Liège College, founded 1605, was a college for the more academically inclined students of theology from the Diocesan Seminary of Liège to study at the University of Leuven. The land for the foundation was purchased in 1602 at the request of

Ernest of Bavaria Wittelsbach- Hapsburg aristocrat Ernest of Bavaria () (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-Elector-Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne and, as such, Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Westphalia, from 158 ...

prince-bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

. The official foundation took place on 1 July 1605, with Jan Clarius as college president and three resident students. By 1671 the college consisted of a building on the Muntstraat, a chapel, a large garden and an additional house. The college was closed in 1797 and the buildings sold in 1806. The parts of the original buildings that survive have been protected since 1974 and now house a number of restaurants. What had been the college garden is now the Jozef Vounckplein.

References

{{coord missing, Belgium Old University of Leuven colleges 17th-century establishments in the Habsburg Netherlands Educational institutions established in the 1600s Protected heritage sites in Belgium 1605 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire