Georges-Louis de Berghes (1662–1743) was the 94th prince-bishop of Liège.

Life

De Berghes was born into the old

House of Glymes The House of Glymes was a noble house of Belgium, of descendants of a bastard branch of the Dukes of Brabant. Glymes or Glimes is a municipality of Incourt. Their descendants of the branch of Grimberghen are styled as the Prince de Grimberghen ...

on 5 September 1662, the son of Eugene de Berghes, 2nd Count of Grimberghen, brother of

Philippe François de Berghes, 1st Prince of Grimberghen Philippe François de Berghes (1646–1704) was a diplomat and military commander in the Spanish Netherlands and became the first bearer of the title of prince of Grimberghen. Family He was born into the House of Glymes on 17 September 1646, t ...

and a nephew of Bishop

Alphonse de Berghes Alphonse or Alfons, Count de Berghes – Glymes (1624 – 7 June 1689) was Archbishop of Mechelen, Belgium. He was appointed 7th Archbishop in 1670. Family Alphonse was born in Brussels, and was a member of the important house of Glymes, his ...

. Embarking on a military career, he became a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry in the service of the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

. At the age of thirty-five he left the military to enter the priesthood, and in 1700 was appointed

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Saint Lambert's Cathedral, Liège St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège (or in full, the Cathedral of Our Lady and St. Lambert; french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Lambert) was the cathedral of Liège, Belgium, until 1794, when its destruction began. This enormous Gothic cat ...

. In 1724 he was elected to succeed

Joseph Clemens of Bavaria Joseph Clemens of Bavaria (german: Joseph Clemens von Bayern) (5 December 1671 – 12 November 1723) was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1688 to 1723. Biography The third son of Ferdinand M ...

as prince-bishop. As prince-bishop he restored the residence at

Seraing Seraing (; wa, Serè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Sai ...

as a summer palace, and instituted the death penalty for counterfeiting. He prohibited the priests of the diocese from entering inns when not themselves on journeys. He died in Liège on 5 December 1743. As the last of his line, he left his considerable fortune to the poor of Liège. His executors, disappointing expectations of a bonanza, turned this into a fund, the interest on which was paid out to the poor annually.

Alphonse Le Roy Alphonse Le Roy (1822–1896) was a professor at the University of Liège, in Belgium, who contributed over 150 entries to the ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''. Life Le Roy was born in Liège on 28 July 1822, the only son of Louis-Nicolas Le R ...

, "Berghes (Georges-Louis de)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
vol. 2
(Brussels, 1868), 240-247.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berghes, Georges-Louis 1662 births 1743 deaths Prince-Bishops of Liège Glymes family Canons (priests)