Le pouvoir communal et l'émancipation urbaine au XVe siècle : le cas de la ville de Liège (1400-1455)
The city of Liege, in the late Middle Ages, witnessed the assertions of its bourgeois through their guilds and municipal institutions. The fourteenth century was indeed marked by significant gains for the municipal power at the expense of the urban patriciate on one hand and of the prince-bishop of Liege on the other hand. From 1384, the Council of Liege, entirely in the hands of the craftsmen, possessed extensive powers in the administration and management of the city. However, the growth of the power of these bourgeois was suddenly stopped for a decade after their defeat in Othee in 1408. This thesis discusses the evolution of communal power in Liege during the first half of the fifteenth century, less well known by historians. The study of the chronicle of Jean de Stavelot can highlight this troubled period. The defeat of Othee, as well as reforms imposed by prince-bishops, caused notably dramatic changes. Political parties also entered the scene and the neighboring presence of the powerful Duke of Burgundy influenced the lives of the bourgeois of Liege. These features of the political and social context are factors which influenced the willingness of the bourgeois’ assertion and the exercise of communal power in Liege.
Liege fifteenth century guilds municipal institutions urban power relations prince-ville prince-city relationship Jean de Stavelot Jean of Stavelot