Revolution Liégeoise
Encyclopedia
The Liège Revolution is a period of time extending from 1789 to 1795 and eventually led to the abolition of the Bishopric of Liège
, after eight centuries of existence as an independent state.
, the Liège Revolution mirrored the French Revolution
or even formed part of it. Both revolutions began in 1789 and in Hasquin's interpretation the Liège Revolution continued after the prince-bishop's temporary return - he sees a second phase with the entry of French revolutionary troops into Liège in 1792, and a third phase in 1794 with the French's second return. In this interpretation the Liège Revolution only ended in 1795 with the disappearance of the principality and its annexation by France. During this phase the Revolution had several extreme episodes, such as the demolition of the cathédrale Saint-Lambert by the city's revolutionaries, but also by positive episodes - the principality's inhabitants were given universal male suffrage for the first time and also voted in a plebiscite for the French annexation.
Other historians see the revolution as occurring during the prince-bishop's absence between his departure on the night of 26–27 August 1789 and his return on 12 February 1791. In this interpretation, the Liège Revolution was a counterpart to the Brabant Revolution
in the Austrian Netherlands, which was crushed. Even so, this interpretation carries a contradiction - the Liège Revolution and French Revolution both aimed to ask deeply progressive questions about the political and social order, whereas the Brabant Revolution hinged on contesting and rejecting the progressive reforms of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
. The Liège Revolution led to France's annexation of the Principality, meaning that its inhabitants took no part in the Brabant Revolution or the United States of Belgium
.
, in principal the prince-bishop of Liège had to govern the principality in agreement with the three estates - the first estate (upper clergy and canons of the cathédrale Saint-Lambert), the noble estate (15 families, intended to represent the whole countryside), and the third estate (representing the middle classes and artisans organised by 32 crafts.
The election of mayors and a council was made by the prince and the 32 crafts. These were split into 16 chambers, whose members were appointed for life, forming an electoral body. These chambers were made up of 20 nobles, patricians and 'rentiers', 10 notable merchants and 6 artisans. The commissioners of the craftsmen were themselves appointed by 28 commissioners, of whom 12 were appointed by the prince-bishop and 16 by the parishes. The third estate also included the representatives of the principality's 'bonnes villes', elected by 567 electors. Formed by the mayors of all these cities, they were almost completely obedient to the prince-bishop and the first estate and had completely lost the partial power they had from the 14th to 17th centuries. The lower clergy, minor nobility, industrial middle classes, workers and peasants had a very limited part in public affairs, whilst the working classes' position was unenviable, with high poverty and unemployment causing rising support for political changes and social justice.
's account of Liège in the Encyclopédie states:
On the other side, Voltaire
's criticism of Liège's government was sharp, writing in the Idée républicaines par un membre d’un corps, critique du Contrat social about Notker of Liège
, the principality's founder :
(1772-1784) became head of an ecclesiastical principality that had become particularly backward in its intellectual life and its scientific and literary studies. He showed himself favourable to philosophers and the new ideas of the era. He acted as an enlightened despot like his contemporaries Frederick II of Prussia
, Catherine II of Russia
and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
. Like them, he did not lack for ideas, giving his imprimatur
to philosophical writers banned from publication in France such as the Journal encyclopédique, on the condition that one copy of each book be deposited in Liège library.
To encourage a taste for arts, letters and sciences, he set up a public academy of painting, sculpture and engraving in 1774. In 1779 he founded the "Société libre d'Émulation" and the Société littéraire de Liège
, as places for Liège's intelligentsia to meet each other and foreign scholars - they became a hotbed for many later leaders of the revolution. The societies' activities included presentations of scientists', artists' and poets' works and discoveries. However, a lack of money and power meant that these projects did not always succeed - the principality showed a certain lethargy and narrowness of vision at this era which prevented real progress.
Velbrück's attempts to combat social problems like poverty or class inequality were many, but were unable to make a real effect on the deplorable situation. He tried to make changes in many areas, including public health, by setting up the Hôpital général Saint-Léonard to receive and assist the needy, a free midwifery course and establishments to deal with disease. He systematically gave the last rites to those condemned to death. At the start of his reign, Velbrück sought to put more equality into the tax system, thinking that all taxation had only one purpose, the public good - he failed to push this through, due to opposition from the privileged orders.
Velbrück also reformed education, making it accessible to all, regardless of gender or class, but setting up free charity schools for poor children and the 'Plan d'Education pour la Jeunesse du Pays de Liège', an education plan for the principality. He wanted to radically change the recently-suppressed Jesuit schools' educational methods, orienting their teaching towards maths and the physical sciences, to provide its students with useful objectives for their critical judgement. He also planned to build a large public library.
, hostile to any reform, whose authoritarian rule fanned the flames of revolution. He tried to roll back Velbruck's reforms and reestablish the privileges of the clergy and nobility, having no sympathy for the liberal aspirations of the third estate or for his people's sufferings. He made himself highly unpopular and the principality's inhabitants nicknamed him 'the tyrant of Seraing
' after the prince-bishops' summer residence.
