1100 and given the title of duke. In 1190, Henri I (r. 1183–1235) took the title duke “of
Brabant,” a regional designation first used in 1086. Brabant was entirely in the empire,
but its population was Romance in the south and Germanic in the north.
The towns of Brabant were still small in the early 12th century but then grew rapidly,
rivaling the Flemish cities in the international marketplace during the 13th century. Henri
I sided with the English and Flemings at Bouvines, but thereafter the dukes of Brabant
maintained correct relations with their French and Flemish neighbors, concentrating on
territorial expansion in the east and promoting urban development. The towns were
assimilated peacefully into the governance of the duchy in a series of power-sharing
arrangements in 1312, 1314, and particularly the Joyeuse Entrée of January 1356.
Duke Jean III (r. 1312–55), the last of his line, abandoned his predecessors’ neutrality
to pursue an active military and diplomatic policy. He allied briefly with the English
against King Philip VI, but in 1347 he married his daughter and eventual heiress, Jeanne,
to the pro-French Wenceslas of Luxembourg. Jeanne continued to rule after Wenceslas’s
death until 1406. But in 1390, she designated her niece, Marguerite of Flanders, and
Marguerite’s husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, her successors, but she outlived
them both and was succeeded by Antoine, their younger son. Brabant was incorporated
into the Burgundian state when Antoine’s line failed in 1430.
David M.Nicholas
Byl, Raymond. Les juridictions scabinales dans le duché de Brabant (des origines a la fin du XVe
siècle). Brussels: Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles, 1965.
Martens, Mina. L’administration du domaine ducal en Brabant au moyen âge (1250–1406).
Brussels: Academie Royale de Belgique, 1954.
Smets, Georges. Henri I, duc de Brabant, 1190–1235. Brussels: Lamertin, 1908.
Uyttebrouck, André. Le gouvernement du duché de Brabant au bas moyen âge (1355–1430). 2
vols. Brussels: Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1975.
Vanderkindere, Léon. La formation territoriale des principautés belges au moyen âge. 2 vols.
Brussels: Lamertin, 1902.
BRAINE
. The Premonstratensian abbey church of Saint-Yved at Braine (Aisne) is important for its
plan, its elevation, and the extraordinary richness of its sculptural deco-ration, all of
which demonstrate that there were no influences from Cistercian churches on
Premonstratensian buildings. New analysis of the documents places the construction
between 1176 and 1208. The most notable feature of the plan is the arrangement of
double chapels angled in the space between the transept and the chevet, an arrangement
that was repeated in a number of other buildings. The presence of the open lantern tower,
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 272