Western Europe

The 'Three Estates'

The 'Three Estates' ('Trois États') were the most important population categories in the principality of Liège, the Catholic higher clergy or chapter (the 'Primary Estate'), the nobility (the 'Secondary Estate') and the inhabitants of the 'Bonnes Villes' ('Good Towns') (the 'Third Estate').

'Primary Estate' - the chapter of Saint Lambert, or 'Clergy and People'
The 'Primary Estate' ('État Primaire') was dominated by the higher clergy, high ecclesiastical dignitaries and the diocese aristocracy, and also the very wealthy chapter of Saint Lambert, the cathedral chapter which was attached to Saint Lambert's Cathedral of Liège from circa 972 to 1793.

A cathedral chapter, a powerful institution and an independent legal entity, was attached to the diocesan cathedral, and was composed of canons.

The chapter provided the principal assistants to the prince-bishop (or to the 'mambour', who was stood in for the prince-bishop when he was absent for a longer period), exercising direct power themselves (when the prince-bishop was not in the country for a short period only), and intervened in the appointment of others.

From the eleventh century onwards, the chapter of Saint Lambert had sixty members, with the canons (choir lords), including the prince-bishop, making it the largest chapter in the diocese of Liège. The chapter of Saint Servatius in Maastricht had forty members, while other chapters mainly had between twenty and thirty canons.

The canons worked closely with the prince-bishop, and assisted him in the leadership of the diocese and in his administrative tasks.

The political (secular) role of the cathedral chapter, and the most important one for the prince-bishopric, was threefold, covering the election of the new bishop, taking his oath, and later a capitulation from the new bishop-elect.

Canonical election was common practice from the tenth century. As a rule, the expression 'the clergy and the people' ('clerus and populus') was used which designated the electoral body which was responsible for canonically electing the new bishop, mostly from their own circle and often belonging to the high nobility or bourgeoisie.

However, the main task of the cathedral chapter was ecclesiastical.

The body of the chapter consisted of the cathedral provost, who was responsible for administering the chapter's property, and the dean, who ensured its internal government and the maintenance of discipline. The provost was the most important clergyman after the bishop, but in the chapter itself, higher authority rested with the dean.

Notger, the founding prince-bishop of Liege (980-1008) and advisor to four of the Saxon kings of Germany, as featured on a postage stamp of 1947

Other dignitaries of the cathedral functions were, among others, a 'coûtre' (costre, responsible for guarding the church during the night and the cathedral treasury), a scholaster (head of the cathedral school), and a cantor (choirmaster).

The canons had to pray for the choir and take care of the liturgy for the cathedral church. In the thirteenth century, two specialised 'little chapters' (sub-chapters) were established, which took over part of the ecclesiastical tasks of the canons, the chapter of the 'Small Table' and the chapter of Saint Maternus.

Those clergy who were attached to these came from the lower classes and, in return for their work, they received a small prebend (the stipend of a canon), an amount which was much less than that received by the often-noble canons.

The canons were inclined to worry only about their own interests. They often made alliances with the prince-bishop, but their undulating policy often placed them alongside the city - in its struggles against the prince-bishop - or alongside the 'Small' in their struggles against the 'Great'.

Appointments

The prince-bishop, the pope and the Holy Roman emperor had the right to appoint the canons. The cathedral chapter was well-suited to providing the younger sons of noble families with some standing, thanks to the income which could be associated with a seat in a chapter and, in return, money or other benefices such as land going to the chapter. Little is known about the properties of the chapter of Liège, but they must have been extensive to be able to generate sixty canons.

An appointment as canon to the Liège cathedral chapter was an important political and spiritual function in the principality of Liège and was often a stepping stone for other high ecclesiastical offices in the Maas-Rhine area.

The palace of the prince-bishops is often presented as being one of the biggest Gothic civil buildings in the world, and today it plays host to the law courts and headquarters of the provincial government

Many of the canons of Saint Lambert also had an additional income as canons at other chapters in Liège, Huy, Tongeren, Maastricht, Aachen, or elsewhere. At least ten cathedral provosts were elected prince-bishop of Liège.