The principality was also undergoing a strong demographic change. Its population rose about 60% between 1700 and 1785, to 600,000 people (including 60,000 in the city of Liège itself, equal to Antwerp and Ghent
and only a little less than Brussels
). The number of young people was particularly high, a factor in the later revolution. The principality's middle classes violently opposed Hoensbroeck's regime, criticising his system as unrepresentative and parasitic, particularly in exempting the nobility and upper clergy from taxation. In 1787, one of the middle class's leaders, Fabry, proposed the abolition of indirect taxation affecting the middle classes and the poor, proposing instead that a tax on financiers' fortunes be set up. He also denounced the mismanagement of the city, a quarter of whose revenues were used to pay off debt.
Moreover the middle classes opposed the third estate's submission to the prince-bishop. Their political programme proposed the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, as emerges from a text by Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
, a future revolutionary:
For their part, despite benefitting from their tax exemption, the nobles also began opposing the prince-bishop and upper clergy, since they had been practically cut off from power. Revolutionary proclamations began to circulate, including under the titles:
On the eve of the revolution both town and country dwellers were suffering from an economic crisis. The price of bread was rising and the cities saw high unemployment. In Verviers
, where 25% of the population was out of work, the situation had become a catastrophe. In the countryside, the clergy and peasant communities engaged in lawsuits with each other for not paying their tithe
s to maintain churches, schools and cemeteries - J. Lejeune states that 10% to 11% of labour output was given in tithes to the chapters and abbeys of Liège
and Huy
. The peasants also sought redress against the nobility, who required maintenance money, and against the middle classes, who appropriated common land. All classes were also disgusted by the export of grain, which worsened the famine in the principality - in 1787-1788 75% of the principality's grain was exported.
Under the rule of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
, the Austrian Netherlands which bordered Liège underwent several reforms seeking to weaken the clergy's control on the state. In 1781 an edict of tolerance ended Catholicism's status as state religion and allowed Protestants and Jews to worship freely and work in civil service and government posts. In 1782 an imperial ordnance suppressing "useless religious congregations" (i.e. contemplative orders) was promulgated, reasserting state control over the church. The clergy could now no longer criticise the state and bishops had to take a civil oath. Joseph also allowed civil marriage and divorce and abolished heresy as a crime, establishing liberty of conscience and allowing his subjects to attend non-Catholic schools.
The emperor's own subjects did not like these reforms and began the Brabant Revolution
in 1787, partly in opposition to the reforms and partly to the authoritarian fashion in which they had been imposed. Yet in the Principality of Liège these reforms were much discussed, with its middle classes wanting the same.
saw great success as a travel destination, seeing princes and crowned heads arrive there every serious. High-class 'bobelins' came to its twenty springs seeking a cure from England, France, the Netherlands, Prussia and Italy and Spa became known as the 'café de l'Europe'. Among the town's attractions were its gambling houses.
In June 1787 Hoensbroeck sent two hundred men and two canons to the town of Spa
to close down a gaming house. This event and the long trial which followed were the pretext for a new challenge to princely power, with the French Revolution's outbreak in Paris in July 1789 providing the final ignition for the revolution in Liège. The La Redoute assembly rooms opened there in 1763 as Europe's first modern casino, and in competition Spa's 'Waux-Hall' (named after Vauxhall Gardens
near London) opened its doors in 1770 despite the exclusive patent banning gambling which it had initially been granted by prince-bishop John Theodore of Bavaria. In 1774 the two gambling houses stopped competing and merged, participating in Spa's naming as the Café de l'Europe in 1781.
A third house was built in 1785, founded by the nobleman Noel-Joseph Levoz, putting privilege in question again. This arrival caused political discussions then criticism of the Ancien Régime. Levoz accused his competitors' privileges as illegal and took the affair before the Tribunal if the Twelve, then before the des XXII]], then before the Reichskammergericht at Wetzlar. In June 1787 Hoensbroeck sent 200 men and two canons to Spa to shut down Levoz's gambling house. This event, and the long trial which resulted, were the pretext for a rise in opposition to Hoensbroeck, then the outbreak of the French Revolution
in July 1789 provided the final trigger for Liège's own revolution.
and other democrats met at the hôtel de ville, demanding the magistrates' dismissal and their replacement with the popular mayors Jacques-Joseph Fabry and Jean-Remy de Chestret. The citadel of Sainte-Walburge fell to the insurgents and Hoensbroeck was dragged from his summer palace at Seraing to ratify the election of the new aediles and to abolish the 1684 ruling. However, this was only a ruse and some days later the prince-bishop fled to Trier
in Germany. The Holy Roman Empire
's tribunal condemned the Liège Revolution and ordered the re-imposition of the ancien régime in the principality.
