BRABANT, a duchy which existed from 1190 to 143o, when it was united with the duchy of Burgundy. Its history is con nected with that of the duchy of Lower Lorraine (q.v.), which be came in the course of the 11th century split up into a number of small feudal States. The counts of Hainaut, Namur, Luxembourg and Limburg asserted their independence, and the territory of Liege passed to the bishops of that city. The remnant of the duchy, united since 1 ioo with the margraviate of Antwerp, was conferred in 11o6 by the emperor Henry V., with the title of duke of Lower Lorraine, upon Godfrey I., "the Bearded," count of Louvain and Brussels. His title was disputed by Count Henry of Limburg, and for three generations the representatives of the rival houses contested the possession of the ducal dignity in Lower Lor raine. The issue was decided in favour of the house of Louvain by Duke Godfrey III. in 1159. His son, Henry I., "the Warrior" (1183-1235), abandoned the title of duke of Lower Lorraine and assumed in 1190 that of duke of Brabant. His successors were Henry II. Henry III. and John I. (1261 94) . These were all able rulers. Their usual place of residence was Louvain. John I., in 1283, bought the duchy of Limburg from Adolf of Berg, and secured his acquisition by defeating and slay ing his competitor, Henry of Luxembourg, at the battle of Woer ingen ( June 5, 1288) . His own son, John II. (1294-1312), be stowed liberties upon his subjects by the charter of Cortenberg. By it the imposition of grants (beden) and taxes was strictly lim ited and regulated, and its execution was entrusted to a council appointed by the duke for life whose duty it was to consider all complaints and to see that the conditions laid down by the charter concerning the administration of justice and finance were not in fringed. He was succeeded by his son, John III. (1312-55), to whom Brabant owed the great charter of its liberties, called La joyeuse entree (q.v.).
On his death, the ducal dignity passed to his daughter and heiress, Johanna (d. 1406). Wenzel of Luxembourg, her husband, assumed in right of his wife, and by the sanction of the charter La joyeuse entrée, the style of duke of Brabant. Johanna's title was, however, disputed by Louis II., count of Flanders (d. 1384), who had married her sister Margaret, and a war broke out in 1356 between Wenzel supported by the gilds, and Louis, who up held the burgher-patrician party in the Brabant cities. After Wenzel's death (1383) his widow continued to rule over the two duchies for 18 years, but was obliged to rely on the support of the house of Burgundy in her contests with the turbulent city gilds and with her neighbours, the dukes of JUlich and Gelderland. In 1390 she appointed her niece, Margaret of Flanders (d. 1405), daughter of Louis II. and Margaret of Brabant (see FLANDERS), and her husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, her heirs (see BURGUNDY). Of the three sons by this marriage John succeeded to Burgundy, and Anthony to Brabant on the death of Johanna in 1406. On the extinction of the line of Anthony (143o) the duchy of Brabant became the inheritance of the elder branch of the house of in the person of Philip III., "the Good," of Burgundy, son of John. His grand-daughter Mary (d. 1482), daughter and heiress of Charles I., "the Bold," (d. 1477) married the archduke Maximilian and so brought Brabant with the other Burgundian possessions to the house of Habsburg. The chief city of Brabant, Brussels, became under the Habsburg regime the residence of the court and the capital of the Netherlands (q.v.).
In the course of the 8o years' war of independence the province of Brabant became separated into two portions. In the southern and larger part Spanish rule was maintained, and Brussels con tinued to be the seat of government. The northern (smaller) part was conquered by the Dutch under Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange. At the peace of Munster this portion, which now forms the Dutch province of North Brabant, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces and was known as Generality Land, and placed under the direct government of the States-general. The southern portion, now divided into the provinces of Antwerp and South Brabant, remained under the rule of the Spanish Habs burgs until the death of Charles II., the last of his in 1700. By the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) the southern Netherlands passed to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. During the whole period of Austrian rule the province of Brabant succeeded in maintaining, to a very large extent unimpaired, the immunities and privileges to which it was entitled under the provisions of its ancient charter of liberty, the Joyous Entry.
Since the French conquest of 1794 the history of Brabant is merged in that of Belgium (q.v.). The revolt against Dutch rule in 1830 broke out at Brussels and was in its initial stages largely a Brabancon movement. The important part played by Brabant at this crisis of the history of the southern Netherlands was marked in 1831 by the adoption of the ancient Brabancon colours to form the national flag, and of the lion of Brabant as the ar morial bearings of Belgium. The title of duke of Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of the king of the Belgians. (G. E.)