George of Austria (

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, 1505 –

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, 4 May 1557), was

Prince-bishop of Liège A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the B ...

from 1544 to 1557. He was an illegitimate son of

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

and Margaretha of Edelsheim. He became

Bishop of Brixen The Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen (, , ) is a Latin Church, Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in northern Italy, with its seat in the city of Bolzano. Its territory corresponds with that of the province of South Tyrol with its predominantly German ...

(Tyrol) between 1525 and 1537 and Archbishop of Valencia between 1538 and 1544. In 1544 he became

by the influence of his nephew

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

, a post he held until his death. George strongly opposed any French influence in the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as ...

, thus maintaining the strong grip of the Habsburgs, who controlled all surrounding lands.
In 1554, he was faced with a French invasion under King

Henry II of France Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was List of French monarchs#House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589), King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I of France, Francis I and Claude of France, Claude, Du ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George of Austria 1505 births 1557 deaths 16th-century House of Habsburg Clergy from the Habsburg Netherlands Prince-bishops of Liège 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Archbishops of Valencia Sons of emperors Sons of kings Illegitimate children of Holy Roman Emperors Sons of dukes Children of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Sons of counts