A new Belgian member: Liege and the creation of a national history

When at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century the national history of Belgium was being written, the place of Liege proved problematic. The prince-bishopric had not been part of the (Burgundian, Spanish and Austrian) Netherlands until the end of the Ancien Regime. Therefore, unlike Flanders and Brabant, it could not play a central role in the national narrative with which the young Belgian state legitimized its existence historically. Yet Liege, precisely because of its sustained independence, had an interesting and grand history which, according to the national historians, contributed to the glory of the nation to which Liege now belonged. Moreover, the main characteristic attributed to the inhabitants of Liege and their history was also a central characteristic of the (romantic) national narrative of the Belgian nation: a longing for freedom. This allowed Liege's historians to stay true to their belief in the specificity of its history and, at the same time, represent the inhabitants of Liege as "the real founders of present-day Belgium".