The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

that was situated for the most part in present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, had a seat and a vote in the Imperial Diet. The Prince-Bishopric of Liège should not be confused with the Diocese of Liège, which was larger and over which the prince-bishop exercised only the usual responsibilities of a bishop. The bishops of Liège acquired their status as prince-bishops between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notker of Liège, who had been the bishop since 972, received secular control of the County of Huy from

Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Ital ...

. From 1500, the prince-bishopric belonged to the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. Its territory included most of the present Belgian provinces of Liège and Limburg, and some exclaves in other parts of Belgium and the Netherlands. It briefly became a republic (the Republic of Liège) from 1789 to 1791, before reverting to a prince-bishopric in 1791. The role of the bishop as prince permanently ended when the state was annexed by France in 1795. In 1815 the territories it had held became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and in 1830 they were within the part of that kingdom which split off to become

. The principality ruled by the bishops of Liège was never part of the

Seventeen Provinces The Seventeen Provinces were the Imperial states of the Habsburg Netherlands in the 16th century. They roughly covered the Low Countries, i.e., what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the French departments of Nord (Fre ...

or the Spanish and Austrian Southern Netherlands, but from the 16th century onwards its politics were strongly influenced by the dukes of Burgundy and later the Habsburgs. In 1559 its 1,636

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

es were grouped into eight

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of m ...

ries, and twenty-eight councils, ' ( deaneries). The most important cities (') of the bishopric were: Liège, Beringen, Bilzen, Borgloon, Bree, Châtelet, Ciney, Couvin, Dinant, Fosses-la-Ville,

Hamont Hamont-Achel (; li, Haëmet-Achel) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. It was founded in 1977 by a fusion of the city Hamont and the village Achel. On January 1, 2020, Hamont-Achel had a total population of 1 ...

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as ...

, Herk-de-Stad, Huy, Maaseik,

Peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a net ...

, Sint-Truiden, Stokkem, Thuin, Tongeren,

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

, Visé and Waremme. The city of

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

fell under the joint jurisdiction of the prince-bishop of Liège and the

duke of Brabant The Duke of Brabant (, ) was the ruler of the Duchy of Brabant since 1183/1184. The title was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I of the House of Reginar, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was duke of ...

(later the

States-General of the United Provinces The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The Stat ...

). The second city of the prince-bishopric thus kept its special status throughout the '.

Medieval prince-bishopric

The large diocese of the medieval bishops was, until 1559, much larger than the princedom which was in their possession. However, the princely domain was gradually enlarged by donations and by acquisitions. In the 10th century, the bishops received secular lordship over the county of Huy, which lay within of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. Bishop Notger (972–1008) and his successors are thus referred to as princes within the

. This situation continued until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, and throughout that period of nearly eight centuries the Prince-Bishopric of Liège succeeded in maintaining a level of autonomy, though it remained under the emperor. This virtual independence was owed largely to the ability of its bishops, who on several occasions played an important part in international politics, being strategically positioned between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Throughout the Middle Ages, the prince-bishopric was further expanded with the lordship of Bouillon in 1096 (ceded to France in 1678), the acquisition of the county of Loon (french: Looz) in 1366 and the county of Horne in 1568. Notger, the founder of the principality, also rebuilt the cathedral of St Lambert, as well as the episcopal palace. He was also involved in other building activities in the city, which flourished under his rule (churches of St Paul, St. John the Evangelist, Sainte-Croix and St Denis). This bishop also strengthened the parochial organization of the city. He was one of the first church leaders to spread the observance of All Souls' Day, which he authorized for his diocese. Under Notger's administration, following up on the work of Heraclius, educational institutions in Liège flourished. With these two bishops (and Wazo) "The schools of Liège were, in fact, at that time one of the brightest literary foci of the period". In the 11th century the city was indeed known as the ''Athens of the North''. "Liège for more than a century occupied among the nations a position in regard to science which it has never recovered". Subsequent bishops, Balderic of Looz (1008–18), Wolbodo (1018–21), Durandus (1021–25), Reginard (1025–38), Nitard (1038–42), the learned Wazo, and Theoduin (1048–75), valiantly sustained the heritage of Notger. The schools formed many brilliant scholars, and gave the Catholic Church popes Stephen IX and Nicholas II. The diocese also supplied the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

with a number of important doctors —

William of Saint-Thierry William of Saint-Thierry, O. Cist (French: ''Guillaume de Saint-Thierry''; Latin: ''Guillelmus S. Theodorici''; 1075/80/85–1148) was a twelfth-century Benedictine, theologian and mystic from Liège who became abbot of Saint-Thierry in France, ...

