Western Europe

Prince-Bishop Theodwin of Liège in the politically-explosive year of 1066 granted the citizens of the good town of Huy the oldest charter to survive from what is now Belgium.

This was the 'Freedom Charter of Huy'. It was particularly favourable to the city's social and economic development. Huy became a privileged place when compared to neighbouring territories.

Prince-Bishop Albert of Cuyck did the same for the city of Liège in 1196. The charter for Liège confirmed and consolidated traditional freedoms which had previously been granted to the city's people, covering individual freedom, the inviolability of the home, and the right to be judged by the sovereign justice of the aldermen of Liège. In addition, the charter provided for several new commitments.

The Peace of Fexhe, initially a compromise with the people of Liège, was expanded throughout the entire territory in 1316 to become the prince-bishopric's fundamental internal legal basis.

The 'Great' and the 'Small', the city council

The history of the city of Liège has two aspects which often overlap.

Firstly there were the conflicts between the city and the prince-bishop over the delimitation of their respective powers. Secondly there were social struggles between the 'Great' ('les Grands', the patricians, also called 'les Citains'), and the 'Small' ('les Petits', the popular masses, the plebeians), in which the prince-bishop frequently intervened or was personally involved.

The social struggles which began towards the end of the twelfth century further developed through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, resulting in a gradual reduction of the prince-bishop's power. They culminated in the fifteenth century with the pillage and destruction of the city of Liège in 1468 due to a grim conflict between the duke of Burgundy and the people of Liège.

Each city had its own tribunal which was made up of a mayor and aldermen. Its main mission was to administer both civil and repressive justice. Its function was therefore essentially judicial. The aldermen in Liège itself also acted in the form of a court of appeal for the principality as a whole.

The tribunal in Liège was composed of members of the 'Great', all rich and proud patricians who dominated the capital. They were jointly appointed by the prince-bishop and the chapter.

In 1196, under the terms of the city of Liège's charter, the tribunal began evolving into the first city council. The tribunal of fourteen aldermen was expanded by an administrative group of twelve jurors and two temporary mayors, all of whom were appointed for one year while the former mayor became head mayor. These new officials, who had the task of administering the commune, were also recruited from amongst the wealthy merchants and the nobility, with money changers, ironmasters, arms manufacturers, and owners of coalmines being permitted later.

The 'Small' were represented by the corporations of independent craftsmen (trades, small patrons, and small entrepreneurs), along with shopkeepers. One of their goals was to undertake the conquest of their political rights and thereby democracy, and to reduce the power of the aldermen and the city council resulting, in time, in the replacement of all of them.

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 road was long and difficult, however. Social conflict to sort it all out spanned over a hundred years of demands and some bitter fighting.

In 1229 most of the better-organised towns followed the impulse of the capital to create a confederation against the abuse of power which had been seen in the prince-bishops.

From about 1250 onwards the degree of social conflict increased, developing into bitter struggles and combat regarding the demands, and finally civil war broke out. Peace agreements and periods of combat alternated between each other and spanned more than a century, eventually involving just about every sizable towns.

The civil war was not over.

The resistance by the 'Small' led to a merciless civil war which lasted three years, and a string of charters which were obtained as part of the struggle being waged by the principality's inhabitants against the prince-bishops and the 'Great', in order to balance the freedoms and privileges being offered to all social classes.

These balancing events involved the Peace of Bierset (1255), the Peace of Seraing (1307), the Mal (Evil) Saint-Martin (1312), and the Peace of Angleur (1313). A terrible famine and plague were added to these evils and to the general confusion.

The newly inaugurated Prince-Bishop Adolph II of La Marck, who reigned in 1313-1344, had been elected under the patronage of France's King Philip 'the Handsome' (Philip IV), and as such La Marck acted as an agent of the annexationist policy of the king of France. He sided with the 'Great' and rejected the privileges which had already been granted.

The terms of the Peace of Fexhe (June 1316)

The Peace of Fexhe, however, was signed in June 1316 during La Marck's reign. It was intended to confirm and protect the rights, franchises, privileges, and customs as previously acquired by the craftsmen (the 'Small') against the arbitrariness of the sovereign.

