Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy
50°23′N 5°56′E / 50.383°N 5.933°E
Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy
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| 651–1795 | |||||||||
Stavelot-Malmedy, as at 1560, within the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle | |||||||||
| Status | Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Stavelot | ||||||||
| Government | Elective principality | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Malmedy abb. founded | 648 | ||||||||
• Stavelot abbey founded | 651 | ||||||||
• Abbot Poppo of Deinze | 1020–48 | ||||||||
• Abbot Wibald | 1130–58 | ||||||||
| 1794 | |||||||||
• Creation of Ourthe | 1795 | ||||||||
| 9 June 1815 | |||||||||
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| Today part of | Belgium | ||||||||
* Stavelot to United Kingdom of the Netherlands; Malmedy to Prussian province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. | |||||||||
The Princely Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy, also Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, sometimes known with its German name Stablo, 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. 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 Netherlands, later the Austrian Netherlands, which after 1500 were assigned to the Burgundian Circle while the principalities were assigned to the Lower Rhenish Imperial Circle.
As a prince-abbot, the abbot of Stavelot-Malmedy sat on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet alongside the prince-bishops. Along with the handful of other prince-abbots, he cast a full vote (votum virile), in contrast to the majority of imperial abbots who were only entitled to collectively determine the votes of their respective curial benches.
In 1795, the principality was abolished and its territory was incorporated into the French département of Ourthe. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 assigned Stavelot to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Malmedy became part of the Prussian district of Eupen-Malmedy. Both are currently parts of the Kingdom of Belgium—since the 1830 Belgian Revolution and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, respectively (Malmedy annexed to Belgium in 1925). In 1921 the Abbey church of Malmedy became the Cathedral of the short-lived Diocese of Eupen-Malmedy.