Imperial abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy | ||||||||||
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Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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Stavelot-Malmedy, as at 1560, within the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle
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Capital | Stavelot | |||||||||
Government | Principality | |||||||||
Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
• | Malmedy abb. founded | 648 | ||||||||
• | Stavelot abbey founded | 651 | ||||||||
• | Abbot Poppo of Deinze | 1020–48 | ||||||||
• | Abbot Wibald | 1130–58 | ||||||||
• | Annexed by France | 1794 | ||||||||
• | Creation of Ourthe | 1795 | ||||||||
• | Congress of Vienna* | 9 June 1815 | ||||||||
Area | 600 km² (232 sq mi) | |||||||||
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* Stavelot to United Kingdom of the Netherlands; Malmedy to Prussian province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. |
Coordinates: 50°23′N 5°56′E / 50.383°N 5.933°E
The Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Benedictine abbot of the imperial double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy, founded in 651. At 600 km2 (230 sq mi), it was among the smaller territories in the Empire. Along with the Duchy of Bouillon and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, it was one of only three principalities of the Southern Netherlands that were never part of the Spanish (later, Austrian) Netherlands, all having been a part of the Lower Rhenish Imperial Circle, rather than the Burgundian Circle.