The diocese of Liège consisted of several archdeaconates (which were located in Kempenland, Haspengouw, Brabant, Hainaut, Condroz, Famenne, and Ardennes). Members of the chapter presided over a particular archdeaconate. In certain administrative matters the chapter had right of consent or advisory rights.

The cathedral school of the Saint Lambert chapter was also founded by Prince Bishop Notger. The Liège cathedral school experienced its greatest levels of prosperity in the eleventh century when the school attracted students from all parts of Europe.

'Secondary Estate' - nobility
The nobility was the 'Secondary Estate' ('État Secondaire'), which was composed of sixteen districts of nobility in the vast Flemish-speaking (Low Dietsch) Haspengouw (Hesbaye) region and in areas to the north of the Meuse valley, all of which was supposed to represent the entire hinterland.

According to contemporary authors, they were very turbulent and coarse in manners and decimated in endless private wars. The 'Secondary Estate' held the president's chair of the feudal court.

The frozen River Schelde divides a warming fire from the town of Antwerp in the near distance, painted in 1593 by Lucas van Valckenborch

'Third Estate' - 'Good Towns'
The 'Third Estate' ('État Tiers') - which represented the bourgeoisie and the organised craftsmen (in guilds) - was generally made up of the two burgomasters (mayors, one of them the grand-mayor) of each of the 'Good Towns'.

Throughout the 'Ancien Régime', the 'Good Towns' followed the impulse of the capital and played a considerable role in the principality.

Each good town had its own council which was generally composed of two mayors and a bench of aldermen, but each town had only one vote. The council administered both civil and repressive justice and its function was therefore essentially judicial.

If considered a good town, that town received a charter of three rights.

The first - and a very important one - was to have representation in the 'Third Estate'.

A second 'privilege' was that the city was allowed to construct an enclosure or a fortified city wall to protect access, which caused a good deal of inconvenience however. Sometimes transformed into strongholds or fortified shrines, they inevitably became attractive for besiegers who - once inside the city walls - often plundered and destroyed the city.

Along with the Battle of Turnhout on 27 October 1789, the Battle of Ghent on 13 November 1789 (shown here) was instrumental in forcing the Austrian governors of the southern Netherlands to flee Brussels while Austrian forces soon took refuge behind strong defensive walls in Luxembourg and also Antwerp

The third privilege was the allowance to erect a 'perron', a stone column which served to symbolise the acquired city rights and autonomy (initially bishopric autonomy, later urban autonomy). The very first one was the perron of Liège from 1305.

A total of twenty-three good towns distinguished this curious scattered land.

The first league of Liège towns dates back to 1230. This included Liège, Tongeren, Huy, Maastricht, and Fosses.

Later the 'Good Towns' emerged and were grouped into twelve 'Villes Thioises' (Flemish,or 'FL') in the modern Flemish province of Belgian Limburg, and eleven 'Villes Françoises' (Walloon, or 'W'), in the modern Walloon provinces of Namur, Hainaut, and Liège.

In order of importance and corresponding to their respective seniority, these grouped towns were the capital, Liège (W), Tongeren (FL), Huy (W), Dinant (W), Ciney (W), Thuin (W), Fosses (W), Couvin (W), Châtelet (W), Sint-Truiden (FL), Visé (W), Waremme (W), Borgloon (FL), Hasselt (FL), Maaseik (FL), Bilzen (FL), Beringen (FL), Herk-de-Stad (FL), Bree (FL), Stokkem (FL), Hamont (FL), Peer (FL), and Verviers (W).

Maastricht in Netherlands Limburg, and Bouillon in the Walloon province of Luxemburg in Belgium, were two other major cities within the prince-bishopric. However, they had a special statute, one which differentiated them from the good towns as they were not allowed to be represented at the 'Third Estate'.

The Battle of Fleurus in 1794 ended Austrian attempts to protect its hold over the southern Netherlands and ushered in a period of French domination (painting by Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse)

The prince-bishopric of Liège shared joint authority with the duchy of Brabant and later the Dutch republic ('States-General of the United Provinces') over Maastricht, one which was entitled 'Condominium of Maastricht'.

