The Republic of Liège () was a short-lived state centred on the town of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

in modern-day

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The republic was created in August 1789 after the Liège Revolution led to the destruction of the earlier ecclesiastical state which controlled the territory, the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic 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 ...

. It coexisted with the even more short-lived revolutionary state, the

United States of Belgium The United Belgian States ( or '; ; ), also known as the United States of Belgium, was a short-lived confederation, confederal republic in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) established under the Brabant Revolution. It existed from Jan ...

, created by the

Brabant Revolution The Brabant Revolution or Brabantine Revolution (, ), sometimes referred to as the Belgian Revolution of 1789–1790 in older writing, was an armed revolution, insurrection that occurred in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) between O ...

of 1789, to the north. By 1791, the forces of the republic had been defeated by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n and Austrian forces and the Prince-Bishopric was restored.

Revolution

On 18 August 1789, Jean-Nicolas Bassenge and other democrats arrived at the Hôtel de Ville of Liège. They demanded the dismissal of current magistrates in favour of two popular ''

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

s'': Jacques-Joseph Fabry and Jean-Remy de Chestret. The citadel of Saint Walburge fell into the hands of the rebels. The

Prince-Bishop 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 ...

, César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck, was brought back from his Summer Palace in

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

to ratify the nomination of the new officials and to abolish the unpopular ''Règlement de 1684''. Several days later, de Hoensbroeck fled to the city of

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

in modern Germany. The

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

condemned the Liège revolution and demanded the restoration of the ''

ancien régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'' in the prince-bishopric. The radical mood in Liège led to the proclamation of a republic, three years before France proclaimed itself a republic.

Law

One of the first acts of the republic was the introduction of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of Franchimont" on 16 September 1789. The document was heavily influenced by the French

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Decl ...

introduced in August 1789 but contained several important differences: *Article 3: Sovereignty resides in the people nd not the nation*Article 10: Every citizen has freedom of thought and opinion ithout restriction*Article 17 of the French declaration concerning property is absent because civil and legal rights in Liège relative to property had been in force since 1196.

External links

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of Franchimont
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege, Republic of Former republics Former unrecognized countries Republic of Liège 1789 establishments in Europe 1791 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1789 States and territories disestablished in 1791

Revolution

Law

Further reading

External links