Meanwhile, the insurgent nature of the Revolution was such that the principality was abolished and a republic created, two years before France became a republic. The Estates of the former principality prepared a constitution, including equal taxation for all, the election of deputies by the people and freedom of work. A 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de Franchimont' was also adopted on 16 September 1789 - though largely inspired by France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
(voted into law 20 days earlier), it did contain some significant differences:
From November 1789 to April 1790 the Prussians occupied the city of Liège
and other major towns in the principality, having been put in charge of mediating between the revolutionaries and the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. However, it proved impossible to reconcile the people's liberal aspirations with the stubborn authoritarianism of the still-exiled Hoensbroeck. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
recaptured the Austrian Netherlands and then intervened to reestablish episcopal power in its entirety.
, bringing war with the other European powers, who wished to restore the French monarchy. That war soon spread into what is now Belgium, including Liège.
, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians in the battle of Jemappes
- he then entered Liège on 28 November, amidst popular enthusiasm (though the Flemish towns were more muted in their enthusiasm. The Liège liberals exiled by Hoensbroeck's return reentered the city with the French army and François-Antoine-Marie de Méan fled. More important than these shows of enthusiasm, however, was the effective contribution the French now gained for the first time from the population and its leaders, such as the establishment of a new assembly by universal suffrage.
Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
was put in charge of writing a report, which was then discussed, approved and distributed and which formed the basis on which the municipality of Liège went to the vote. According to him, the former principality of Liège had decided to split from the Holy Roman Empire
and thus had no other solution available but to merge with France. In effect in 1792, it was unthinkable that the principality remain independent. The revolutionaries no longer wanted the Ancien Régime and the Duchy of Brabant
were not yet complete - if Liège wanted to avoid being crushed by the Austrians, uniting with France was her only option. The report also gave the conditions on which the municipality voted for a merger.
The elections were open to all men who had reached the age of 18. By voter numbers, elections in the former principality of Liège seem to have been freer and more important than in the Austrian Netherlands. In the city of Liège
9700 voters registered, representing 50% of the effective foreseeable electorate. There were 40 'no' votes, 748 votes for a conditional merger, 1548 for a merger pure and simple, and the others for a merger with some of the conditions. Notable features are the massive 'yes' vote and the considerable electoral participation, when participation was not compulsory. Even so, it must be remembered that many opponents of the move preferred to abstain from the vote. This was compared to 3,000 voters in Mons and 2,000 in Ghent during the elections in the former Austrian Netherlands.
It could be said that Liège's 1793 elections were representative of opinion in the principality, though this derived as much from the historic circumstances of the conflicts between the Ancien Régime and the Republic as it did to Liège's marked Francophilia. The 1789 Liège revolution explains the disagreement between the inhabitants of Liège and their French occupiers and the differences in the treatment of its inhabitants by the French. The Brabant Revolution
was against the reforming despotism of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
, where that in Liège and that in France itself were both aimed at profoundly modifying the social and political system of the Ancien Régime.
In March the French army was beaten at Neerwinden
. The Austrians then reinstated the prince-bishop, but this restoration was to prove short-lived. On 26 June 1794 the French Republican troops defeated the Austrians at Fleurus
. On 27 July 1794 the Austrian troops left Liège after bombarding and burning the Amercœur district. The last prince-bishop, François-Antoine-Marie de Méan, went into exile. The battle of Sprimont
on 17 September at Fontin, between Esneux
and Aywaille
, was the last battle before the former principality was finally conquered. One of the sides of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège
cycling course , La Redoute, takes its name from a fortified position involved in this battle.
. That second occupation ended in the rapid integration of the principality's Walloon
territories into France itself, which lasted from 1795 until 1814.
In 1795, the National Convention
decreed Liège's annexation following a vote for such action by the inhabitants of Liége, splitting it into three departments called Ourthe, Meuse-Inférieure
and Sambre-et-Meuse
. This meant Liége disappeared as a single entity, though the three new departments were loyal to France, unlike the other 'départements réunis'. This action was codified in 1801 by the Concordat of 1801
between Bonaparte
and pope Pius VII
. Bonaparte visited Liège in 1803, on which occasion Ingres
painted a portrait of him (entitled Bonaparte, First Consul
) to offer to the city. Baron Micoud d'Umons became prefect of Ourthe in 1806 and remained so until 1814 and the end of the annexation. After Napoleon's defeat by the Sixth Coalition
, the Coalition powers decided at the Congress of Vienna
to award Ourthe to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
.
Bishopric of Liège
The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium. It acquired its status as a prince-bishopric between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notger, who had been the bishop of Liege since 972, acquired the status of Prince-Bishop...
, after eight centuries of existence as an independent state.
Historiography
According to Hervé HasquinHervé Hasquin
Hervé Hasquin is a Belgian university professor, historian and politician.-References:*http://www.academieroyale.be/cgi?usr=fyfua8gbce&lg=fr&pag=690&tab=2&rec=13&frm=0&par=secorig593&id=5161&flux=2659797...
