The second town of the principality, on the Meuse at the mouth of the Hoyoux, holder of the oldest town charter in the Empire (1066, granted by Bishop Theoduin), with the collegiate church of Notre-Dame and a bishop's castle on the rock.
Hainaut's men besieged it in the election war of 1194-1195.
Who holds it
- Name
- Albert of Cuyck
- Title
- Bishop of Liege
- Since
- 1194-1196
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Cuijk
- Confidence
- high
General accounts
Lord in 1200
The bishop, with his castle on the rock over the Meuse.
How things stand that morning
The bishop's, at peace.
Charter
The charter of 1066 from Bishop Theoduin, granting the burgesses liberties in return for their contribution to the rebuilding of the collegiate church: the oldest surviving town charter of the Empire.
Council
Echevins under the bishop's officer.
Militia
Town levy; besieged by Hainaut in 1194-1195.
Walls and castle
The castle on the rock; town walls (dates not pinned).
Trade and crafts
Copper and brass work, cloth, wine on the slopes, Meuse trade; men of Huy traded to London long before 1200.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The 1066 charter is a textbook fact; 1200 institutions are thin.
Primary sources for Liege
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Reiner of Saint James, Liège, Reiner of Liège (1197 to 1230, kept year by year). Contemporary annals kept inside Liège. Read online
- Royal Chronicle of Cologne (in stages from about 1175 to about 1250; the section on 1198 to 1220 written soon after the events). The fullest German narrative of the throne war from the Welf and Cologne side. Read online
- Chronicle of Hainaut, Gislebert of Mons (about 1195 to 1196). Ends in 1195, so it has no 1200 entries, but it is the indispensable background for Flanders and Hainaut: the career of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut (VIII of Flanders), his union of the two counties, the settlement with Philip over Artois, the rights, castles, fiefs and vassals of Hainaut listed by a man who ran its chancery, and the youth of Baldwin IX, who held both counties in 1200. Read online
- Dialogue on Miracles, Caesarius of Heisterbach (about 1219 to 1223). Not a chronicle but a Cistercian's book of exempla, full of stories about Cologne, the Rhineland and the Low Countries around 1200: the throne war, usurers, heretics, crusade preachers, knights and townsmen, monks and recruits at Heisterbach, founded in 1189. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.