​BRABANT, a duchy which existed from 1190 to 1430, when itwas united with the duchy of Burgundy, the name being derivedfrom Brabo, a semi-mythical Frankish chief.

The history of Brabant is connected with that of the duchy ofLowerLorraine (q.v.), which became in the course of the 11thcentury split up into a number of small feudal states. The countsof Hainaut, Namur, Luxemburg and Limburg asserted theirindependence, and the territory of Liége passed to the bishopsof that city. The remnant of the duchy, united since 1100 withthe margraviate of Antwerp, was conferred in 1106 by theemperor Henry V., with the title of duke of Lower Lorraine, uponGodfrey (Godefroid) I., “the Bearded,” count of Louvain andBrussels. His title was disputed by Count Henry of Limburg,and for three generations the representatives of the rival housescontested the possession of the ducal dignity in Lower Lorraine.The issue was decided in favour of the house of Louvain by DukeGodfrey III. in 1159. His son, Henry I., “the Warrior” (1183–1235),abandoned the title of duke of Lower Lorraine and assumedin 1190 that of duke of Brabant. His successors were Henry II.,“the Magnanimous” (1235–1248), Henry III., “le Debonnair”(1248–1261), and John I., “the Victorious” (1261–1294).These were all able rulers. Their usual place of residence wasLouvain. John I., in 1283 bought the duchy of Limburgfrom Adolf of Berg, and secured his acquisition by defeatingand slaying his competitor, Henry of Luxemburg, at thebattle of Woeringen (June 5, 1288). His own son, John II.,“the Pacific” (1294–1312), bestowed liberties upon his subjectsby the charter of Cortenberg. This charter laid the foundationof Brabantine freedom. By it the imposition of grants (beden)and taxes was strictly limited and regulated, and its executionwas entrusted to a council appointed by the duke for life (fournobles, ten burghers) whose duty it was to consider all complaintsand to see that the conditions laid down by the charterconcerning the administration of justice and finance were notinfringed. He was succeeded by his son, John III., “theTriumphant” (1312–1355), who succeeded in maintaining hisposition in spite of formidable risings in Louvain and Brussels, ​and a league formed against him by his princely neighbours, buthe had a hard struggle to face, and many ups and downs offortune. He it was to whom Brabant owed the great charter ofits liberties, calledLa joyeuse entrée, because it was granted on theoccasion of the marriage of his daughter Johanna (Jeanne) withWenzel (Wenceslaus) of Luxemburg, and was proclaimed ontheir state entry into Brussels (1356).

Henry, the only legitimate son of John III., having died in1349, the ducal dignity passed to his daughter and heiress, theabove-named Johanna (d. 1406). She had married in first wedlockWilliam IV., count of Holland (d. 1345). Wenzel of Luxemburg,her second husband, assumed in right of his wife, and bythe sanction of the charterLa joyeuse entrée, the style of duke ofBrabant. Johanna’s title was, however, disputed by Louis II.,count of Flanders (d. 1384), who had married her sister Margaret.The question had been compromised by the cession to Margaret in1347 of the margraviate of Antwerp by John III., but a war brokeout in 1356 between Wenzel supported by the gilds, and Louis,who upheld the burgher-patrician party in the Brabant cities.The democratic leaders were Everhard Tserclaes at Brusselsand Peter Coutercel at Louvain. In the course of a stormy reignWenzel was taken prisoner in 1371 by the duke of Gelderland,and had to be ransomed by his subjects. After his death (1383)his widow continued to rule over the two duchies for eighteenyears, but was obliged to rely on the support of the house ofBurgundy in her contests with the turbulent city gilds and withher neighbours, the dukes of Jülich and Gelderland. In 1390she revoked the deed which secured the succession to Brabant tothe house of Luxemburg, and appointed her niece, Margaret ofFlanders (d. 1405), daughter of Louis II. and Margaret of Brabant(seeFlanders), and her husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy,her heirs. Margaret of Flanders had married (1) Philip I. deRouvre of Burgundy (d. 1361) and (2) Philip II., the Bold,(d. 1404), son of John II., king of France (seeBurgundy). Ofher three sons by her second marriage John succeeded toBurgundy, and Anthony to Brabant on the death of Johanna in1406. Anthony was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 andwas succeeded by his eldest son by Jeanne of Luxemburg St Pol,John IV. (d. 1427). He is chiefly memorable for the excitementcaused by his divorce from his wife Jacoba (q.v.), countess ofHolland. John IV. left no issue, and the succession passed to hisbrother Philip I., who also died without issue in 1430.

On the extinction of the line of Anthony the duchy of Brabantbecame the inheritance of the elder branch of the house ofBurgundy, in the person of Philip III., “the Good,” of Burgundy,II. of Brabant, son of John. His grand-daughter Mary (d. 1482),daughter and heiress of Charles I., “the Bold,” (d. 1477) marriedthe archduke Maximilian of Austria (afterwards emperor) andso brought Brabant with the other Burgundian possessions tothe house of Habsburg. The chief city of Brabant, Brussels,became under the Habsburg régime the residence of the courtand the capital of the Netherlands. In the person of the emperorCharles V. the destinies of Brabant and the other Netherlandstates were linked with those of the Spanish monarchy. Theattempt of Philip II. of Spain to impose despotic rule upon theNetherlands led to the outbreak of the Netherland revolt, 1568(seeNetherlands).

In the course of the eighty years’ war of independence theprovince of Brabant became separated into two portions. Inthe southern and larger part Spanish rule was maintained,and Brussels continued to be the seat of government. Thenorthern (smaller) part was conquered by the Dutch underMaurice and Frederick Henry of Orange. The latter captured’s Hertogenbosch (1629), Maastricht (1632) and Breda (1637).At the peace of Münster this portion, which now forms the Dutchprovince of North Brabant, was ceded by Philip IV. to the UnitedProvinces and was known as Generality Land, and placed underthe direct government of the states-general. The southernportion, now divided into the provinces of Antwerp and SouthBrabant, remained under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgsuntil the death of Charles II., the last of his race in 1700. Afterthe War of the Spanish Succession the southern Netherlandspassed by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) to the Austrian branchof the Habsburgs. During the whole period of Austrian rulethe province of Brabant succeeded in maintaining, to a verylarge extent unimpaired, the immunities and privileges to whichit was entitled under the provisions of its ancient charter ofliberty, the Joyous Entry. An ill-judged attempt by theemperor Joseph II., in his zeal for reform, to infringe theseinherited rights stirred up the people under the leadership ofHenry van der Noot to armed resistance in the Brabançon revoltof 1789–1790.

Since the French conquest of 1794 the history of Brabantis merged in that ofBelgium (q.v.). The revolt against Dutchrule in 1830 broke out at Brussels and was in its initial stageslargely a Brabançon movement. The important part playedby Brabant at this crisis of the history of the southern Netherlandswas marked in 1831 by the adoption of the ancientBrabançon colours to form the national flag, and of the lion ofBrabant as the armorial bearings of Belgium. The title of dukeof Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of theking of the Belgians. (G. E.)