Liugas, Leuwa-gau, or Luihgau , was a small pagus or gau from the late 8th to mid-11th centuries, east of the Meuse (or Maas) river roughly between Liège , Maastricht , and Aachen , an area where Germany , Belgium and the Netherlands meet today. There were only a small number of mentions made of this territory, all between 779 and 1059.
46-595: Much of Liugas was located in the modern Belgian province of Liège in Belgium and South Limburg in the Netherlands. Based on some of the many spelling variants, it was traditionally believed to have been named after the nearby city of Liège . This is now seen as incorrect by modern scholars. It was administered by one or more counts . There are two counts associated with the area in the 10th century, Sigehard and Richar. After 1000 there are also some records which indicate that
92-463: A Count Theobald or Thibaut held a county there. After him, the area was divided into new jurisdictions such as those based in Valkenburg , Limbourg-sur-Vesdre , Voeren and Dalhem . The etymologies of both Liège and Liugas/Luihga are uncertain, but they are unlikely to be related. The etymology of Liège is believed to derive from Proto-Germanic *liudiz , originally meaning "people" or "folk", which
138-636: A council of East Frankish nobility to depose emperor Charles the Fat , who by 884 had succeeded to the thrones of all the kingdoms of the Empire. The Lotharingian aristocracy, in an attempt to assert its right to elect a sovereign, joined the other East Frankish nobles in deposing Charles the Fat in 887 and elected Arnulf as their king. The rule of Arnulf in East Francia was initially opposed by Guy III of Spoleto , who became king of Italy, and by Rudolph I of Burgundy , who
184-459: A dental consonant -d- (Leodensis etc) until about 980, when Lethgia and Ledgia appear, followed by occasional forms such as Legia , although spelling with -d- continued to dominate. The pagus has been found in records from the 8th to the 11th century. The places named as being in the pagus are on the eastern side of the river Meuse, between Liège and the nearby imperial capital in Aachen , which
230-483: A minor, went Provence . To the middle son, Lothair II , went the remaining territories to the north of Provence, a kingdom which lacked ethnic or linguistic unity. Lothair II ruled from Aachen and did not venture outside his kingdom. When he died in 869, Lothair II left no legitimate children, but one illegitimate son - Hugh, Duke of Alsace . His uncles, king of East Francia Louis the German and West Francia Charles
276-501: A nephew ( nepos ), of Duke Godefried who he replaced in Hainaut. (He was described as a nepos by Godefried's brother Bishop Wicfried of Cologne, after Richar died in an attack on him.) He is thus likely to be a member of the so-called "Matfried" noble clan ( de ). According to Eduard Hlawitschka ( de ) Werner and Reynald were probably brothers of Richar. After the death of Richar, Werner and Reynald, an equivalent position of count in Hainaut
322-594: A population of 1.12 million as of January 2024. The modern borders of the province of Liège date from 1795, which saw the unification of the Principality of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège with the revolutionary French Department of the Ourthe (sometimes spelled Ourte). (Parts of the old Principality of Liège also went into new French départements Meuse-Inférieure , and Sambre-et-Meuse .) The province of Ourthe, as it
368-709: A result of the Treaty of Versailles , were absorbed into the province of Liège. In World War II , Liège was the site of major fighting during the Battle of the Bulge . There, the Germans orchestrated their final offensive move against the combined Allied armies. Malmedy and Saint-Vith in particular saw intense battles against the Nazis . Malmedy was the site of a Waffen-SS massacre of U.S. Army prisoners of war. Liège's heavy industry thrived in
414-651: A total of 84 municipalities. The Province of Liège is divided into four administrative arrondissements: Municipalities that have city status have a (city) behind their name. Nine municipalities of Liège form the German-speaking Community of Belgium . From north to south they are: Kelmis (43), Lontzen (48), Raeren (60), Eupen (27), Bütgenbach (17), Büllingen (14), Amel (2), Sankt Vith (64), and Burg-Reuland (16) municipalities. Malmedy (49) and Waimes (80) are municipalities with language facilities for German speakers. The other municipalities of Liège are part of
460-449: Is in what is now Germany . Vanderkindere believed the territory must have approximated the late medieval church deanery of St Remacle. As summarized by Ulrich Nonn, up to the year 900: Sigehard (attested 902–920), is presumed to be the same Lotharingian count mentioned holding lands in the Pagus of Hainaut in this period, in 908 and 920. Once again using Nonn: Once again continuing
506-701: Is the easternmost province of the Wallonia region of Belgium . Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the Dutch province of Limburg , the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate , the Luxembourgish canton of Clervaux , the Belgian Walloon (French-speaking) provinces of Luxembourg , Namur and Walloon Brabant and
