EARLY HISTORY OF LIÉGE--BISHOP NOTGER--THE COURT OF PEACE
As to the town of Liége in early times, the story goes that one day
St. Monulphe, Bishop of Tongres, being on a journey from Maestricht to
Dinant, came to a rising ground, from which he saw a few wooden houses
nestling beneath a mountain which overlooked the Meuse. Descending, he
came to a streamlet which flowed into the river. He asked its name,
and was told that it was called the Legia. Then the Bishop said to his
companions that a great city, famous in the annals of the Christian
Church, would arise on that spot. He built a small chapel there, which
was replaced, in later years, by a splendid cathedral dedicated to St.
Lambert, and laid the foundations of the temporal power of the Bishops
of Liége by endowing the Church in the valley of the Meuse with lands
which he possessed in the neighbourhood of Dinant.
But at that time, and for many years to come, Liége was an unimportant
village inhabited by a few people; and it was not till the close of
the seventh century that it became the seat of a bishopric, which was
established there by St. Hubert about the year 697.
St. Hubert was a son of the Duke of Aquitaine. Leaving his native
country for political reasons, he took refuge at the Court of Pepin
d'Herstal, father of Charles Martel, and grandfather of Charlemagne.
Pepin's palace was then at Jupille, now a little town on the right bank
of the Meuse, some three miles from modern Liége, but in those days the
seat of a Court, and the favourite home of Pepin, who held royal sway
over all the surrounding country.
[Illustration: THE EPISCOPAL PALACE--OUTER COURT, LIÉGE]
The legend is well known of how Hubert was so devoted to the chase
that he used to hunt even on the festivals of the Church, and how his
conversion was brought about by seeing a stag one Good Friday with a
shining cross between its horns. More sober history attributes the
change of life which turned the mighty hunter into a priest to the
pious counsels of St. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht, who persuaded him
to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he finally resolved to devote
himself to the cause of religion. He was at Rome when the news
came that Lambert had been murdered in revenge for having publicly
censured the evil life of Pepin's mistress Alpaïde. On hearing of this
tragedy the Pope made Hubert Bishop of Maestricht, and he removed the
bishopric to Liége, which grew, under his rule, from a mere village
into a large town surrounded by walls built on land given by Charles
Martel, afterwards famous as the great champion of Christendom at the
Battle of Tours, and son of that Alpaïde who was responsible for the
death of Lambert. Municipal laws and courts for the administration
of justice were established, and a regular system of government soon
followed. Bishop Hubert spent much of his time among the woods and
mountains, no longer as a hunter, but as a missionary; and the relics
of the patron saint of huntsmen, who died in May, 727, are still
preserved in a chapel at the town of St. Hubert, which lies in the
midst of a wide forest on the southern tableland of the Ardennes.
Liége prospered under the Emperor Charlemagne, who conferred important
privileges on the town, and enriched the bishops, who gradually
acquired that temporal power which they wielded for so long a time,
after the vast empire of Charlemagne had fallen to pieces during the
ninth century. The real founder of the temporal power of the bishop
princes of the Principality of Liége seems to have been Notger, who
was made Bishop by Otho the Great in the year 971. He strengthened
the walls of the town, and made it known that law and order must be
maintained within the diocese. But the great nobles had their feudal
castles, from which they sallied forth to plunder and oppress their
weaker neighbours, and close to Liége was the castle of Chèvremont.
This stronghold stood on a hill near the site of the modern
watering-place of Chaudfontaine, and was surrounded by the cottages
of the baron's vassals, and by several chapels and religious houses
founded by fugitives who had taken refuge there during the years of the
Norman invasion, when Liége, Maestricht, Tongres, and the rich abbeys
of Malmedy and Stavelot, had been laid waste.
