and the power of the gilds. Between this date and the outbreak of the French Revolution the chief efforts of the prince-bishops were directed to maintaining neutrality in the various wars, and preserving their territory from being ravaged by invading armies. They were only in part successful. Liége was taken by Marlborough in 1702, and the fortress was garrisoned by the Dutch until 1718. The French revolutionary armies overran the principality in 1792, and from 1794 to the fall of Napoleon it was annexed to France, and was known as the department of the Ourthe. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 decreed that Liége with the other provinces of the southern Netherlands should form part of the new kingdom of the Netherlands under the rule of William I., of the house of Orange. The town of Liége took an active part in the Belgian revolt of 1830, and since that date the ancient principality has been incorporated in the kingdom of Belgium.
The see, which at first bore the name of the bishopric of Tongres, was under the metropolitan jurisdiction of the archbishops of Cologne. The principality comprised besides the town of Liége and its district, the counties of Looz and Hoorn, the marquessate of Franchimont, and the duchy of Bouillon.
Authorities.—Théodore Bouille, Histoire de la ville et du pays de Liége (3 vols., Liége, 1725–1732); A. Borgnet, Histoire de la révolution liégeoise (2 vols., Liége, 1865); Baron B. C. de Gerlache, Histoire de Liége (Brussels, 1843); J. Daris, Histoire du diocèse et de la principauté de Liége (10 vols., Liége, 1868–1885); Ferdinand Henaux, Histoire du pays de Liége (2 vols., Liége, 1857); L. Polain, Histoire de l’ancien pays de Liége (2 vols., Liége, 1844–1847). For full bibliography see Ulysse Chevalier, Répertoire des sources historiques. Topo-bibliographie, s.v. (Montbéliard, 1900).
LIEGE, an adjective implying the mutual relationship of
a feudal superior and his vassal; the word is used as a substantive
of the feudal superior, more usually in this sense,
however, in the form “liege lord,” and also of the vassals, his
“lieges.” Hence the word is often used of the loyal subjects
of a sovereign, with no reference to feudal ties. It appears
that ligeitas or ligentia, the medieval Latin term for this relationship,
was restricted to a particular form of homage. According
to N. Broussel (Nouvel examen de l’usage général des fiefs en
France, 1727) the homage of a “liege” was a stronger form
of the ordinary homage, the especial distinction being that
while the ordinary vassal only undertook forty days’ military
service, the liege promised to serve as long as the war might
last, in which his superior was engaged (cf. Ducange, Glossarium,
s.v. “Ligius”).
The etymology of the word has been much discussed. It comes into English through the O. Fr. lige or liege, Med. Lat. ligius. This was early connected with the Lat. ligatus, bound, ligare, to bind, from the sense of the obligation of the vassal to his lord, but this has been generally abandoned. Broussel takes the Med. Lat. liga, i.e., foedus, confederatio, the English “league,” as the origin. Ducange connects it with the word lities, which appears in a gloss of the Salic law, and is defined as a scriptitius, servus glebae. The more usually accepted derivation is now from the Old High Ger. ledic, or ledig, meaning “free” (Mod. Ger. ledig means unoccupied, vacuus). This is confirmed by the occurrence in a charter of Otto of Benthem, 1253, of a word “ledigh-man” (quoted in Ducange, Glossarium, s.v.), Proinde affecti sumus ligius homo, quod Teutonice dictur Ledighman. Skeat, in explaining the application of “free” to such a relationship as that subsisting between a feudal superior and his vassal, says “’a liege lord’ seems to have been the lord of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all other obligations; their name being due to their freedom, not to their service” (Etym. Dict., ed. 1898). A. Luchaire (Manuel des institutions françaises, 1892, p. 189, n. 1) considers it difficult to call a man “free” who is under a strict obligation to another; further that the “liege” was not free from all obligation to a third party, for the charters prove without doubt that the “liege men” owed duty to more than one lord.