, the Liège Revolution mirrored the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
or even formed part of it. Both revolutions began in 1789 and in Hasquin's interpretation the Liège Revolution continued after the prince-bishop's temporary return - he sees a second phase with the entry of French revolutionary troops into Liège in 1792, and a third phase in 1794 with the French's second return. In this interpretation the Liège Revolution only ended in 1795 with the disappearance of the principality and its annexation by France. During this phase the Revolution had several extreme episodes, such as the demolition of the cathédrale Saint-Lambert by the city's revolutionaries, but also by positive episodes - the principality's inhabitants were given universal male suffrage for the first time and also voted in a plebiscite for the French annexation.
Other historians see the revolution as occurring during the prince-bishop's absence between his departure on the night of 26–27 August 1789 and his return on 12 February 1791. In this interpretation, the Liège Revolution was a counterpart to the Brabant Revolution
Brabant Revolution
The Brabant Revolution took place between January 1789 and December 1790, when a popular revolt broke in the Austrian Netherlands against the unpopular reforms of the Emperor Joseph II...
in the Austrian Netherlands, which was crushed. Even so, this interpretation carries a contradiction - the Liège Revolution and French Revolution both aimed to ask deeply progressive questions about the political and social order, whereas the Brabant Revolution hinged on contesting and rejecting the progressive reforms of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
. The Liège Revolution led to France's annexation of the Principality, meaning that its inhabitants took no part in the Brabant Revolution or the United States of Belgium
United States of Belgium
The United States of Belgium, part of Brabant.In October, he invaded Brabant and captured Turnhout, defeating the Austrians in the Battle of Turnhout on October 27. Ghent was taken on November 13, and on November 17 the imperial regents Albert of Saxony and Archduchess Maria Christina fled Brussels...
.
Timeline
The Liège Revolution was a troubled period - in 6 years the city's inhabitants moved from an episcopal regime to French rule, via a short-lived Liège Republic and several restorations of episcopal rule. To better understand the Revolution, it is thus necessary to give a timeline:- 1772 : VelbrückFrançois-Charles de VelbrückFrançois Charles de Velbrück was a German ecclesiastic. He was prince bishop of Liege from 16 February 1772 to 1784.-Life:...
is made prince-bishop of Liège, he encourages the arts and new ideas until his death in 1784. - 1784 : HoensbroeckCésar-Constantin-François de HoensbroeckCésar-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck or Hoensbroech was a German ecclesiastic of the Van Hoensbroeck family, most notable as prince bishop of Liege from 1784 to 1792, in which post he was nicknamed the "bourreau roux" or "red executioner".-Life:The son of Ulric Antoine de Hoensbroeck...
replaces Velbrück as prince-bishop, he is much more authoritarian and reactionary than his predecessor. - 1789 : Revolution breaks out simultaneously in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and LiègeLiègeLiège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
. Hoensbroeck flees to Germany and the Liège Republic is proclaimed. - 1791 : First restoration - the Austrian army puts Hoensbroeck back in power and most supporters of the Republic go into exile in Paris.
- 1792 : Hoensbroeck dies and is replaced by François-Antoine-Marie de Méan who has to make a quick escape after the battle of JemappesBattle of JemappesThe Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. General Charles François Dumouriez, in command of the French Revolutionary Army, defeated the greatly outnumbered Austrian army of Field Marshal Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his second-in-command...
, which enables French troops under Dumouriez to take control of the Principality of Liège and the Austrian Netherlands. - 1793 : The citizens of Liège vote for the Principality to be annexed by France, but the Austrians defeat the French at the Battle of NeerwindenBattle of Neerwinden (1793)The Battle of Neerwinden took place on near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under General Dumouriez...
and put a prince-bishop back in charge of Liège. - 1794 : In the Battle of FleurusBattle of Fleurus (1794)In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
and battle of SprimontBattle of SprimontThe battle of Sprimont, battle of Esneux or battle of the Ourthe was a battle between French Republican and Austrian troops on the plateau between the valleys of the Vesdre, the Ourthe and the Amblève, 20 km to the south of Liège...
, the French recapture the Principality. - 1795 : The French National Convention endorses the Principality's incorporation into France.
Political functioning of the Principality
Since the Ruling of 1684 put in place by Maximilian Henry of BavariaMaximilian Henry of Bavaria
thumb|154 px|Maximilian Heinrich of BavariaMaximilian Henry of Bavaria was the third son and fourth child of Albert VI, landgrave of Leuchtenberg and his wife, Mechthilde von Leuchtenberg. In 1650, he was named Archbishop of Cologne, Bishop of Hildesheim and Bishop of Liège succeeding his uncle,...
, in principal the prince-bishop of Liège had to govern the principality in agreement with the three estates - the first estate (upper clergy and canons of the cathédrale Saint-Lambert), the noble estate (15 families, intended to represent the whole countryside), and the third estate (representing the middle classes and artisans organised by 32 crafts.