When Notger came to the See of Liége, Immon, the châtelain of
Chèvremont, was the terror of the whole country for miles around. He
raided the villages, carried away the crops from the few cultivated
fields, and sometimes rode into the suburbs of Liége, made prisoners of
the inhabitants, and held them to ransom. The people implored Notger to
protect them, but for a long time he could find no means of subduing,
or making terms with, his formidable neighbour. At last, however, he
saw an opportunity. The lady of Chèvremont having given birth to a son,
her husband, being resolved that only some high dignitary of the Church
should have the honour of baptizing his heir, requested the Bishop of
Liége to perform the ceremony. Notger hesitated, but in the end sent a
message that he would do what was required of him.
On the appointed day the Seigneur of Chèvremont from his watch-tower
saw the Bishop approaching the castle at the head of a long procession
of priests clothed in gorgeous vestments, and chanting psalms. Praising
the zeal of the prelate who had come to baptize his son with such
unusual pomp, he ordered the drawbridge to be lowered and the gates of
the castle to be opened. The procession entered, and, when all were
assembled in the courtyard, Bishop Notger addressed Immon.
'Seigneur,' he said, 'this castle is no longer yours, but mine.'
'What do you mean?' asked Immon.
'I say,' replied the Bishop, 'that this place belongs to me, the only
lord of the country. Immon, yield to necessity, and depart. I promise
to give you full compensation.' 'It is fortunate for you,' exclaimed
the châtelain, in a fury, 'that you entered my castle under a promise
of safety, for otherwise you leave it torn in pieces! Scoundrel!
Miserable priest! Fly, lest some evil befall you!'
Instantly Notger gave a signal to his followers, who, throwing off the
surplices, albs, and other ecclesiastical vestments which had covered
their armour, and drawing the swords which had been concealed about
them, rushed upon the inhabitants of the castle, and slaughtered them
without mercy. It is said that Immon threw himself in despair over the
walls, and that his wife perished miserably with her infant son. The
castle was razed to the ground; the religious houses which clustered
round it were destroyed; and the revenue of the chapels, which were
also laid in ruins, served to enrich the churches of Liége and
Aix-la-Chapelle.
[Illustration: PONT DES ARCHES, LIÉGE]
Whatever may now be thought of this episode in church history, it
made Bishop Notger more popular than ever. Otho the Great and his
successors added to the gifts by which Charlemagne had enriched the
bishopric; and in 1006, two years before the death of Notger, the
Emperor Henry II. confirmed all these donations by a charter, in which
Namur, Dinant, Tongres, Maestricht, Malines, Gembloux, St. Hubert,
and other important places are named as pertaining to the diocese of
Liége. Thus, at the beginning of the eleventh century, the Bishop of
the Principality was already possessed of extraordinary power. A few
years later the Countess of Hainaut, being then at war with Flanders,
sought an alliance with the Bishop of Liége, and, in return for his
help, accepted him as her feudal superior; and the Counts of Hainaut,
themselves amongst the proudest nobles of that day, were vassals of
Liége until the times of Charles the Bold.
The frightful anarchy of the feudal period was nowhere worse than in
this part of Europe. Murders, acts of revenge, robberies, took place
without end. A state of war was the normal condition of society in the
Valley of the Meuse and throughout the Ardennes. Noble fought against
noble, and vassal against vassal. By the law or custom of these days,
the feudal barons had the right of settling their disputes by force
of arms; and their prince could not forbid them. But, though he could
not interfere in his secular character, he could do so as bishop; and
the influence of the Church, though the bishops themselves were often
arrogant and ambitious, had been used to promote the cause of peace by
proclaiming a truce of forty days, during which prayers were offered up
for the souls of those who had fallen in battle. A 'quarantaine,' as
it was called, being appointed for the death of each knight, there was
sometimes a whole year of peace, during which enemies met on outwardly
friendly terms, visited each other's châteaux, and went together to
tournaments or village fêtes. Sometimes, during these periods of
repose, families which had been at deadly feud intermarried, and ladies
who had been made widows, or daughters who had become orphans, married
the very warriors who had slain their husbands or fathers. But more
frequently, as soon as the 'quarantaine' was over, every one set to
work again, burning houses and killing each other as before.