LIEGNITZ, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province
of Silesia, picturesquely situated on the Katzbach, just above
its junction with the Schwarzwasser, and 40 m. W.N.W, of
Breslau, on the main line of railway to Berlin via Sommerfeld.
Pop. (1885) 43,347, (1905) 59,710. It consists of an old town,
surrounded by pleasant, shady promenades, and several well-built
suburbs. The most prominent building is the palace,
formerly the residence of the dukes of Liegnitz, rebuilt after
a fire in 1835 and now used as the administrative offices of
the district. The Ritter Akademie, founded by the emperor
Joseph I. in 1708 for the education of the young Silesian nobles,
was reconstructed as a gymnasium in 1810. The Roman Catholic
church of St John, with two fine towers, contains the burial
vault of the dukes. The principal Lutheran church, that of
SS. Peter and Paul (restored in 1892–1894), dates from the
14th century. The manufactures are considerable, the chief
articles made being cloth, wool, leather, tobacco, pianos and
machinery. Its trade in grain and its cattle-markets are likewise
important. The large market gardens in the suburbs
grow vegetables of considerable annual value.
Liegnitz is first mentioned in an historical document in the year 1004. In 1163 it became the seat of the dukes of Liegnitz, who greatly improved and enlarged it. The dukes were members of the illustrious Piast family, which gave many kings to Poland. During the Thirty Years’ War Liegnitz was taken by the Swedes, but was soon recaptured by the Imperialists. The Saxon army also defeated the imperial troops near Liegnitz in 1634. On the death of the last duke of Liegnitz in 1675, the duchy came into the possession of the Empire, which retained it until the Prussian conquest of Silesia in 1742. On the 15th of August 1760 Frederick the Great gained a decisive victory near Liegnitz over the Austrians, and in August 1813 Blücher defeated the French in the neighbourhood at the battle of the Katzbach. During the 19th century Liegnitz rapidly increased in population and prosperity. In 1906 the German autumn manœuvres were held over the terrain formerly the scene of the great battles already mentioned.
See Schuchard, Die Stadt Liegnitz (Berlin, 1868); Sammter and Kraffert, Chronik von Liegnitz (Liegnitz, 1861–1873); Jander, Liegnitz in seinem Entwickelungsgange (Liegnitz, 1905); and Führer für Liegnitz und seine Umgebung (Liegnitz, 1897); and the Urkundenbuch der Stadt Liegnitz bis 1455, edited by Schirrmacher (Liegnitz, 1866).
LIEN, in law. The word lien is literally the French for a
band, cord or chain, and keeping in mind that meaning we
see in what respect it differs from a pledge on the one hand
and a mortgage on the other. It is the bond which attaches
a creditor’s right to a debtor’s property, but which gives no right
ad rem, i.e. to property in the thing; if the property is in the
possession of the creditor he may retain it, but in the absence
of statute he cannot sell to recover what is due to him without
the ordinary legal process against the debtor; and if it is not
in possession, the law would indeed assist him to seize the
property, and will hold it for him, and enable him to sell it in
due course and pay himself out of the proceeds, but does not
give him the property itself. It is difficult to say at what
period the term lien made its appearance in English law; it
probably came from more than one source. In fact, it was used
as a convenient phrase for any right against the owner of property
in regard to the property not specially defined by other better
recognized species of title.
The possessory lien of a tradesman for work done on the thing, of a carrier for his hire, and of an innkeeper for his bill, would seem to be an inherent right which must have been in existence from the dawn, or before the dawn, of civilization. Probably the man who made or repaired weapons in the Stone Age was careful not to deliver them until he received what was stipulated for, but it is also probable that the term itself resulted from the infusion of the civil law of Rome into the common law of England which the Norman Conquest brought about, and that it represents the “tacit pledge” of the civil law. As might be expected, so far as the possessory lien is concerned the common law and civil law, and probably the laws of all countries, whether civilized or not, coincide; but there are many differences with respect to other species of lien. For instance, by the common