The election of mayors and a council was made by the prince and the 32 crafts. These were split into 16 chambers, whose members were appointed for life, forming an electoral body. These chambers were made up of 20 nobles, patricians and 'rentiers', 10 notable merchants and 6 artisans. The commissioners of the craftsmen were themselves appointed by 28 commissioners, of whom 12 were appointed by the prince-bishop and 16 by the parishes. The third estate also included the representatives of the principality's 'bonnes villes', elected by 567 electors. Formed by the mayors of all these cities, they were almost completely obedient to the prince-bishop and the first estate and had completely lost the partial power they had from the 14th to 17th centuries. The lower clergy, minor nobility, industrial middle classes, workers and peasants had a very limited part in public affairs, whilst the working classes' position was unenviable, with high poverty and unemployment causing rising support for political changes and social justice.
Enlightenment views on Liège
18th century philosophers were far from unanimous in their opinion of the Principality of Liège. Some saw in the functioning of its state all the characteristics of a republic, while others saw the bishop's power as that of a tyrant. The chevalier de JaucourtLouis de Jaucourt
Chevalier Louis de Jaucourt was a French scholar and the most prolific contributor to the Encyclopédie. He wrote about 18,000 articles on subjects including physiology, chemistry, botany, pathology, and political history, or about 25% of the entire encyclopedia, all done voluntarily...
's account of Liège in the Encyclopédie states:
On the other side, Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
's criticism of Liège's government was sharp, writing in the Idée républicaines par un membre d’un corps, critique du Contrat social about Notker of Liège
Notker of Liège
Notker of Liège was a Benedictine monk, bishop and first prince-bishop of the Bishopric of Liège with a capital Liège/Lüttich, ....
, the principality's founder :
Velbruck : a first step towards the Enlightenment
On his election as prince-bishop in 1772, the pro-Enlightenment François-Charles de VelbruckFrançois-Charles de Velbrück
François Charles de Velbrück was a German ecclesiastic. He was prince bishop of Liege from 16 February 1772 to 1784.-Life:...
(1772-1784) became head of an ecclesiastical principality that had become particularly backward in its intellectual life and its scientific and literary studies. He showed himself favourable to philosophers and the new ideas of the era. He acted as an enlightened despot like his contemporaries Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
, Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
. Like them, he did not lack for ideas, giving his imprimatur
Imprimatur
An imprimatur is, in the proper sense, a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement.-Catholic Church:...
to philosophical writers banned from publication in France such as the Journal encyclopédique, on the condition that one copy of each book be deposited in Liège library.
To encourage a taste for arts, letters and sciences, he set up a public academy of painting, sculpture and engraving in 1774. In 1779 he founded the "Société libre d'Émulation" and the Société littéraire de Liège
Société littéraire de Liège
The Société littéraire de Liège was a literary society in Liège.It was set up on 5 April 1779 by François-Charles de Velbrück during his reign as prince bishop of Liege...
, as places for Liège's intelligentsia to meet each other and foreign scholars - they became a hotbed for many later leaders of the revolution. The societies' activities included presentations of scientists', artists' and poets' works and discoveries. However, a lack of money and power meant that these projects did not always succeed - the principality showed a certain lethargy and narrowness of vision at this era which prevented real progress.
Velbrück's attempts to combat social problems like poverty or class inequality were many, but were unable to make a real effect on the deplorable situation. He tried to make changes in many areas, including public health, by setting up the Hôpital général Saint-Léonard to receive and assist the needy, a free midwifery course and establishments to deal with disease. He systematically gave the last rites to those condemned to death. At the start of his reign, Velbrück sought to put more equality into the tax system, thinking that all taxation had only one purpose, the public good - he failed to push this through, due to opposition from the privileged orders.
Velbrück also reformed education, making it accessible to all, regardless of gender or class, but setting up free charity schools for poor children and the 'Plan d'Education pour la Jeunesse du Pays de Liège', an education plan for the principality. He wanted to radically change the recently-suppressed Jesuit schools' educational methods, orienting their teaching towards maths and the physical sciences, to provide its students with useful objectives for their critical judgement. He also planned to build a large public library.
Political and economic foment
Velbruck was succeeded as prince bishop in 1784 by César-Constantin-François de HoensbroeckCésar-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck
César-Constantin-François de Hoensbroeck or Hoensbroech was a German ecclesiastic of the Van Hoensbroeck family, most notable as prince bishop of Liege from 1784 to 1792, in which post he was nicknamed the "bourreau roux" or "red executioner".-Life:The son of Ulric Antoine de Hoensbroeck...
, hostile to any reform, whose authoritarian rule fanned the flames of revolution. He tried to roll back Velbruck's reforms and reestablish the privileges of the clergy and nobility, having no sympathy for the liberal aspirations of the third estate or for his people's sufferings. He made himself highly unpopular and the principality's inhabitants nicknamed him 'the tyrant of Seraing
Seraing
Seraing is a Walloon municipality of Belgium in Province of Liege. The municipality of Seraing includes the old communes of Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, and Ougrée. With Liège, Herstal, Saint-Nicolas, Ans, and Flémalle it forms the greater Liège agglomeration...
