Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg determined Ellwangen to be the site of a new Roman-Catholic diocese, after the Bishopric of Constance had been dissolved in the course of German Mediatisation and the Ellwangen Prince-Provostry had been secularized. Hence a seminary, a diocesan chancery and Friedrich's University were founded in Ellwangen in 1812. After Fredericks death in 1816, his successor William I, King of Württemberg discarded the establishment of a Roman-Catholic diocese in Ellwangen, and decided Rottenburg to be the site of the new Roman-Catholic diocese. Therefore, the University of Ellwangen was closed and incorporated as a Faculty into the University of Tübingen in 1817.
