LIEGE (Walloon, Lige, Flemish, Luik, Ger. Liittich), capital of the Belgian province of Liege, on the Meuse, long the seat of a prince-bishopric, the centre of the Walloon country.
The great cathedral of St. Lambert was destroyed in 1794, and in 1802 the church of St. Paul, dating from the 1 oth century but rebuilt in the i3th, was declared the cathedral. The law courts are installed in the old palace of the prince-bishops, constructed between 1508 and 1540. The university has separate schools for mines and arts and manufactures.
Liege had a population in of 165,631, and is the centre of the iron and armament manufacture of Belgium and of a coal mining district. The production of zinc and of motor-cars has also become important. Of the 56 blast furnaces in the country in 1925 Liege had 20. There is also a large cattle market. Suburbs have arisen on the heights to the north, and a circular boulevard has been laid out with connecting roads.
Liege first appears in history about the year 558, at which date St. Monulph, bishop of Tongres, built a chapel near the confluence of the Meuse and the Legia. A century later the town, which had grown up round this chapel, became the favourite abode of St. Lambert, bishop of Tongres, and here he was assassinated. His successor, St. Hubert, raised a splendid church over the tomb of the martyred bishop about 72o and made Liege his residence. It was not, however, until about 93o that the title bishop of Tongres was abandoned for that of bishop of Liege. The episco pate of Notger (972-1008) was marked by large territorial ac quisitions, and the see obtained recognition as an independent principality of the empire. The popular saying was "Liege owes Notger to God, and everything else to Notger." By the munificent encouragement of successive bishops Liege became famous dur ing the nth century as a centre of learning, but the history of the town for centuries records little else than the continuous struggles of the citizens to free themselves from the exactions of their episcopal sovereigns, the aid of the emperor and of the dukes of Brabant being frequently called in to repress the popular risings.
On Aug. 5, 1914, immediately after the outbreak of the World War, the 3rd division of the Belgian army, which was entrenched within the fortified area of Liege, trusting to the fortifications of the town, withstood two attacks of the German armee de la Meuse. The town, subjected to a short bombardment, was occu pied on Aug. 7 by German troops, while the 3rd division retired. The 12 forts, surrounding the city, were bombarded by Austrian 3o.5 and 42 cm. howitzers, and the last of them fell on Aug. 16.