' after the prince-bishops' summer residence.
The principality was also undergoing a strong demographic change. Its population rose about 60% between 1700 and 1785, to 600,000 people (including 60,000 in the city of Liège itself, equal to Antwerp and Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and only a little less than Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
). The number of young people was particularly high, a factor in the later revolution. The principality's middle classes violently opposed Hoensbroeck's regime, criticising his system as unrepresentative and parasitic, particularly in exempting the nobility and upper clergy from taxation. In 1787, one of the middle class's leaders, Fabry, proposed the abolition of indirect taxation affecting the middle classes and the poor, proposing instead that a tax on financiers' fortunes be set up. He also denounced the mismanagement of the city, a quarter of whose revenues were used to pay off debt.
Moreover the middle classes opposed the third estate's submission to the prince-bishop. Their political programme proposed the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, as emerges from a text by Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
Jean-Nicolas or Nicolas Bassenge was a politician from the Principality of Liège. He was active in the Liège Revolution then the French Revolution.-Youth:...
, a future revolutionary:
For their part, despite benefitting from their tax exemption, the nobles also began opposing the prince-bishop and upper clergy, since they had been practically cut off from power. Revolutionary proclamations began to circulate, including under the titles:
- With ardour, trample down slavery now.
- You shall grant no more tax if you have no representation.
- You shall clearly know the cause and use of these taxes.
- You shall never pay to fatten the lazy.
- You shall form good but simple laws, without deceit.
- As for the clergy, you shall boldly suppress all its useless members.
- And from its hands you shall take back the superfluous goods in the fields.
- You shall irrevocably purge the land of despots.
- Aux gens de loi tu couperas les ongles radicalement.
- Aux maltotiers tu donneras congé radicalement.
- Ton estime tu garderas pour les vertus non pour l’argent.
- Aux dignités tu placeras des gens de bien soigneusement.
- Et sans grâce tu puniras tout pervers indistinctement.
- Ainsi faisant tu détruiras tous les abus absolument.
- Et de l’esclavage tu deviendras heureux et libre assurément. Ainsi soit-il "
On the eve of the revolution both town and country dwellers were suffering from an economic crisis. The price of bread was rising and the cities saw high unemployment. In Verviers
Verviers
Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...
, where 25% of the population was out of work, the situation had become a catastrophe. In the countryside, the clergy and peasant communities engaged in lawsuits with each other for not paying their tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s to maintain churches, schools and cemeteries - J. Lejeune states that 10% to 11% of labour output was given in tithes to the chapters and abbeys of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
and Huy
Huy
Huy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population...
. The peasants also sought redress against the nobility, who required maintenance money, and against the middle classes, who appropriated common land. All classes were also disgusted by the export of grain, which worsened the famine in the principality - in 1787-1788 75% of the principality's grain was exported.
Under the rule of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, the Austrian Netherlands which bordered Liège underwent several reforms seeking to weaken the clergy's control on the state. In 1781 an edict of tolerance ended Catholicism's status as state religion and allowed Protestants and Jews to worship freely and work in civil service and government posts. In 1782 an imperial ordnance suppressing "useless religious congregations" (i.e. contemplative orders) was promulgated, reasserting state control over the church. The clergy could now no longer criticise the state and bishops had to take a civil oath. Joseph also allowed civil marriage and divorce and abolished heresy as a crime, establishing liberty of conscience and allowing his subjects to attend non-Catholic schools.
The emperor's own subjects did not like these reforms and began the Brabant Revolution
Brabant Revolution
The Brabant Revolution took place between January 1789 and December 1790, when a popular revolt broke in the Austrian Netherlands against the unpopular reforms of the Emperor Joseph II...
in 1787, partly in opposition to the reforms and partly to the authoritarian fashion in which they had been imposed. Yet in the Principality of Liège these reforms were much discussed, with its middle classes wanting the same.
The gambling-house at Spa
In the 18th century, especially from 1750 onwards, the spa-town of SpaSpa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
saw great success as a travel destination, seeing princes and crowned heads arrive there every serious. High-class 'bobelins' came to its twenty springs seeking a cure from England, France, the Netherlands, Prussia and Italy and Spa became known as the 'café de l'Europe'. Among the town's attractions were its gambling houses.
In June 1787 Hoensbroeck sent two hundred men and two canons to the town of Spa
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
to close down a gaming house. This event and the long trial which followed were the pretext for a new challenge to princely power, with the French Revolution's outbreak in Paris in July 1789 providing the final ignition for the revolution in Liège. The La Redoute assembly rooms opened there in 1763 as Europe's first modern casino, and in competition Spa's 'Waux-Hall' (named after Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being...
near London) opened its doors in 1770 despite the exclusive patent banning gambling which it had initially been granted by prince-bishop John Theodore of Bavaria. In 1774 the two gambling houses stopped competing and merged, participating in Spa's naming as the Café de l'Europe in 1781.
