A country in need of reconstruction

Once peace had returned to the country and the foreign troops had left, it was necessary to see about collecting an astronomical 12 million pounds in war debt owed to Liège. The various belligerents were in no hurry to pay: Great Britain never paid Liège a single farthing. The United Provinces never paid a single guilder. Austria also refused to pay, although the sum of 385,000 German florins was agreed to by Marie-Thérèse in the spring of 1749. On the other hand, France was desirous of maintaining good relations with Liège, and repaid almost 6 million pounds against the goods and services that had been provided. But this “French silver”, as it was referred to, did not do much to remedy the suffering of the people of Liège.

The fact was that in the circle of those closest to the Prince-Bishop, some of his favourites  engaged in fraud. Jean-Théodore himself was a spendthrift, and in this situation gave his expensive habits free rein – especially hunting and the company of women. Given all this, how indeed could the parlous finances of the country be cleaned up, after years of war and chaotic management? There were attempts at re-establishing harmonious relations with the Austrian-ruled Low Countries – especially Brussels – and the Batavian neighbour, but discussions to this end went nowhere. Worse still, the sovereign spent long periods of time in Bavaria. His pronounced apathy regarding Liège allowed members of the privileged orders, essentially those highest in the clerical hierarchy and the nobility, the opportunity to fight to retain whatever privileges they possessed.

During this time the ordinary people of Liège had to struggle for survival under miserable conditions, despite being in a country that had the potential to become rich from industries such as metallurgy and textiles. During Jean-Théodore’s reign a wave of patriotism arose, represented by a “third party” which had decided to counter the dominant influence of France. This movement of opposition included some members of the clergy, the bourgeoisie, and the less wealthy nobles, the “petite noblesse”, but it came to nothing. All in all, the reign of Jean-Théodore of Bavaria, the last of the Wittelsbachs to occupy the throne of Saint-Lambert, who in fact became a cardinal in 1746, left only a bad memory in the minds of the people of Liège. This certainly justified the choice of a local noble – a “patriot” – by the canons of Saint-Lambert named Charles-Nicolas d'Oultremont (1763-1771), as his successor. “Nosse prince Tchâles” (our Prince Charles), “nosse binamé prince” (our nice Prince) – these were some of the affectionate nicknames the people of Liège used to refer to Charles-Nicholas. Upon this less unhappy memory, the narrative put together by Daniel Jozic comes to an end...