At last Henri de Verdun, who became Bishop of Liége in 1075, resolved
to stop, if possible, the private wars which were the scourge
of society. He assembled the nobles of the Principality and the
surrounding districts, and urged upon them the necessity of at least
making an effort to put an end to the ceaseless strife in which
they lived. 'The only means I can think of,' he said, 'is to choose
a supreme judge, with power to punish those who are guilty of
excesses.' The nobles consented to this proposal. He himself was
appointed to the new office, and his successors in the bishopric of
Liége were declared, for all time coming, judges of the 'Court of
Peace.'
[Illustration: ESCALIER DE LA FONTAINE, LIÉGE]
The rules of the 'Tribunal de Paix de Liége' decreed that on certain
days it was unlawful to carry arms, and that any freeman who committed
murder or acts of violence should be deprived of his estate and
expelled from the Principality, while a slave was to be punished by
the loss of whatever he might possess, and have his right hand cut
off. From Wednesday to Monday, during the festivals of the Church, the
_Trève de Dieu_ was to be strictly observed. The Peace Tribunal was to
decide cases of assassination, rape, incendiarism, robbery, and other
offences which might lead to a breach of the public peace. Anyone who
did not appear before the court, after being duly cited, was to be
declared infamous, and was liable to a sentence of excommunication. But
the accused could--such was the warlike spirit of the times--always
claim to have his case decided by judicial combat.
The Dukes of Bouillon and Limbourg, together with the Counts of
Luxembourg, Louvain, Namur, Hainaut, Montaigu, Clermont, and La Roche,
signed the Act which established the 'Tribunal de Paix '; and they all
swore to obey its decisions, except the Count of La Roche, who refused
to take any oath whatever.
On this the other barons made war upon him, and defeated him in a
pitched battle. He fled to his castle and stood a siege of seven
months, till, his provisions being exhausted, he saw nothing before
him but surrender or starvation. Suddenly he thought of a stratagem.
He fed a sow, the only animal which remained alive in the castle, with
his last measure of wheat, and let it escape. The besiegers killed it,
and, finding that it had just had a full meal, came to the conclusion
that it was useless to continue the siege, as the garrison seemed well
supplied with food. They therefore made peace with the Count of La
Roche, who thus remained free from the jurisdiction of the Tribunal
de Paix. The other barons also excused themselves; so did the clergy;
and, in the end, the burghers of Liége refused to accept the decisions
of the court, when, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, they
obtained a great extension of their privileges under a charter granted
by Albert de Cuyck, who had come to the episcopal throne in 1195.
Whenever there was a vacancy in the See of Liége, all the princes
of Belgium, and often those of other countries, tried to obtain the
nomination for one of their relatives. In the year 1193 Albert de
Louvain, who had been chosen against the wish of the Emperor Henry
IV., was murdered at Rheims by a band of German knights, probably
under secret orders from the Emperor, who forthwith put forward
Simon de Limbourg, then only sixteen years of age, as Bishop of the
Principality. Simon de Limbourg was supported by the Duke of Brabant;
but the Counts of Flanders, of Namur, and of Hainaut, refused to accept
him. The Pope suspended his election, and Albert de Cuyck, backed up
by the Count of Hainaut, took possession of the bishopric, and went to
Rome to prosecute his claim against that of Simon de Limbourg, which
was still maintained before the Holy See. Simon de Limbourg died, or
was made away with, at Rome, and de Cuyck became Bishop.
