The Duchy of Brabant
Brabant continued to grow through diplomacy and conquest up untill the 15th century. It then was one of the prominent regions of the Low Countries, in terms of economic, social and scientific influence. Brussels was its capital, Antwerp its prime mercantile port. The expansion of the Duchy meant that the dukes of Brabant had to find sources of income. The wealthy cities of Brabant like Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent provided funds but not without conditions. The dukes had to grant them civil liberties. These took the form of the so-called “Blijde Incomste”, a charter that each and every duke had to grant on his accession to the throne. Inhabitants of Brabant could not be judged by a foreign court of justice, the duke could not raise taxes without prior consent of the Staten or parliament of Brabant.
Duchy of Brabant in the year 1350
Burgundy and Habsburg rule
In 1430 the Burgundy dynasty acquired the duchy of Brabant. Under their rule they united the Low Countries or Seventeen Provinces as a series of personal properties, the duchy of Brabant amongst them. Most of these lands under the Dukes were part of the Holy Roman Empire. When the last duchess married the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, the duchy of Brabant came under the rule of the Habsburg dynasty. In 1549 it was decided that the Low Countries from then on should be inherited as one entity by the same monarch.
Eighty years of war and rebellion
Spanish Habsburg Emperor Charles V and his successor Philip II tried to modernise the structure of their countries. This implied centralisation of the State and a loss of rights to both the cities and the nobility. In the same period the growing tensions between the Protestants and the Catholic faith, upheld by the Spanish, added fuel to widespread discontent and in the end lead to open rebellion. One of the key figures in this rebellion was William of Orange or William the Silent, lord of Breda, Prince of Orange. He at first tried to maintain the union but in the prolonged wars the Low Countries were effectively divided. In 1581 the northern provinces signed the “Acte van Verlatinghe” which was a declaration of independence. The Spanish king was no longer considered the monarch since he had introduced laws and levied taxes without prior consent of the Staten and so violated the “Blijde Incomste”. The “Blijde Incomste” is considered one of the predecessors of the Dutch Constitution.
Subdued by the Dutch Republic
As a consequence of the wars many inhabitants of the southern parts of the Low Countries fled to the north. This gave a boost to the economic development of Holland. Brabant itself was divided. The northern part or Noord-Brabant was conquered by the troops of the new-born Dutch republic. Its future lay in what later became the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Up to 1795 Noord-Brabant or “Staats-Brabant” was ruled directly from the Hague. It had no access to the Staten-Generaal. Its governor and government officials were mostly protestant appointees from Holland who had to rule a predominantly catholic province.
Support from Napoleon Bonaparte
The arrival of French troops in 1795 lead to the decision of the cities of Brabant and their elite to form their own independent provincial government. A republic in the spirit of the French revolutionary ideal. In 1796 elections were held and representatives from Brabant gained access to the Dutch Parliament or Staten-Generaal.
The House of Orange
After the Napoleonic era the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the house of Orange was formed. For a short period this Kingdom also comprised the Belgian provinces but growing tensions lead to a revolt in Brussels and a split of the two countries. During the short Dutch-Belgian war of 1830 Brabant became a province with a strong military presence. This was to become a permanent feature.
The industrial age
Economically Brabant was predominantly an farming province. Attempts to change this were undertaken. A trade boost came about when the Zuid-Willemsvaart-canal was dug under the rule of King Willem I in the early 19th century. In the 1880’s the textile industry florished around Tilburg and Helmond, shoes and leather were also products of importance. From 1880 onwards the industrialisation of Brabant gained impetus. An important step was taken when the Philips family started a small electronics firm in Eindhoven in 1891. Half a century later Huub van Doorne started the production of lorries and cars. In the early twentieth century the van den Bergh brothers started the production of margarine in the city of Oss. Their Margarine Unie would later merge with Lever Brothers to form Unilever.
Hardship and recovery
Gradually Brabant changed into a modern society. A development greatly influenced by the growing catholic emancipation vis-a-vis the protestant rulers in the North of the Netherlands. The second World War did interrupt developments. Because of its frontline position for half a year during 1944 and 1945 Brabant lay in ruins. The Marshall Plan stimulated the economy of Europe and the provincial government published a development plan in 1948, a blueprint for further industrial and economical development. Currently Brabant with its 2,5 million inhabitants and 18% of the Dutch industrial out put is one of the most productive regions of Northern Europe.