the church, was named Paula, and the other Concordia, the name of the mother of this apostle. Cast in July 1275, they announced the services celebrated by the dean. The second of these bells, Concordia, was still ringing in the 19th century; it rang the D of the organs and bore an inscription in Gothic letters. Consecration Everything leads us to believe that the reconstruction of the collegiate church was very advanced in 1289; indeed, on 11 April, both the consecration of the church and the blessing of the altars took place; solemnities celebrated by the two suffragans of Liège, Edmont, bishop of Courland in Livonia, and brother Bonaventure, of the Order of Citeaux, bishop of Céa. Floods, fires and earthquakes Floods The coal mines surrounding Liège from the Early Middle Ages, despite the prohibition of digging under the town which was not always respected, digging downstream and upstream had the consequence of making Liège a basin and later a dyke. Despite the ramparts, floods followed one another from century to century. On 4 January 1374, the river Meuse grew so big that the island's neighbourhood was flooded as well as the collegiate church of St. Paul to the point where it could only be entered by boat. On 28 January 1408, a flood also damaged the books and jewellery in the crypt, part of the charters, the books, and the ornaments of the collegiate church kept in the treasury. To avoid similar disasters, the floor of the new bookshop was raised and one entered from there by a few steps. Heavy flooding occurred in 1464. The snow had fallen in abundance for several days before the feast of St.Caprasius of Agen, the rains which followed brought such a flood that on the day after the feast of St. Élisabeth, the swollen floods of the Meuse threatened to invade the collegiate church. The canons only had time to block the door with a kind of dam and had to buy a boat to go to the matins. They used the same means to attend the hours until 23 November, when they were able to go to the services on dry foot. On 7 February 1571 as a result of a flood, the water rose to a height of 6.40 meters. The memory of this overflow is preserved by the following chronogram engraved on the right pillar of the collegial background