Though they co-operated in building the town walls, the canons and the dukes of Lorraine soon became rivals for authority over the town of Saint-Dié, where towards the end of the 15th century one of the earliest printing presses of Lorraine was founded. The institution of a town council in 1628, and the establishment in 1777 of the bishopric which appropriated part of their spiritual jurisdiction, contributed greatly to diminish the influence of the canons; and with the French Revolution they were completely swept away. Their church remains as the cathedral.