St Lambert's Cathedral and the palace of the prince-bishops are both seen here in the eighteenth century city of Liège

The people of Liège already had many privileges, such as individual freedom, while confiscation of property was prohibited, and no one could be arrested except by ordinance of the aldermen. Each must be judged according to the law and by sentence of the sovereign justice of the aldermen of Liège. But none of these obtained privileges had the value of the Peace of Fexhe.

Not only were the terms confirmed as defined in earlier charters, but from now on the principality's legislative power was shared between the prince-bishop and the 'Sense of the Country', the interpreter and guardian of the law, which preserved the right of setting up a barrier against the wishes of the prince-bishop.

In the Peace of Fexhe the prince-bishop's right to govern jointly with the chapter was not disputed, but he had to respect and ensure respect for the law.

On the same day as the peace was signed, Maastricht and the good towns of St Truiden, Huy, and Fosses were also given a complementary act of the Peace of Fexhe, ensuring their inhabitants that they would be led by law and judgment.

The Peace of Fexhe must surely rank as one of the most effective and useful charters, and as the most famous document in the history of the land of Liège.

Letter of the Twenty (November 1324)

Adolph of La Marck installed a commission of twenty people; eight for the towns, four for the bishop, four for the chapter, and four for the nobility.

At the request of the 'Sense of the Country', this commission became responsible for reforming the administration of the country and for determining the forms of procedure to be employed against the prince-bishop in the event that he had been accused of abusing his authority.

Tribunal of XXII and the Letter of St Jacques (1343)

The towns were determined to uphold the Peace of Fexhe, but they also wanted to better clarify their rights with regard to the prince-bishop.

This soon gave rise to a series of armed conflicts against Prince-Bishop Adolph of La Marck who, himself guilty of incessant attacks on the rights of his subjects, accused the towns of infringing upon his rights of justice and of confiscating his income.

A double compromise calmed the country in 1343, thereby considerably reducing the power of the prince-bishop and his officers.

Shown here is a map of the imperial German territories around 1560, with each of the imperial circles, some of which showed reduced traces of the former stem duchies (click or tap on map to view full sized)

For the entire principality, the 'Tribunal of XXII' from June 1343 created a tribunal which should be able to settle - through arbitration and without appeal - any dispute between the country and the prince-bishop or his officers. The public officials, meeting monthly, were composed of twenty-two members who were chosen for life by the 'Sense of the Country', consisting of four canons, four delegates of the nobility, and then four members from Liège, two each from Huy, Tongeren, Dinant, and St Truiden, and one each from Fosses and Bouillon.

In the city of Liège, the 'Letter of Saint-Jacques' from July 1343 re-established the balance between the powers of the prince (the 'Great') and those of the 'Three Estates' (the 'Small').

This letter re-established the direct election of jurors, half of them trades, and the equality of the 'Great' and the 'Small'.

The 'Four Peaces of the XXII' (1373-1376)

December 1373 saw the 'First Peace of the XXII'. The 'Tribunal of the XXII' of 1343 was restored, composed of twenty-two members again, all of whom were appointed for one year. Four were appointed by the chapter, four by the nobility, four by the city of Liège, two each by Huy and Dinant, and one each by Tongeren, Sint-Truiden, Fosses, Thuin, Looz, and Hasselt.

Sentences were to be rendered by a majority vote by the tribunal. The bishop was no longer able to pardon the condemned.

March 1374 saw the 'Second Peace of the XXII'. This provided guarantees to those who filed a complaint, while also providing rules against infringements by members of the 'Tribunal of the XXII' (see related features link in the sidebar).

June 1376 witnessed the 'Third Peace of the XXII', otherwise known as the Peace of Castert. The prince-bishop was now no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the 'Tribunal of the XXII'. Its agents alone were now declared responsible.

It was probably June 1376 which saw the 'Fourth Peace of the XXII'. The territory of the principality was declared inalienable. Members of the clergy who were exercising secular employment were now subject to the 'Tribunal of the XXII'. The bishop could no longer exempt any of his agents from sentences which were issued by the tribunal. The Peace of Fexhe was confirmed.

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.