A third house was built in 1785, founded by the nobleman Noel-Joseph Levoz, putting privilege in question again. This arrival caused political discussions then criticism of the Ancien Régime. Levoz accused his competitors' privileges as illegal and took the affair before the Tribunal if the Twelve, then before the des XXII]], then before the Reichskammergericht at Wetzlar. In June 1787 Hoensbroeck sent 200 men and two canons to Spa to shut down Levoz's gambling house. This event, and the long trial which resulted, were the pretext for a rise in opposition to Hoensbroeck, then the outbreak of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
in July 1789 provided the final trigger for Liège's own revolution.
Revolution (1789-1791)
On 18 August 1789, Jean-Nicolas BassengeJean-Nicolas Bassenge
Jean-Nicolas or Nicolas Bassenge was a politician from the Principality of Liège. He was active in the Liège Revolution then the French Revolution.-Youth:...
and other democrats met at the hôtel de ville, demanding the magistrates' dismissal and their replacement with the popular mayors Jacques-Joseph Fabry and Jean-Remy de Chestret. The citadel of Sainte-Walburge fell to the insurgents and Hoensbroeck was dragged from his summer palace at Seraing to ratify the election of the new aediles and to abolish the 1684 ruling. However, this was only a ruse and some days later the prince-bishop fled to Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
in Germany. The Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
's tribunal condemned the Liège Revolution and ordered the re-imposition of the ancien régime in the principality.
Meanwhile, the insurgent nature of the Revolution was such that the principality was abolished and a republic created, two years before France became a republic. The Estates of the former principality prepared a constitution, including equal taxation for all, the election of deputies by the people and freedom of work. A 'Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de Franchimont' was also adopted on 16 September 1789 - though largely inspired by France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. Influenced by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid...
(voted into law 20 days earlier), it did contain some significant differences:
- Article 3 : Sovereignty resided in the people not the nation
- Article 10 : Every citizen was free in thought and opinions (with no other restrictions)
- Article 17, concerning property, was left out, since the civil and individual rights of the inhabitants of the new republic, including those related to property, had already been sacrosanct since 1196 (Charte d'Albert de Cuyck).
From November 1789 to April 1790 the Prussians occupied the city of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
and other major towns in the principality, having been put in charge of mediating between the revolutionaries and the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. However, it proved impossible to reconcile the people's liberal aspirations with the stubborn authoritarianism of the still-exiled Hoensbroeck. Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
recaptured the Austrian Netherlands and then intervened to reestablish episcopal power in its entirety.
First Restoration (1791-1792)
Liège's volunteer Republican troops (singing the "Valeureux Liégeois" by abbé Ramoux) were clearly unable to contain the Austrian army, which entered Liège on 12 January 1791. Hoensbroeck thus recovered his throne and took several reprisals, confiscating the Liège democrats' goods and properties and forcing most of them to flee to France. It was among these exiles that revolutionary France found its keenest supporters. Hoensbroeck became known by his people as 'the tyrant of Seraing' and his rigours and mistakes from 1791 to 1792 created a state of foment and good conditions for France to take over Liège, which had been a pro-French state since the 15th century and where the Enlightenment had been spread by French publishers such as Pierre Rousseau. Hoensbroeck died on 3 June 1792 and was succeeded by François-Antoine-Marie de Méan. On 21 September 1792 France abolished its monarchyProclamation of the abolition of the monarchy
During the French Revolution, the proclamation of the abolition of the monarchy was a proclamation by the National Convention of France announcing that it had abolished the French monarchy on 21 September 1792.-Prelude:...
, bringing war with the other European powers, who wished to restore the French monarchy. That war soon spread into what is now Belgium, including Liège.
First French period (1792-1793)
On 6 November 1792 the French general DumouriezCharles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life:Dumouriez...
, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians in the battle of Jemappes
Battle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. General Charles François Dumouriez, in command of the French Revolutionary Army, defeated the greatly outnumbered Austrian army of Field Marshal Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his second-in-command...
- he then entered Liège on 28 November, amidst popular enthusiasm (though the Flemish towns were more muted in their enthusiasm. The Liège liberals exiled by Hoensbroeck's return reentered the city with the French army and François-Antoine-Marie de Méan fled. More important than these shows of enthusiasm, however, was the effective contribution the French now gained for the first time from the population and its leaders, such as the establishment of a new assembly by universal suffrage.
Plebiscite for annexation by France
The French presence allowed political societies to re-form - these included the société des amis de la Liberté. Even if these Liège societies played a major role in getting Liège to vote for annexation by France, the initiative for that move belonged to the pays de Franchimont.Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
Jean-Nicolas Bassenge
Jean-Nicolas or Nicolas Bassenge was a politician from the Principality of Liège. He was active in the Liège Revolution then the French Revolution.-Youth:...
was put in charge of writing a report, which was then discussed, approved and distributed and which formed the basis on which the municipality of Liège went to the vote. According to him, the former principality of Liège had decided to split from the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and thus had no other solution available but to merge with France. In effect in 1792, it was unthinkable that the principality remain independent. The revolutionaries no longer wanted the Ancien Régime and the Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
were not yet complete - if Liège wanted to avoid being crushed by the Austrians, uniting with France was her only option. The report also gave the conditions on which the municipality voted for a merger.