SECTION 10
#1733085786712552-682: The French Community of Belgium . Lotharingia Lotharingia was a medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire . It comprised present-day Lorraine (France), Luxembourg , Saarland (Germany), Netherlands , most of Belgium , and Germany west of the Rhine . It was named after King Lothair II , who received this territory as his share of the Kingdom of Middle Francia which his father, Lothair I , had held. Lotharingia resulted from
598-569: The German advance through Belgium , giving time to construct trenches in Flanders which subsequently saw some of the worst fighting of that war. It also saw some of the war's worst civilian casualties as the Imperial German Army performed collective punishments against local villagers for acts of resistance. In 1925 the East Cantons and Neutral Moresnet , that had become part of Belgium as
644-785: The Kingdom of Prussia . Liège University scholars helped to write the new Dutch constitution after the Napoleonic Wars . Despite these contributions there was a widespread perception among the people of Liège that they were discriminated against by the Dutch government due to religious and language differences. In September 1830, rumors spread of a revolt in Brussels to expel the Dutch. Liège intellectuals responded to these events by contacting Walloon scholars living in Paris to discuss Belgian independence. A militia
690-399: The 1950s and 1960s but has been in decline since that time. Nevertheless, Liège remains the last city of Wallonia to maintain a functioning steel industry. Liège continues to be the economic and cultural capital of Wallonia, with its university, medieval heritage and heavy industry . [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the province
736-469: The Bald (who wanted to rule the whole of Lotharingia) agreed to divide Lotharingia between them with the 870 Treaty of Meerssen - the western half went to West Francia and the eastern half to East Francia. Thus, Lotharingia, as a united kingdom, ceased to exist for some years. In 876, Charles the Bald invaded eastern Lotharingia with the intent to capture it, but was defeated near Andernach by Louis's son, Louis
782-468: The Bald , was born to Louis's second wife Judith of Bavaria in 823. When Louis tried in 833 to re-divide the empire for the benefit of Charles, he met with opposition from his adult sons, Lothair , Pepin , and Louis . A decade of civil war and fluctuating alliances followed, punctuated by brief periods of peace. Pepin died in 838, and Louis the Pious in 840. The remaining three brothers made peace and divided
828-547: The Belgian Flemish (Dutch-speaking) provinces of Flemish Brabant and Limburg . Part of the eastern-most area of the province, bordering Germany , is the German-speaking region of Eupen-Malmedy , which became part of Belgium in the aftermath of World War I . The capital and the largest city of the province is the city of the same name, Liège . The province has an area of 3,857 km (1,489 sq mi), and
874-542: The Empire with the 843 Treaty of Verdun . Lothair, as the eldest, kept the imperial title and received a long strip of territories stretching from the North Sea to southern Italy. The logic of the division was that Lothair had the crown of the Kingdom of Italy , which had been his subkingdom under Louis the Pious , and that as emperor he should rule in Aachen , the capital of the first Carolingian emperor, Charlemagne , and in Rome ,
920-550: The Frankish kingdoms along the Meuse, is the only record which indicates a left-bank part to the county, but this document also explicitly doesn't include Liège in Liugas. The main part which is on the eastern side is referred to as an appurtenance of Visé , not Liège. As Nonn explains, his was chief town of the jurisdiction of St Remacle, and had a jurisdiction on the west side of the river which
966-471: The Great and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois at Attigny in 942. The weak Louis IV had no choice but to agree to Otto's continued suzerainty over Lotharingia. In 944, West Francia invaded Lotharingia, but retreated after Otto I responded with mobilization of a large army under Herman I, Duke of Swabia . In 953, Duke Conrad rebelled against Otto I, and was removed from power and replaced by Otto's brother Bruno
SECTION 20
#17330857867121012-409: The Great , who finally pacified Lotharingia in 959 by dividing it into Lotharingia superior (Upper Lorraine or Southern Lorraine) under Frederick I , and Lotharingia inferior (Lower Lotharingia, Lower Lorraine or Northern Lotharingia) under Godfrey I . In 978, king Lothair of West Francia invaded the region and captured Aachen , but Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor , counterattacked and reached
1058-454: The Latin term Lotharingia (from the Latin suffix -ia , indicating a country) in the 10th century. Later French terms such as "Lorraine" and "Lothier" are derived from the Latin term. In 817, Emperor Louis the Pious made plans for division of the Carolingian Empire among his three sons after his death. Unforeseen in 817 was a further heir besides Louis's three grown sons. A fourth son, Charles