He was now deeply in debt, having borrowed a large sum from the Count
of Flanders, and spent it at Rome in bribery to secure his election
as Bishop. This debt he got rid of by the sale of civil offices and
ecclesiastical benefices; but more money was needed at Liége in order
to repair the walls of the town. For this purpose a tax was laid, by
decree of the Bishop and the civil magistrates, on the people and the
clergy. The latter refused to pay, on the ground that they had not been
consulted. The magistrates and the laity insisted that the clergy must
bear their share of the common burden. The Bishop took the side of the
people against the clergy, and in order to make himself popular granted
a charter, which was confirmed by the Emperor Philip II. in 1208.
This charter of Albert de Cuyck is an important landmark in the
constitutional history of the Principality of Liége. It declared that
the people might not be taxed without their own consent. It relieved
them from the burden of lodging and feeding armed men, a constant
source of discontent at that time; and it freed them from being
compelled to follow the Bishop into battle, unless he was making war in
defence of the Principality, and even then not till fifteen days after
he had assembled his own immediate vassals. It provided that no officer
of the law might enter a house to search for a thief or for stolen
property without leave from the owner of the house. No freeman could be
arrested or imprisoned except under a legal warrant. The justices of
the town were to be the only judges in a trial for any crime committed
within the walls. No stranger might challenge a burgher of Liége to
trial by combat, but must prosecute him before the judges. During eight
days before Christmas and Easter no arrest for debt was allowed, though
at other times a debtor, against whom judgment had been given, must
either pay at once, find security before sunset, or go to prison.
These, and other provisions of a similar nature, were the regulations
set forth in the charter of Albert de Cuyck, the principles of which
were afterwards embodied, from time to time, in other public Acts.
It was, like the Joyeuse Entrée of Brabant, merely a declaration
of rights, many of which had previously existed; but it gave these
rights the sanction and authority of written law. Thenceforth the
people began to assert themselves, and for many long years to come the
history of Liége is a record of revolutions and intestine wars, the
populace rebelling either against the bishops or the barons, and of
feuds between the bishops and the barons, in which the populace took
part, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other. The people of
the Principality, as soon as they had obtained the charter, refused
to accept the jurisdiction of the Peace Tribunal. Disputes were not
settled, and one private war followed another.
The most trifling incident was often the cause of a sanguinary
struggle; but perhaps the most foolish of all was that known as the
_Guerre de la Vache de Ciney_.
[Illustration: THE HOSPITAL, DINANT]
A peasant of the province of Namur, named Jallet, went to a fair at
Ciney, the chief town in the district of Condroz, in the forest of
Ardennes, and there stole a cow belonging to one of the townsmen. He
took the animal to Andenne, on the Meuse between Liége and Huy, where
the Duke of Brabant and the Counts of Namur and Luxembourg, with many
knights and ladies, had met for a tournament. One of the company was
Jean de Halloy, the baillie of Condroz, and to him the owner of the
cow, who had followed the thief, complained. The baillie promised
pardon to Jallet on condition that he would take the cow back to Ciney.
Jallet started, driving the wretched beast before him, but as soon as
he entered the district of Condroz, the baillie had him arrested and
hanged. On this Jean de Beaufort, feudal lord of Goesnes, the village
in which Jallet had lived, assembled his friends, and proceeded to
attack Condroz. Then the people of Huy flew to arms, and burned the
château of Goesnes. Forthwith the Duke of Brabant, with the Counts
of Flanders, Namur, and Luxembourg, joined in the fray, burned the town
of Ciney, and threatened to devastate all the country round Liége. Next
the people of Dinant came on the scene, invaded Namur and Luxembourg,
burned many villages in the Ardennes, and slaughtered the villagers.
For three years the war continued, until at last, when, it is said,
no fewer than 20,000 people had been killed, and the whole country of
the Ardennes, from Luxembourg to the Meuse, had been laid waste, the
combatants came to their senses. It was resolved to end the struggle
by arbitration. Philip the Hardy, King of France, agreed to act as
peacemaker, and, being of opinion that both parties were equally to
blame, decided that each must bear its own losses! History says nothing
about what became of the cow.