The elections were open to all men who had reached the age of 18. By voter numbers, elections in the former principality of Liège seem to have been freer and more important than in the Austrian Netherlands. In the city of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
9700 voters registered, representing 50% of the effective foreseeable electorate. There were 40 'no' votes, 748 votes for a conditional merger, 1548 for a merger pure and simple, and the others for a merger with some of the conditions. Notable features are the massive 'yes' vote and the considerable electoral participation, when participation was not compulsory. Even so, it must be remembered that many opponents of the move preferred to abstain from the vote. This was compared to 3,000 voters in Mons and 2,000 in Ghent during the elections in the former Austrian Netherlands.
It could be said that Liège's 1793 elections were representative of opinion in the principality, though this derived as much from the historic circumstances of the conflicts between the Ancien Régime and the Republic as it did to Liège's marked Francophilia. The 1789 Liège revolution explains the disagreement between the inhabitants of Liège and their French occupiers and the differences in the treatment of its inhabitants by the French. The Brabant Revolution
Brabant Revolution
The Brabant Revolution took place between January 1789 and December 1790, when a popular revolt broke in the Austrian Netherlands against the unpopular reforms of the Emperor Joseph II...
was against the reforming despotism of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, where that in Liège and that in France itself were both aimed at profoundly modifying the social and political system of the Ancien Régime.
Second Restoration (1793-1794)
Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
The Battle of Neerwinden took place on near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under General Dumouriez...
. The Austrians then reinstated the prince-bishop, but this restoration was to prove short-lived. On 26 June 1794 the French Republican troops defeated the Austrians at Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
. On 27 July 1794 the Austrian troops left Liège after bombarding and burning the Amercœur district. The last prince-bishop, François-Antoine-Marie de Méan, went into exile. The battle of Sprimont
Battle of Sprimont
The battle of Sprimont, battle of Esneux or battle of the Ourthe was a battle between French Republican and Austrian troops on the plateau between the valleys of the Vesdre, the Ourthe and the Amblève, 20 km to the south of Liège...
on 17 September at Fontin, between Esneux
Esneux
Esneux is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Esneux had a total population of 13,072. The total area is which gives a population density of 384 inhabitants per km²....
and Aywaille
Aywaille
Aywaille is a Belgian municipality located in the Walloon province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Aywaille had a total population of 10,910. The total area is 79.97 km² which gives a population density of 136 inhabitants per km². The inhabitants of Aywaille are called the "Aqualiens"...
, was the last battle before the former principality was finally conquered. One of the sides of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, often called La Doyenne , is one of the five 'Monuments' of the European professional road cycling calendar. It is run in the Ardennes region of Belgium, from Liège to Bastogne and back....
cycling course , La Redoute, takes its name from a fortified position involved in this battle.
Second French period (1794-1815)
The first French occupation of Liège (1792–1793) had been full of hope for those of its inhabitants attached to Liège's independence, but the military dangers it had undergone in the meantime made Liège aware of the dangerous of isolation. Illusions of independence thus rapidly disappeared upon the second French occupation (1794–95), with the country dismembered and considered as conquered territory by France, which was then at the height of the Reign of TerrorReign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
. That second occupation ended in the rapid integration of the principality's Walloon
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
territories into France itself, which lasted from 1795 until 1814.
In 1795, the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
decreed Liège's annexation following a vote for such action by the inhabitants of Liége, splitting it into three departments called Ourthe, Meuse-Inférieure
Meuse-Inférieure
Meuse-Inférieure is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. It is named after the river Meuse. Its capital was Maastricht....
and Sambre-et-Meuse
Sambre-et-Meuse
Sambre-et-Meuse was the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Belgium. It was named after the rivers Sambre and Meuse. Its capital was Namur....
. This meant Liége disappeared as a single entity, though the three new departments were loyal to France, unlike the other 'départements réunis'. This action was codified in 1801 by the Concordat of 1801
Concordat of 1801
The Concordat of 1801 was an agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII, signed on 15 July 1801. It solidified the Roman Catholic Church as the majority church of France and brought back most of its civil status....
between Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
. Bonaparte visited Liège in 1803, on which occasion Ingres
Ingres
Ingres Database is a commercially supported, open-source SQL relational database management system intended to support large commercial and government applications...
painted a portrait of him (entitled Bonaparte, First Consul
Bonaparte, First Consul
Bonaparte, First Consul was an 1804 portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. The painting is now in the collection of the Curtius Museum in Liège.-Background:...
) to offer to the city. Baron Micoud d'Umons became prefect of Ourthe in 1806 and remained so until 1814 and the end of the annexation. After Napoleon's defeat by the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
, the Coalition powers decided at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
to award Ourthe to the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
.