Gerard of Liège Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

and Godfrey of Fontaines. Alger of Liège (1055–1131) was an important intellectual of the period. He was first appointed deacon of church of St Bartholomew and finally retired at the monastery of

Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , ...

. In the reign of Henry of Verdun (1075–91) a tribunal was instituted (') to prevent war and enforce the Peace of God. Otbert (1091–1119) increased the territory of the principality by purchasing the Lordship of Bouillon. He remained faithful to emperor Henry IV, who died as his guest. Henry of Namur (1119–21) was venerated as a martyr. During the administration of

Alexander of Juliers Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Ale ...

(1128–34) the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

and

St Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

visited Liège. The episcopate of

Raoul of Zachringen __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul Berger, American legal scholar * Raoul Bova, Italian actor * Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, di ...

was marked by the preaching of the reformer Lambert le Bègue, who is credited with founding the Béguines. Albert of Louvain was elected Bishop of Liège in 1191, but Emperor Henry VI, on the pretext that the election was doubtful, gave the see to Lothair of Hochstadt. Albero's election was confirmed by the pope but in 1192, shortly after he took office, he was assassinated by three German knights at

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

. It is probable that the emperor was privy to this murder but Albero was canonized. In 1195, Albert de Cuyck (1195–1200) formally recognized the

political franchise Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

of the people of Liège. During the 12th century, the cathedral chapter, along with the bishop, assumed a more important role in the history of the principality. The struggles between the upper and lower classes, in which the prince-bishops frequently intervened, developed through the 13th and 14th centuries, and culminate in the 15th century in the pillage and destruction of the episcopal city. In the reign of Robert of Thourotte (1240–46), Saint Juliana — a nun of

Cornillon Abbey Mont Cornillon Abbey (''L'Abbaye du Mont-Cornillon'' in French language, French) was a Premonstratensian monastery which occupied a site in Wallonia close to Liège, Belgium. In 1288 the abbey having moved to a new location, it became known as Beau ...

— was led by certain visions to the project of having a feast established in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. After much hesitation, the bishop approved of her idea but death prevented the institution of the feast. The completion of the work was left to a former prior of the Dominicans in Liège, Hugh of Saint-Cher, who returned to the city as papal legate. In 1252 Hugh made the feast of the Blessed Sacrament an obligation throughout his diocese. John of Troyes, who, after having been archdeacon at Liège, was elected pope as

Urban IV Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...

, encouraged the observance of the feast of Corpus Christi in the whole Church. Another archdeacon of Liège became pope under the name Gregory X and deposed the unworthy Henry of

Gueldres The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in p ...

(1247–74). The

Peace of Fexhe Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, signed in 1316 during the reign of Adolph II de la Marck (1313–44), regulated the relations between the prince-bishop and his subjects. Nevertheless, internal discord continued and the episcopate of Arnold of Horne (1378–89) was marked by the triumph of the popular party. In 1366, the county of Loon was annexed to the bishopric.

Burgundian and Habsburg influence

Upon the death of

Louis of Male Louis II ( nl, Lodewijk van Male; french: Louis II de Flandre) (25 October 1330, Male – 30 January 1384, Lille), also known as Louis of Male, a member of the House of Dampierre, was Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel from 1346 as wel ...

, count of Flanders, in 1384, the Low Countries began their unification within the

Burgundian Netherlands In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and ...

. Though the principality was still nominally independent, the Dukes of Burgundy have had an increasing influence on its government. Louis of Bourbon (1456–82) was placed on the throne of Liège by the political machinations of

Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonge ...

. The population resisted Burgundian rule leading to the Liège Wars, the destruction of Dinant in 1466, and of Liège in 1468 by Charles the Bold, marking the ending of democratic ascendancy in the principality. Charles V completed the union of the

in the 1540s, and unofficially also controlled the principality. He nominated Érard de La Marck (1505–38) who brought a period of restoration. Erard was an enlightened protector of the arts. It was he who commenced the struggle against the Protestant reformers, which his successors carried forth, especially Gerard of Groesbeeck (1564–80). With the object of assisting in this struggle, Paul IV, by

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species '' Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, incl ...

