François-Charles de Velbrück

François Charles de Velbrück (1719, Chateau de Garath, near Düsseldorf – 1784, Château de Hex, near Tongres) was a German ecclesiastic. He was prince bishop of Liege from 16 February 1772 to 1784. In 1735, Velbrück was made a prébende de chanoine-tréfoncier at the Cathédrale Saint-Lambert de Liège. A year later he was received onto the cathedral chapter by procuration. He was made archdeacon of Hesbaye, then officer of the Scel des Grâces in 1756. A year later he was put in charge of a diplomatic mission to the court at Vienna. In 1759 he became grand master of the palace and prime minister to John Theodore of Bavaria, then bishop of Liège and the head of a sumptuous court. Velbrück was also made a prébende de chanoine at Munster Cathedral in 1757 and in 1765 Louis XV of France gave him command of the royal abbey of Saint-Nicolas at Cheminon, Champagne. This exceptional diplomatic and ecclesiastical career made him the only possible candidate for bishop of Liège at the 1772 elections for that role. His reign saw the birth of several social, artistic and intellectual initiatives. As an 'enlightened despot' receptive to the progressive ideas arising in the last decades of France's Ancien Régime, he tried to introduce Enlightenment ideas to the Principality of Liège, but a lack of money or power meant that these projects were not always successful. A certain lethargy and narrowness of vision then reigned in the Principality, preventing any real progress. He made several attempts to combat poverty and class inequality but was unable to make a real difference to the deplorable situation. He tried to make changes in several areas, such as public health by setting up the Hôpital général Saint-Léonard as a place where the needy would be welcomed and assisted, a free midwifery course and establishments to combat disease. Velbrück also reformed education, making it open to all by creating free charity schools for poor children and an Education Plan for the Youth of the Country of Liège.