Brabantes , feudal duchy that arose after the decline and collapse of the Frankish-Carolingian Empire in the mid-ninth century. Based in Louvain (now Leuven) and Brussels, it was a division of the former Duchy of Lower Lorraine, which in the 11th century split into Brabant, Luxembourg, Hainault, Namur and other small feudal states was.
The remnant of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine was held by Henry I, warrior of the House of Louvain, who in 1190 took the title of a Duke of Brabant accepted. Three generations of his heirs reigned relatively peacefully. In 1283 John I of Brabant bought the Duchy of Limburg from Adolf V of Berg and secured this takeover by defeating his competitor Henry of Luxembourg at the Battle of Woeringen (5th century AD). June 1288) defeated and killed.
In return for funding their military and court expenses, the Dukes of Brabant had to guarantee the rights and privileges of various local lords and citizens . For example, with the Charter of Cortenberg (September 27, 1312), Duke John II entrusted the collection of taxes to a council of commoners and nobles who were responsible for the maintenance of the Justice and the equal application of the law should monitor . The next duke, John III, proved to be a shrewd diplomat who strengthened the duchy through beneficial marital alliances with neighboring principalities. when John , the daughter of John III, and her husband, Duke Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, acceded to the Duchy of Brabant and granted the as Joyeuse Entrée ( see January 3, 1356). That big Constitutional Charter gave Brabant an exceptional position among the feudal states Netherlands and enabled it to play a prominent role in resistance against absolutist rulers in later centuries.
However, when Johanna obtained the title of Brabant, she was challenged by her sister's husband, Louis II, Count of Flanders . During the ensuing dispute, Joanna continued to rule Brabant, and after Wenceslaus' death, Luxembourg, but she had to rely on help House of Burgundy. In 1390 she gave her rights to her niece Margaret of Flanders, who was born with Philip II, The bold of Burgundy, was married. When the family line died out in 1430, the inheritance passed to Philip III, the Good of Burgundy, an event that marked the end of the Duchy of Brabant's independent existence. The duchy passed to the House of Habsburg in 1477 after the marriage of Philip's granddaughter Mary to Archduke Maximilian. Control of the duchy passed to the Spanish Habsburg King Philip II in 1556.
Under Philip's reign, the began Eighty Years War (1568–1648), when the Dutch gained independence from Spain. In the course of this long struggle, Brabant was divided into northern and southern parts. The south remained under Spanish rule and the north went to the Dutch. With some additional areas, the northern part now forms the Dutch province North Brabant ( see North Brabant).
The southern part remained Spanish possession until it was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs by the Treaties of Utrecht (1713). In the Brabant Revolution by 1789 to 1789 the province made an unsuccessful armed resistance to the Repeal of the Joyeuse Entrée by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II . South Brabant eventually became part Belgium and is currently divided into the provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant.
The influence of Brabant's democratic and constitutional traditions on the modern Belgian state is illustrated by the Flag of Belgium confirmed , which uses the Brabançon colors red, yellow, and black. The title of Duke of Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of the King of Belgium.