1104-535: The West Franks, since their king Rudolph was weak and would interfere less in local affairs. In 939, Henry's son and successor, Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor , invaded Lotharingia, and at the Battle of Andernach defeated Gilbert who drowned trying to flee across the Rhine. The dukes of Lotharingia were thereafter royal appointees. Henry I, Duke of Bavaria was duke for two years, followed in 941 by duke Otto , who, in 944,
1150-616: The Younger . In 879, Louis the Younger was invited by a faction of the West Frankish nobility to succeed king Louis the Stammerer , Charles's son, on the throne of West Francia. After a brief war, Louis the Stammerer's young sons, Carloman II and Louis III , ceded western Lotharingia to Louis. The border between the two kingdoms was established at Saint-Quentin in 880 by the Treaty of Ribemont . In November 887, Arnulf of Carinthia called
1196-521: The ancient capital of emperors. Middle Francia (Latin Francia media ) thus included all the land between Aachen and Rome, and it has sometimes been called by historians the "Lotharingian axis". In 855, when Lothair I was dying in Prüm Abbey , he divided his kingdom among his three sons with the Treaty of Prüm . To the eldest son, Louis II , went Italy, with the imperial title. To the youngest, Charles , still
1242-406: The listing by Nonn: Richar (died in 972), also took over the county of Mons , in the pagus of Hainaut , when it's count Godefried died. After he died, two other Lotharingian nobles were killed defending Hainaut from Reginar IV , who was attempting to claim lands his father Reginar III once had. They were Count Werner and his brother, Reynald . Richar was a close relative, probably
1288-616: The places mentioned above, still named as being in the county of Diepold, is described as being in the Ardennes ( pagus Harduenne ) instead. Also speculated to have had comital (or similar) status have been: In the area of the pagus of Liugas, the counties of Dalhem ( fr )( nl ) and Limburg developed in the 11th and 12th centuries. Li%C3%A8ge Province Liège ( French: [ljɛʒ] ; Walloon : Lîdje [liːtʃ] ; Dutch : Luik [lœyk] ; German : Lüttich [ˈlʏtɪç] )
1334-448: The term " Lüttichgau ", Lüttich being the German name of Liège. And in other languages such as English there are also occasional references to a "County of Liège". However, the medieval Dutch name of Liège was Ludic , Lutike , Lutke etc. While Liège is on the west bank of the Meuse, all the places in Luigas are in the countryside east of it. The treaty of Meerssen in 870, which divided
1380-661: The title Duke of Lothier (derived from "Lotharingia"). With the disappearance of a "lower" Lorraine, the duchy of Upper Lorraine became the primary referent for "Lorraine" within the Holy Roman Empire . After centuries of French invasions and occupations, Lorraine was finally ceded to France at the close of the War of the Polish Succession (1737). In 1766, the duchy was inherited by the French crown and became Lorraine . In 1871, after
1426-419: The traditional explanation of Liugas as a "Liège gau". In contrast, in 1902, the influential Belgian historian Léon Vanderkindere argued that it could not be a mere coincidence that the names were so similar, and referred to the pagus as Luihgau , emphasizing the similarity of " Luih " with the modern Dutch name of Liège, " Luik ". As a result of such reasoning, German scholars traditionally tended to use
Pagus of Liugas - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-490: The tripartite division in 855 of the kingdom of Middle Francia, which itself was formed after the threefold division of the Carolingian Empire by the Treaty of Verdun of 843. Conflict between East and West Francia over Lotharingia was based on the fact that these were the old Frankish homelands of Austrasia , so possession of them was a matter of great prestige as true claimant of Frankish imperial legacy. Lotharingia
1518-530: The walls of Paris. In 980, Lothair renounced his rights to Lotharingia. Except for one brief period (1033–44, under Gothelo I ), the division was never reversed and the margraves soon raised their separate fiefs into duchies. In the twelfth century the ducal authority in Lower Lotharingia (or Lower Lorraine) fragmented, causing the formation of the Duchy of Limburg and the Duchy of Brabant , whose rulers retained
1564-506: Was 31.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 6.9% of Belgium's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 25,200 € or 84% of the EU27 average in the same year. GDP per person employed was 108% of the EU27 average. The province has an area of 3,857 square kilometres (1,489 sq mi), which is divided into four administrative districts ( arrondissements in French ) containing
1610-539: Was a root with many derived meanings, such as "vassals". Concerning the pagus name, scholar Maurice Gysseling reconstructed the name as "Leuwa". Ernst thought its real name was Louva or Luvia , or the Pagus Luvensis . In Latin medieval records the pagus or county is never referred to simply as the Pagus Leodicensis or Leodiensis , which would be the normal way to name a pagus or gau of Liège. Liège itself
