A History of Liège

A monumental book on the history of Liège in Belgium will be released by mid-September. This volume meets a real need as the last general history of Liège is now fifty years old and hard to come by. It is being published simultaneously in French, English, Dutch and German by Les Grandes Conférences Liégeoises (GCLG) and Marot Publishers (Brussels) on the occasion of the University of Liège's bicentenary.

This sumptuous edition, written by a team of eminent scholars and experts under the leadership of Bruno Demoulin, will appeal not only to those with a keen interest in history but also to a wide general readership. With over 400 illustrations of historical documents, beautiful examples of artistic heritage, and photographs and maps made to order, the book gives the art and culture of Liège the showcase it deserves. Aptly titled History of Liège: City, Capital, Metropolis, this overview enables us to experience the history and the art of the city and its surrounding territory - the former prince-bishopric of Liège. It also provides insight into the institutional challenges the city faces and its privileged position in the heart of Europe, a position that is the key to a promising future.

Liège deserves an up-to-date publication that does justice to its long, turbulent and rich history. Although continuous habitation began only in the 2nd century CE, with the building of a Roman villa, the oldest traces of human presence date back to prehistoric times. For a thousand years - from the early Middle Ages to the time of the French Revolution - the bishop of Liège ruled its surrounding territories, French-speaking and Dutch-speaking, as a prince of the Holy Roman Empire. In culture and language, however, the city leaned towards France: just one of the causes of the countless conflicts in which Liège became embroiled over the course of time. An even deeper source of friction was an irrepressible urge for independence. Added to this, long-running disputes between the prince, the cathedral chapter, the citizenry and powerful noble families regularly led to internal strife. After the Liège Revolution, which coincided with the French Revolution, there followed two centuries of wars, industrial and political revolutions, and painful recessions, but also new hope and new opportunities.

Liège, terre romane, sœur de France, capitale d'un Etat millenaire bilingue, membre du Saint-Empire romain, méritait un ouvrage à la hauteur de son histoire. Ce sera chose faite avec cette superbe publication dirigeé par Bruno Demoulin et rédigée par une équipe de professeurs, publiée à l'occasion des 200 ans de l'Université de Liège. Construit selon un ordre chronologique (partant de la pre´histoire pour aboutir à la renaissance urbaine actuelle), le livre offrira un aperçu historique de la cité et de sa région mais présentera également le fruit de réflexions sur les enjeux institutionnels actuels et la place privilégiée de Liège au cœur de l'Europe, gage d'un redressement futur prometteur. Ce « beau livre » permettra de mettre en valeur le patrimoine liégeois par le biais de nombreuses illustrations (plus de 350), telles que des documents d'époque, des reproductions de la tre`s riche production artistique liégeoise et un ensemble photographique réalisé spécialement pour ce projet.