George of Austria (
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...
, 1505 –
Liège, 4 May 1557), was
Prince-bishop of Liège from 1544 to 1557.
He was an illegitimate son of
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself E ...
and Margaretha of Edelsheim.
He became
Bishop of Brixen (Tyrol) between 1525 and 1537 and
Archbishop of Valencia between 1538 and 1544.
In 1544 he became
Prince-bishop of Liège by the influence of his nephew
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, a post he held until his death. George strongly opposed any French influence in the
Prince-Bishopric of Liège
The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, ...
, thus maintaining the strong grip of the Habsburgs, who controlled all surrounding lands.
In 1554, he was faced with a French invasion under King
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:George of Austria
1505 births
1557 deaths
16th-century House of Habsburg
People of the Habsburg Netherlands
Prince-Bishops of Liège
16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire
Archbishops of Valencia
Sons of emperors
Sons of kings
Illegitimate children of Holy Roman Emperors