The second city of the prince-bishopric therefore kept its separated status throughout the 'Ancien Régime' period.

The prince-bishop of Liège had the personal title of duke of Bouillon until the enacting of the Treaty of Nijmegen (1679), but the duchy had always been independent of the principality.

'Sense of the Country'
The name of 'Sense of the Country' ('Sense du Pays') was encountered as early as 1264.

The sense of the country was a unanimous agreement by the 'Three Estates', one which was reached by the assembly of a tricameral parliament which represented each of the three estates - the three classes of the population - each with its own prerogatives, privileges, and franchises.

The tricameral parliament consisted of fourteen deputies in total, four from the chapter, four from the nobility, four from the good towns (two from Flemish-speaking towns, and two from French-speaking towns) plus two from the city of Liège. They met at least three times a week to deal with current affairs, but they could also meet spontaneously.

The estates were notably competent to vote on taxes and laws, approve treaties and the raising of troops, and they disposed of the main public offices. They ensured observation of the customs, being able to modify them, and determined the number and nature of expenditures, all this without the collaboration of the prince-bishop. The decisions were therefore taken 'with the sense of the country'.

Under the auspices of Bishop Notger, the episcopal city of Liège underwent a thorough metamorphosis, with the bishop making it a centre of intense political and cultural life - the capital of a powerful ecclesiastical principality in the early Holy Roman empire

Estate days
Usually twice a year (or more if required) the prince-bishop called the estate days ('Journées d'État'), which normally lasted ten days during which the members of the estates were inviolable. In addition, three members of the prince's privy council attended the sessions but had consultative power only.

The session for each estate day was opened by setting out the prince-bishop's proposals. Each estate took resolutions or received a plurality of votes on such proposals. Each estate also had the right to make its own proposals.

The rule was that, for a proposal to become law, all three estates would unanimously agree, thereby representing the 'sense of the country', or the will of the nation. 'Evolved Edicts' were written in French, published on the perron by the prince-bishop, and then applied, all on the same day.

The election and executive power of the prince-bishop

Liège's political regime lagged behind the region's economic development. The head of estate was the prince-bishop, the Holy Roman emperor's vassal, and subordinate to the pope. The prince-bishop was usually a foreign nobleman, either from the Holy Roman empire, or from France.

The prince-bishop had a double function. As bishop he was elected by the chapter, and his election was subject to the approval of the pope. As a prince he received his powers from the Holy Roman emperor. The prince-bishop therefore received spiritual and temporal powers from the combined intervention of these two authorities.

This engraving displays the open court within the prince-bishop's palace in Liège, with the title holder being the Holy Roman emperor's direct servant in the region

The city and the 'Good Towns', without having either intervened in the election, or possibly appreciating it, received the prince-bishop with solemnity, an event which was known as a 'Joyeuse Entrée' ('Happy Entry').

The procedure by which 'the clerus and the populus' proposed a candidate was common practice in the imperial bishoprics in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

In Liège, however, the procedure was forgotten at the beginning of the eleventh century and most of the prince-bishops were chosen and appointed by the royal court, until the elections as prince-bishop of Nithard (1037) and Wazo (1042). The clergy and the people never had intervened so decisively.

The prince-bishop was elected by obtaining two-thirds of the votes from the canons in the chapter (the 'Primary Estate'), who were all present at the election. Then the bishop had to obtain confirmation from the pope via the archbishop who had the right of consecration.

After that, the prince-bishop had to take an oath in the cathedral choir to govern according to the laws, privileges, and customs of the country.

Then he signed his submission capitulation which had been drawn up by the cathedral chapter (the 'Primary Estate' again), before being recognised and acclaimed bishop, receiving temporal (secular) power and finally being invested as prince-bishop by the emperor.

The custom was that, in the case of a double election by the canons, the emperor himself would decide.

The 'Peace of Fexhe'

From 1316 onwards, the prince had no prerogatives other than those which were attributed to him by the Peace of Fexhe. He exercised them in accordance with this peace, with the assistance of responsible ministers, and remained in charge of maintaining public order and prosecuting violators.

He sent and received diplomatic agents. He had the right of pardon, but this did not extend to civil matters. He could neither suspend the law nor prevent its execution.

