JOHN I. (d. duke of Brabant and Lorraine, surnamed the Victorious, was the second son of Duke Henry III. and Aleidis of Burgundy. In 1267 his elder brother Henry was deposed in his favour. In 1271 John married Margaret, daughter of Louis IX. of France, and following her death took as his second wife (1273) Margaret of Flanders, daughter of Guy de Dampierre. His sister Marie was espoused in 1275 to Philip III. (the Bold) of France. During the reign of Philip and his son Philip IV. there were close relations of friendship and alliance between Brabant and France. In 1285 John accompanied Philip III. in his expedi tion against Peter III., king of Aragon. After the death of Waleran IV. in 1279 the succession to the duchy of Limburg was disputed. His heiress, Ermengarde, had married Reinald I. count of Gelder land. She died childless, but her husband continued to rule in Lim burg, although his rights were disputed by Count Adolph of Berg, nephew to Waleran IV. (See LIMBURG.)
Not being strong enough to eject his rival, Adolph sold his rights to John of Brabant, and hostilities broke out in 1283. Harassed by desultory warfare and endless negotiations, and seeing no prospect of holding his own against the powerful duke of Brabant, Reinald made over his rights to Henry III. count of Luxemburg, who was a descendant of Waleran III. of Limburg. Henry III. was sustained by the archbishop of Cologne and other allies, as well as by Reinald of Gelderland. The duke of Brabant at once invaded the Rhineland and laid siege to the castle of Woeringen near Bonn. Here he defeated the forces of the confederacy on June 5, 1288. Limburg was henceforth attached to the duchy of Brabant. John consolidated his conquest by giving his daughter in marriage to Henry of Luxemburg (1291). He died of a -wound received at a tournament at Bar (May 3, 1294).