The Duchy of Brabant

(Today part of: provinces Brabant and Antwerp in Belgium; provinceBrabant in Netherland)

In the 1180’s the Holy Roman emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa founded the Duchy of Brabant and gave the hereditary title of its ruler to the dynasty of the son of the count of Leuven. In return for the political, military and, more than anything, financial support, the dukes guaranteed numerous rights and privileges to the cities. For example, the city of Antwerp goes through an economic rise at the beginning of the 13^th century, when the trade privileges enabled it to become a busy and safe port for English and German merchants.

In addition to that, the dukes strived to control the main trade route which connected Bruges in Flanders with Cologne on the Rhine, which caused numerous clashes with their neighbors: the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, the dukes of Gelderland, and finally the archdiocese of Cologne. The tensions will be increased further because of the heredity over the strategically important Duchy of Limburg. Although the Duke of Brabant claimed certain rights on it, the local aristocracy did not accept him and they were joined by the archbishop of Cologne. The climax of the conflict occurred in the Battle of Worringen in 1288, when the Duke of Brabant and his local allies emerged as the absolute victors. Also, as a consequence of the battle, the borders of Brabant’s lands and Rhineland were set, and they would stay in that form during the reigns of future rulers on both sides.