(', 12 May 1559), created new bishoprics in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. The new bishoprics were created largely at the expense of the diocese of Liège; many of its parishes were given to the dioceses of Roermond,

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

, and Namur, or were added to the existing dioceses of

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

and Antwerp. The number of deaneries in the diocese of Liège was reduced to 13. Liège formed the last link in the chain of Habsburg allies that made up the so-called Spanish Road, a military corridor between Spanish-controlled Lombardy and the Spanish Netherlands. Completely encircled by Spanish territory, Liège was protected by treaties of neutrality which permitted the passage of Spanish troops through the prince-bishop's territory provided that they spent no more than two nights in one place. The importance of the prince-bishopric to Habsburg military logistics in the

Eighty Years War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Re ...

prompted Spanish intervention foiling a Dutch invasion in 1595. Most of the bishops in the 17th century were foreigners, many of them holding several bishoprics at once. Their frequent absences gave free scope for those feuds of the Chiroux and the Grignoux to which Maximilian Henry of Bavaria ( archbishop of Cologne, 1650–88) put a stop by the Edict of 1681. In the middle of the 18th century the ideas of the French encyclopedists began to be received at Liège; Bishop de Velbrück (1772–84), encouraged their propagation and thus prepared the way for the 1789 Liège Revolution. Partially connected with the French Revolution, a protest against the absolutist rule of prince bishop

César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck or Hoensbroech (28 August 1724 – 3 June 1792) was a German ecclesiastic of the Van Hoensbroeck family, most notable as prince-bishop of Liège from 1784 to 1792, in which post he was nicknamed the "re ...

developed into the Liège Revolution. At the beginning of 1791, the revolution was crushed by troops on the orders of the Holy Roman Empire. The prince-bishopric was dissolved in 1795, when it was annexed by

. Its territory was divided amongst the départements of Meuse-Inférieure, Ourthe, and Sambre-et-Meuse.

Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:820 height:auto barincrement:45 PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:20 top:2 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:grid1 value:gray(0.83) id:grid2 value:gray(0.92) id:Timeperiod value:red id:Timeperiod2 value:rgb(0.86,0.56,0.56) id:gris value:gray(0.7) id:noir value:black id:guerre value:red id:blanc value:white Period = from:700 till:2010 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:100 start:700 gridcolor:grid1 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:50 start:1050 gridcolor:grid2 AlignBars = justify BackgroundColors = canvas:canvas bars:canvas BarData= bar:Timeperiod barset:Timeperiod2 PlotData= width:20 fontsize:M textcolor:noir align:center # Epochs bar:Timeperiod color:Timeperiod shift:(0,0) from:start till:end color:gris # Arrière plan from:720 till:985 text: "Bishopric" color:yellow shift:(0,-5) from:985 till:1789 text: "Prince-Bishopric" color:Timeperiod2 shift:(0,-5) from:1789 till:1795 color:red from:1795 till:1815 color:blue from:1815 till:1830 color:orange from:1830 till:end text: "Belgium" color:Timeperiod2 shift:(0,-5) # Events #alignment → width:25 fontsize:S textcolor:black anchor:from align:left color:noir barset:Timeperiod2 from:705 till:705 text:"705 ~

St Lambert Lambert of Maastricht, commonly referred to as Saint Lambert ( la, Lambertus; Middle Dutch: ''Sint-Lambrecht''; li, Lambaer, Baer, Bert(us); 636 – c. 705 AD) was the bishop of Maastricht-Liège ( Tongeren) from about 670 until his death. L ...

killed in Liège" shift:(2,3) from:722 till:722 text:"722 ~

St Hubert Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he was ...

transfers the seat of the ~Bishopric of Tongeren-Maastricht to Liège" shift:(2,3) from:747 till:747 text:"ca 747 ~

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...

born close to Liège" shift:(2,3) #alignment → from:985 till:985 text:"985 ~Creation of Principality" shift:(2,3) from:1366 till:1366 text:"1366 ~ County of Loon acquired" shift:(2,3) #alignment ← from:1568 till:1568 text:"1568 ~ County of Horne acquired" shift:(2,3) barset:break #alignment ← width:25 fontsize:S textcolor:black anchor:from align:right color:noir from:1789 till:1795 text:"1789–95 ~ Liège Revolution" shift:(0,0) color:red from:1795 till:1815 text:"1795–1815 ~

French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, wh ...

" shift:(0,0) color:blue from:1815 till:1830 text:"1815–30 ~ Dutch government" shift:(0,0) color:orange from:1830 till:1830 text:"1830 ~

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. ...

" shift:(0,0) color:red

Notable people

* Jean de Chokier de Surlet (1571-1656), canon lawyer and political writer

Gallery

Notes

References

Article Liège of the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910)

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege, 985 Bishopric 980s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1795 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century disestablishments in the Southern Netherlands States and territories established in the 980s Former polities in the Netherlands Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle 980 establishments Former monarchies of Europe