The Enlightenment was not a peaceful period for the Principality of Liège. After a calm period during the reign of Prince-Bishop Georges-Louis de Berghes (1724-1743), the reign of Jean-Théodore of Bavaria (1744-1763) was immediately caught up in the turbulence of the War of Austrian Succession. Peace was re-established in 1748, and this put an end to the suffering caused by the presence of belligerent armies. But this did not solve the problems of the Principality, particularly its financial problems. Prince Jean-Théodore was a negligent sovereign who was too often away from his capital, and this fact, along with the egocentrism of the privileged class, meant that the Principality’s financial problems persisted, to the detriment of ordinary citizens. A book by Daniel Jozic, a scientific researcher in the Department of Historical Sciences at the University of Liège, retraces this chronological sequence from 1744 to 1755. (1).

Everything began on January 23, 1744. On that day, Duke Jean-Théodore of Bavaria, Bishop of Ratisbonne and Freising, gained the throne of Saint-Lambert. His accession came only after a bitter struggle within the Chapitre cathedral between the partisans of the powerful Wittelsbach family on one side – the family to which he belonged – and on the other side, those who preferred a prince from the Principality itself, who were fiercely opposed to the Bavarian camp. The contest was a closely fought one, and foreign interests were involved in it, particularly those of the France of Louis XV, for whom the Principality of Liège represented a sort of informal protectorate. Within the city, some people were happy about the choice of an illustrious noble; the Bavarian candidate was the brother of Charles VII, since 1742 emperor of the Germanic Holy Roman Empire, and he had the support of Versailles. But this choice was not calculated to please the maritime powers (Great Britain and the United Provinces) and was even less felicitous in the view of the court at Vienna, where the young Queen Marie-Thérèse of the House of Habsburg was opposed on principle to the choice of the House of Bourbon. In essence, this was another chapter in the long-running feud between the ruling families of Austria and France.

A delicate geopolitical situation

It can be seen that the little piece of Empire that the Principality represented, wedged into the territory of the Circle of Westphalia, was coveted by its nearest neighbours. It was obvious that Liège occupied a strategic location, overlooking the Meuse and all traffic toward Rhenania, and the Brabançons had long realized this: since the Middle Ages Brussels and Liège, the capitals of two small nations bound together closely by their borders, and belonging to a common economic space, had never ceased being opposed to each other, and their conflict had been recently renewed by secular disputes over jurisdiction and sovereignty. As Daniel Jozic writes: “Between these two parties, the tone of the relationship was marked by defiance and mistrust. Liège was always afraid of being duped by some scheme of the Brabançons, and Brussels was perpetually exasperated by the style of its neighbour in negotiations, and expected little from conferences. For the [Austrian] Netherlands as well, it was considered impossible to get Liège to agree to anything. In their view the negotiations, after several tries, had accomplished nothing, except to arrive at an impasse.”

(1) Liège entre guerre et paix. Contribution à l'histoire politique de la Principauté de Liège (1744-1755), Presses universitaires de Liège, 2013.