LIEGE, an adjective implying the mutual relationship of a feudal superior and his vassal; the word is used as a substantive of the feudal superior, more usually in this sense, however, in the form “liege lord,” and also of the vassals, his “lieges.” Hence the word is often used of the loyal subjects of a sovereign, with no reference to feudal ties. It appears that ligeitas or ligentia, the medieval Latin term for this relationship, was restricted to a particular form of homage. According to N. Broussel (Nouvel examen de l’usage général des fiefs en France, 1727) the homage of a “liege” was a stronger form of the ordinary homage, the especial distinction being that while the ordinary vassal only undertook forty days’ military service, the liege promised to serve as long as the war might last, in which his superior was engaged (cf. Ducange, Glossarium, s.v. “Ligius”).
The etymology of the word has been much discussed. It comes into English through the O. Fr. lige or liege, Med. Lat. ligius. This was early connected with the Lat. ligatus, bound, ligare, to bind, from the sense of the obligation of the vassal to his lord, but this has been generally abandoned. Broussel takes the Med. Lat. liga, i.e., foedus, confederatio, the English “league,” as the origin. Ducange connects it with the word lities, which appears in a gloss of the Salic law, and is defined as a scriptitius, servus glebae. The more usually accepted derivation is now from the Old High Ger. ledic, or ledig, meaning “free” (Mod. Ger. ledig means unoccupied, vacuus). This is confirmed by the occurrence in a charter of Otto of Benthem, 1253, of a word “ledigh-man” (quoted in Ducange, Glossarium, s.v.), Proinde affecti sumus ligius homo, quod Teutonice dictur Ledighman. Skeat, in explaining the application of “free” to such a relationship as that subsisting between a feudal superior and his vassal, says “’a liege lord’ seems to have been the lord of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all other obligations; their name being due to their freedom, not to their service” (Etym. Dict., ed. 1898). A. Luchaire (Manuel des institutions françaises, 1892, p. 189, n. 1) considers it difficult to call a man “free” who is under a strict obligation to another; further that the “liege” was not free from all obligation to a third party, for the charters prove without doubt that the “liege men” owed duty to more than one lord.
LIEGNITZ, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, picturesquely situated on the Katzbach, just above its junction with the Schwarzwasser, and 40 m. W.N.W, of Breslau, on the main line of railway to Berlin via Sommerfeld. Pop. (1885) 43,347, (1905) 59,710. It consists of an old town, surrounded by pleasant, shady promenades, and several well-built suburbs. The most prominent building is the palace, formerly the residence of the dukes of Liegnitz, rebuilt after a fire in 1835 and now used as the administrative offices of the district. The Ritter Akademie, founded by the emperor Joseph I. in 1708 for the education of the young Silesian nobles, was reconstructed as a gymnasium in 1810. The Roman Catholic church of St John, with two fine towers, contains the burial vault of the dukes. The principal Lutheran church, that of SS. Peter and Paul (restored in 1892-1894), dates from the 14th century. The manufactures are considerable, the chief articles made being cloth, wool, leather, tobacco, pianos and machinery. Its trade in grain and its cattle-markets are likewise important. The large market gardens in the suburbs grow vegetables of considerable annual value.
Liegnitz is first mentioned in an historical document in the year 1004. In 1163 it became the seat of the dukes of Liegnitz, who greatly improved and enlarged it. The dukes were members of the illustrious Piast family, which gave many kings to Poland. During the Thirty Years’ War Liegnitz was taken by the Swedes, but was soon recaptured by the Imperialists. The Saxon army also defeated the imperial troops near Liegnitz in 1634. On the death of the last duke of Liegnitz in 1675, the duchy came into the possession of the Empire, which retained it until the Prussian conquest of Silesia in 1742. On the 15th of August 1760 Frederick the Great gained a decisive victory near Liegnitz over the Austrians, and in August 1813 Blücher defeated the French in the neighbourhood at the battle of the Katzbach. During the 19th century Liegnitz rapidly increased in population and prosperity. In 1906 the German autumn manœuvres were held over the terrain formerly the scene of the great battles already mentioned.
See Schuchard, Die Stadt Liegnitz (Berlin, 1868); Sammter and Kraffert, Chronik von Liegnitz (Liegnitz, 1861-1873); Jander, Liegnitz in seinem Entwickelungsgange (Liegnitz, 1905); and Führer für Liegnitz und seine Umgebung (Liegnitz, 1897); and the Urkundenbuch der Stadt Liegnitz bis 1455, edited by Schirrmacher (Liegnitz, 1866).
LIEN, in law. The word lien is literally the French for a band, cord or chain, and keeping in mind that meaning we see in what respect it differs from a pledge on the one hand and a mortgage on the other. It is the bond which attaches a creditor’s right to a debtor’s property, but which gives no right ad rem, i.e. to property in the thing; if the property is in the possession of the creditor he may retain it, but in the absence of statute he cannot sell to recover what is due to him without the ordinary legal process against the debtor; and if it is not in possession, the law would indeed assist him to seize the property, and will hold it for him, and enable him to sell it in due course and pay himself out of the proceeds, but does not give him the property itself. It is difficult to say at what period the term lien made its appearance in English law; it probably came from more than one source. In fact, it was used as a convenient phrase for any right against the owner of property in regard to the property not specially defined by other better recognized species of title.
The possessory lien of a tradesman for work done on the thing, of a carrier for his hire, and of an innkeeper for his bill, would seem to be an inherent right which must have been in existence from the dawn, or before the dawn, of civilization. Probably the man who made or repaired weapons in the Stone Age was careful not to deliver them until he received what was stipulated for, but it is also probable that the term itself resulted from the infusion of the civil law of Rome into the common law of England which the Norman Conquest brought about, and that it represents the “tacit pledge” of the civil law. As might be expected, so far as the possessory lien is concerned the common law and civil law, and probably the laws of all countries, whether civilized or not, coincide; but there are many differences with respect to other species of lien. For instance, by the common law—in this respect a legacy of the feudal system—a landlord has a lien over his tenant’s furniture and effects for rent due, which can be enforced without the assistance of the law simply by the landlord taking possession, personally or by his agent, and selling enough to satisfy his claim; whereas the maritime lien is more distinctly the product of the civil law, and is only found and used in admiralty proceedings, the high court of admiralty having been founded upon the civil law, and still (except so far as restrained by the common-law courts prior to the amalgamation and co-ordination of the various courts by the Judicature Acts, and as affected by statute law) acting upon it. The peculiar effects of this maritime lien are discussed below. There is also a class of liens, usually called equitable liens (e.g. that of an unpaid vendor of real property over the property sold), which are akin to the nature of the civil law rather than of the common law. The word lien does not frequently occur in statute law, but it is found in the extension of the common-law “carriers’ or shipowners’ lien” in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894; in the definition, extension and limitation of the vendor’s lien; in the Factors Act 1877, and the Sale of Goods Act 1893; in granting a maritime lien to a shipmaster for his wages and disbursements, and in regulating that of the seamen in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894; and in the equity jurisdiction of the county courts 1888.