Order and Architecture: Policing the City of Liège during the Chiroux–Grignoux Conflict

Between the 1620s and the 1650s, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was marked by episodes of civil unrest of varying intensity. In the broader context of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), two opposing factions emerged. On one side, the Chiroux supported Prince-Bishop Ferdinand of Bavaria and aligned themselves with the Habsburgs. Opposing them were the Grignoux, who positioned themselves as defenders of civil authority. They frequently placed themselves under the protection of the French monarchy and shared commercial, political, and religious interests with the Dutch Republic.
Drawing on recent collective research, I would like to propose a paper focusing on the spatial and architectural dimensions of order enforcement by urban and princely authorities during times of civil conflict. My presentation will be structured in two parts.
First, I will examine how a partisan city council sought to maintain public order in a city at war, using sources such as the recès issued by the Liège city council. I aim to explore how urban space was perceived both as a threat to be controlled and as a resource to be mobilized in the service of public safety. The second part of the paper will focus on the prince-bishop’s reassertion of control over the city, which took material form in the urban landscape through the construction project of a citadel on the heights of the city.