The Liege elect conquers. A paper on the relations between towns and governing elites in medieval low countries
Abstract
Uprisings in Dutch towns in the Middle Ages were nothing out of the ordinary. Towns in the area were economically powerful and their residents were often fully aware of their good position and acted in a rebellious manner.
Any efforts to control this area are thus framed by an effort to, in the better case, gain power over the local towns and their residents or, in the worse case, to gain their support, or at least to achieve some sort of modus vivendi. One of the many examples of conflict occurring between a lord and a town is the dispute between the elected bishop of Liège, John III of Bavaria, and the town of Liège.
At the age of only 17, John III of Bavaria, son of Albrecht I of the Bavarian-Straubing branch of the Wittelsbachs, ruler of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut, gained possession of Liège and its surroundings as the elected bishop. However, it is likely that he never attained the required degree of ordination and, as sources show, he rather lived a more secular life.
From the beginning, therefore, an uprising broke out against his rule, and John tried to maintain his position by force. The whole situation eventually escalated with the election of Thierry de Perwez, bishop of Liège in opposition.
The rebels and John and his supporters clashed at the Battle of Othée on 23 September 1408. John held an advantage over the rebels as he led a professional army and was supported by neighbouring dukes and counts, who often ranked among his close relatives and with whom he had long maintained close relations.
The insurgents were therefore defeated, and John, contrary to all customs of the time, subsequently had the leaders of the uprising killed. Although he managed to establish peace in Liège in the following years, he gave up the town a few years later and decided that he would rather fight for the inheritance from his older brother William IV of Bavaria.
This involved a complicated and protracted conflict between John and his niece Jacoba, which ended with John's death in 1425.