In practice, political power was concentrated in the hands of the prince-bishop and the higher clergy (the 'Primary Estate'), but with the Peace of Fexhe, he had to govern the principality in agreement with all three constituted estates.

In all matters which were not the responsibility of the 'Three Estates', the prince had to seek the advice of the cathedral chapter.

The prince remained inviolable in his person and in his property.

When the episcopal see of Saint-Lambert was vacant for a longer period - due to a longer absence by the prince-bishop or to the elapsed time between the death of a prince-bishop and the inauguration of his successor - the country could not remain long without a sovereign without great inconvenience.

A replacement prince-bishop had to be elected and the chapter of Saint-Lambert appointed a so-called 'mambour', a regent who temporarily ruled the country. The term 'mambour' (from the Middle Dutch 'montbore') is an old term, one which is synonymous with 'curator, guardian, regent'.

When such a case arose, the chapter of St Lambert called the assembly of the 'Three Estates', which then elected a mambour.

First the nobles from the 'Secondary Estate' had the right to vote for a candidate mambour, followed by the city of Liège, and finally by the good towns (the 'Third Estate').

Other institutions

'Privy Council' ('Palace Ring') ('Secular Council')
The prince's privy council was the principality's secular government, in charge of managing everything which remained under the purview of the prince-bishop in matters of public administration and general policy.

Its members, called officers, were chosen by the prince-bishop. The secular council did not deal with religious matters, but the presiding chancellor was a canon of the cathedral, and members by right included the grand-mayor and two aldermen of the city of Liège. The chancellor validated the privy council's acts and was then responsible for them.

'The Synodal Consistory'
The synodal consistory was the department of worship of the bishopric, chaired by a vicar general.

Judiciary power - heads of estate
The sovereign justice of the aldermen of the principality of Liège, the feudal court, and the allodial court with their jurors were the three jurisdictions which were considered the three heads of the country.

'Sovereign Justice of the Aldermen of Liège' ('Court of Appeal')
The sovereign justice of the aldermen of Liège ('Souveraine Justice des Échevins de Liège') was one of the most important courts in the principality. It exercised an extended jurisdiction, one which was comparable in some respects to that of the grand council of Mechelen during the existence of the Spanish and Austrian Netherlands.

It was the competent court at the civil level, judged sovereignly and without appeal in real and personal matters and at the criminal level. The fourteen aldermen were appointed for life.

Feudal court
This was presided over by the nobility of the secondary estate.

'Allodial Court'
The allodial title constituted ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) which was independent of any superior landlord, in contrast to feudalism.

Main Sources

Bijsterveld, Arnoud-Jan - Bisdommen, kapittels, kloosters en kerken in de Volle Middeleeuwen (2015, in Dutch)

Biographie nationale, Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des Beaux-arts de Belgique (Bruxelles, 1897, in French)

Daris, Joseph - Histoire du diocèse et de la principauté de Liége (1890-1899, in French)

Demarteau, J E - Liège et les principautés ecclésiastiques de l'Allemagne occidentale. Les relations de Liège avec Aix, Cologne et l'Empire - La fin (Tome XXVIII, 1899, in French)

Kurth, Godefroid - Notger de Liége et la civilisation au Xe siècle (Tome I et II, 1905, in French)

Magnette, Félix - Précis d'histoire liégeoise (1924, in French)

Marchandisse, Alain; Kupper, Jean-Louis; Vrancken-Pirson, Irène - La destruction de la ville de Liège et sa reconstruction (1996, in French)

Wahle, Eugène - Liège et ses bonnes villes (Ed, 1980, in French)

Online Sources

Catholic Encyclopaedia

Dupuis, Henry - Notger and his time (Université Liège, in French)

Grandjean, Joseph - Histoire de la Principauté de Liège (in French)

Les Belges, leur histoire (in French)

Liège Révolution (in French)

Schooyans, Michel - Archives de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (in French)

Williot, Germaine - Le Prince Evêque de Liège - Origine du pouvoir princier dans la principauté de Liège (in French)

Images and text copyright © P L Kessler & William Willems. An original feature for the History Files.