1656-537: Was captured and imprisoned by Heribert II of Vermandois until his death in 929. In 923, king Henry the Fowler of East Francia used this opportunity and invaded Lotharingia (including Alsace ). In 925, Lotharingians under Gilbert elected Henry the Fowler to be their king. In 930, Gilbert's loyalty was rewarded and he received the prestigious hand of Henry's daughter Gerberga in marriage. On Henry's death in 936, Gilbert rebelled and tried to swap Lotharingian allegiance to
1702-470: Was elected king in the southern half of former Middle Francia - Upper Burgundy . Rudolph had intended to make himself king over the whole of Lothair II's former kingdom, but had to be content with Burgundia. Arnulf defeated the Vikings in 891 and dislodged them from their settlements at Louvain. In 895, he appointed his illegitimate son Zwentibold as the king of Lotharingia who ruled semi-independently until he
1748-661: Was elected king of East Francia in 911, Lotharingian nobles under the new duke Reginar voted to attach their duchy to West Francia, still ruled by the Carolingian dynasty. In 915, Charles the Simple rewarded him by granting him the title of margrave . Reginar was succeeded by his son Gilbert who used the title dux Lotharingiae : "duke of Lotharingia". When the West Franks deposed Charles in 922, he remained king in Lotharingia, from where he attempted to reconquer his kingdom in 923. He
1794-420: Was followed by Conrad . Lotharingia was turned into a junior stem duchy whose dukes had a vote in royal elections. While the other stem duchies had tribal or historic identities, Lotharingia's identity was solely political. King Louis IV of West Francia tried to maintain a claim to Lotharingia by marrying Gilbert's widow and Otto's sister Gerberga. In his turn, Otto I accepted homage from West Francia's Hugh
1840-612: Was formed to press these demands led by Charlier "Wooden Leg" leading (eventually) to the formation of an independent Kingdom of Belgium . In the 19th century, the province was an early center of the Industrial Revolution . Its rich coal deposits and steel factories helped Belgium to form the basis of the region's increasing economic power. During the 20th century, due to Liège's borders with Germany, it saw fierce fighting in both World Wars. In World War I , Liège's strong line of reinforced concrete military forts temporarily halted
1886-501: Was known as regnum quondam Lotharii or regnum Lotharii ("kingdom [once] Lothair's") and its inhabitants Lotharii (from Lotharius ), Lotharienses (from Lothariensis ), or Lotharingi (which gives the modern Dutch, German, and Luxembourgish names for the province Lotharingen, Lothringen, and Lothringen respectively). The latter term, formed with the Germanic suffix -ing , indicating ancestral or familial relationships, gave rise to
Pagus of Liugas - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-524: Was known then, was under French control during the reign of Napoleon , who visited the city during one of his campaigns. Napoleon ordered the destruction of its vineyards in order to prevent the Liège wine industry from competing with those elsewhere in France . Following Napoleon's fall from power in 1815, Liège became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands , while eastern half of modern Verviers became part of
1978-471: Was nearby, but not within it. It was described in medieval records as being within a different pagus , called Hasbania ( Hesbaye ). Since at least the 19th century, scholars including Godefroid Kurth have doubted the traditional explanation of the name Liugas as being derived from the name of the city Liège, though it was the dominant centre of power in the area. In the 20th century historians such as Manfred Van Rey and Ulrich Nonn have continued to question
2024-500: Was overthrown and killed by Reginar on August 13, 900. The kingdom then ceased to exist and became a duchy. The young king of East Francia Louis the Child appointed Gebhard to be the duke of Lotharingia in 903. His title was recorded in contemporary Latin as dux regni quod a multis Hlotharii dicitur : "duke of the kingdom that many call Lothair's". He died in 910 fighting Hungarian invaders . When non-Carolingian Conrad I of Germany
2070-422: Was presumably divided from it by the treaty. The treaty also used quite different spellings for the two jurisdictions: Sancti Laurentii Leudensi ("[of] St Lawrence of Liège") and Liugas . The medieval records consistently spell the pagus name in a wide range of ways, using -ch-, -k-, -g-, -v-, -w- (for example Leukro, Liugas, Luviensi, Liwensi ), never with a -d- or -t-. The city, on the other hand, always had
2116-510: Was taken up by another relative named Godefried, Godefried the Captive , whose mother was a sister of the earlier Duke Godefried, and Bishop Wicfried of Cologne. In the 11th century, the following records are relevant. From 1041 there was a count named Dietbold or Tietpald, generally modernized to Theubald or Thibaut, whose possessions were closer to Aachen than the earlier records: In 1072 and 1098, Harne , which Ernst interprets as Walhorn, one of
#711288