one of the four provinces of the electorate of Hesse-Cassel, comprising the greater part of the ancient independent bishopric of Fulda, and the isolated circle of Schmalkalden. The bishopric of Fulda originated in an abbey founded by St Bonifacius in 744. It subsequently received various privileges, and in 1752 was raised to the rank of an independent bishopric. In 1803 it was secularized and ceded as a principality to the Prince of Nassau-Orange; and in 1810 it was incorporated by Napoleon with the grand-duchy of Frankfort. In 1814 it was divided, a district containing 27,000 inhabitants being given to Saxo-Weimar, and the rest to Prussia. Prussia afterwards ceded her portion to Hesse-Cassel, and it now forms one of the provinces of that electorate. It has an area of 720 square miles, and in 1846 contained 140,713 inhabitants.

capital of the above province, is situated on the river of the same name, 54 miles S. of Cassel. The Fulda rises in the Rhön-Gebirge, and after a northward course of about 90 miles, unites with the Werra below Munden to form the Weser. Fulda is a walled town, pleasantly situated and generally well built. It is the seat of a superior court of justice and of a Roman Catholic bishop, whose jurisdiction extends over the whole electorate. The cathedral, containing the tomb of St Boniface, and the bishop's palace, with its extensive garden, are the chief of its fine buildings. The university founded here in 1784 has been converted into a lyceum. Fulda has also several monasteries, hospitals, asylums, and seminaries, a public library, and manufactures of linens, woollens, tobacco, leather, &c. The river is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge. Pop. (1845) 9570.