to his throne at the Abbey. However, his victory was short-lived. The Austrian and
Russian armies were defeated outside
Zurich and the French Army returned to St. Gallen, driving the Prince-Abbot out. In 1803, as part of the Act of Mediation, the area joined the Swiss Confederation as the Canton of St. Gallen. The cantonal constitution of 1803 was revised in 1814. Because of the confessional heterogeneity of the canton's population, the 1814 constitution did unusually organise matters of religion, marriage and education not on a cantonal level but introduced a twofold division (confessional dualism), with separate Protestant and a Catholic assemblies subordinate to the legislative cantonal assembly (
Grosser Rat). The constitution was revised again in 1831, introducing elements of
direct democracy. The constitution of 1831 divided the canton into 15 districts (), reduced to 14 in 1918 (fusion of Tablat district with St. Gallen district). Due to continuing confessional squabbles over the organisation of schools, the canton eventually placed education under its authority in 1861. The constitution was revised again in 1890, with a stronger emphasis on direct democracy. The 1890 constitution remained in effect, with numerous later changes, until 2001, the date of the latest revision of the cantonal constitution, when the division into districts was replaced by a division into eight
constituencies (), effective 1 January 2003. ==Geography==