enjoyed eligibility to office as well as the franchise. The tenure of
office being for one year only, there was opportunity for frequent
participation in public affairs, an opportunity not neglected by the
community.[2]

The bishop was, of course, not one of the civic officers chosen by
this liberal franchise. He was elected by the chapter of St. Lambert,
subject to papal and imperial ratification for the two spheres of his
jurisdiction. But in the exercise of his function there were many
restrictions to his free administration, which papal and imperial
sanction together were unable to remove.

A bishop-prince of Liege could make no change in the laws without the
consent of the estates, and he could administer justice only by means
of the regular tribunals. Every edict had to be countersigned. When
there was an issue between overlord and people, the question was
submitted to the _schepens_ or superior judges who, before they gave
their opinion, consulted the various charters which had been granted
from time to time, and which were not allowed to become dead letters.
A permanent committee of the three orders supervised the executive and
the administration of the laws. These "twenty-two" received an appeal
from the meanest citizen, and the Liege proverb "In his own home the
poor man is king," was very near the possible truth.

Yet the wheels of government were by no means perfect in their
running. Many were the conflicts between the different members of the
state, and broils, with the character of civil war in miniature, were
of frequent occurrence. The submergence of the aristocratic element,
the nobles, destroyed a natural balance of power between the
bishop-prince and the people. The commons exerted power beyond their