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Duchy of Brabant | |||||||||||||||
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| 1183/1190–1406/1797 | |||||||||||||||
 Brabantian lion  Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||
.svg) The Duchy of Brabant within theSeventeen Provinces of theLow Countries and the borders of theHoly Roman Empire (thick line) | |||||||||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Brussels | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Feudalduchy | ||||||||||||||
| Duke of Brabant | |||||||||||||||
• 1183/1184–1235 | Henry I(first) | ||||||||||||||
• 1792–1797 | Francis I(last) | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 1183 | ||||||||||||||
• Inherited byDuchy of Burgundy | 1430 | ||||||||||||||
• Inherited byHouse of Habsburg | 1482 | ||||||||||||||
• Inherited byHabsburg Spain | 1556 | ||||||||||||||
| 30 January 1648 | |||||||||||||||
| 7 March 1714 | |||||||||||||||
| 18 September 1794 | |||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Belgium Netherlands | ||||||||||||||
TheDuchy of Brabant, astate of theHoly Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from theLandgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, and formed the heart of the historicLow Countries. The Duchy comprised part of theBurgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of theHabsburg Netherlands from 1482, until it was partitioned after theDutch revolt of 1566–1648.
The 1648Peace of Westphalia ceded present-dayNorth Brabant (Dutch:Noord-Brabant) to theGenerality Lands of theDutch Republic, while the reduced duchy remained part of theHabsburg Netherlands untilFrench Revolutionary forces conquered it in 1794 — a change recognized by theTreaty of Campo Formio in 1797.
Today all the duchy's former territories, apart fromexclaves, are inBelgium except for the Dutch province ofNorth Brabant.
The Duchy of Brabant (adjective:Brabantian orBrabantine) was historically divided into four parts, each with its own capital. The four capitals wereLeuven,Brussels,Antwerp and's-Hertogenbosch. Before 's-Hertogenbosch was founded,Tienen was the fourth capital.[1]
Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-dayBelgian provinces ofFlemish Brabant,Walloon Brabant andAntwerp; theBrussels-Capital Region; and most of the present-dayDutch province ofNorth Brabant.
The modernflag of Belgium takes its colors from Brabant'scoat of arms:Sable a lion or armed and langued gules (a goldlion on a blackfield with red claws and tongue).
Probably first used by CountLambert I ofLouvain (ruled 1003–1015), the lion is documented in a 1306 town's seal ofKerpen, together with the red lion ofLimburg. Up to the present, the Brabantian lion features as the primaryheraldic charge on the coats of arms of both Flemish and Walloon Brabant, and of the Dutch province of North Brabant.
The region's name is first recorded as theCarolingian shirepagus Bracbatensis, located between the riversScheldt andDijle, frombraec "marshy" andbant "region".[citation needed] Upon the 843Treaty of Verdun it was part ofLotharingia within short-livedMiddle Francia, and was ceded toEast Francia according to the 880Treaty of Ribemont.
In earlierRoman times, theNervii, aBelgic tribe, lived in the same area. They were incorporated into the Roman province ofBelgica, and considered to have bothCeltic andGermanic cultural links. At the end of the Roman period the region was conquered by the GermanicFranks.
In 959 the East Frankish kingOtto I of Germany elevated CountGodfrey ofJülich to the rank of duke ofLower Lorraine. In 962 the duchy became an integral part of theHoly Roman Empire, where Godfrey's successors of the ducalArdennes-Verdun dynasty also ruled over theGau of Brabant. Here, the counts ofLeuven rose to power, when about 1000 CountLambert I the Bearded marriedGerberga, the daughter of DukeCharles ofLower Lorraine, and acquired theCounty of Brussels. About 1024 southernmost Brabant fell to CountReginar V ofMons (Bergen, laterHainaut), and Imperial lands up to theSchelde river in the west came under the rule of theFrench CountsBaldwin V of Flanders by 1059. Upon the death of Count PalatineHerman II ofLotharingia in 1085, EmperorHenry IV assigned his fief between theDender andZenne rivers as theLandgraviate of Brabant to CountHenry III of Leuven and Brussels.
About one hundred years later, in 1183/1184, EmperorFrederick I Barbarossa formally established the Duchy of Brabant and created the hereditary title of duke of Brabant in favour ofHenry I of Brabant, son of CountGodfrey III ofLeuven. Although the original county was still quite small - and limited to the territory between the Dender and Zenne rivers, situated to the west of Brussels - from the 13th century onwards its name came to apply to the entire territory under control of the dukes.
In 1190, after the death of Godfrey III, Henry I also became Duke of Lower Lotharingia. By that time the title had lost most of its territorial authority. According to protocol, all his successors were thereafter called Dukes of Brabant and Lower Lotharingia (often calledDuke of Lothier).
After theBattle of Worringen in 1288, the dukes of Brabant also acquired theDuchy of Limburg and theLands of Overmaas (trans-Meuse). In 1354Duke John III of Brabant granted aJoyous Entry (charter of liberty) to the subjects of Brabant.
In 1430 the Duchies of Lower Lotharingia, Brabant and Limburg were inherited byPhilip the Good ofBurgundy and became part of theBurgundian Netherlands.
In 1477 the Duchy of Brabant became part of theHouse of Habsburg as part of thedowry ofMary of Burgundy. At that time the Duchy extended fromLuttre, south ofNivelles to 's Hertogenbosch, withLeuven as the capital city. The subsequent history of Brabant is part of the history of the HabsburgSeventeen Provinces.
TheEighty Years' War (1568–1648) brought the northern parts (essentially the present Dutch province ofNorth Brabant) under military control of the northern insurgents. After theTreaty of Westphalia in 1648, theUnited Provinces' independence was confirmed and northern Brabant was formally ceded to the United Provinces asStaats-Brabant, a federally governed territory and part of theDutch Republic.
The southern part remained in Spanish Habsburg hands as a part of theSouthern Netherlands. It was transferred to the Austrian branch of theHabsburg monarchy in 1714. Brabant was included in the unrecognisedUnited States of Belgium, which existed from January to December 1790 during short-lived revolt against EmperorJoseph II, until imperial troops regained the Austrian Netherlands forLeopold II who had succeeded his brother.
The area was overrun during theFrench Revolution in 1794, and formally annexed by France in 1795. The duchy of Brabant was dissolved and the territory was reorganised in thedépartements ofDeux-Nèthes (presentprovince of Antwerp) andDyle (the laterprovince of Brabant).
After the defeat ofBonaparte in 1815, theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands was created at theCongress of Vienna. The three old provinces were restored asNorth Brabant,Antwerp andSouth Brabant. The latter two became part of modernBelgium when it was created in 1830, South Brabant becoming simply Brabant province.
Brabant had fortified walled cities and unwalled cities. The unwalled cities did not have the right to construct walls. Trade was allowed in the walled areas and usually this right resulted in a larger population and the development of major villages and later cities. The unwalled cities also had the right to hold markets, which they held on large market squares. This distinguishes them from surrounding villages that were not allowed to hold markets and did not possess market squares. Being unwalled also meant that some of these places suffered heavily in war and during theDutch Revolt.
Note: the city ofMechelen formed an independent state along with the Land ofHeist-op-den-Berg andGestel.Willemstad,Geertruidenberg andKlundert were part of theCounty of Holland.
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