John III, Duke of Brabant
Encyclopedia
Jan III van Brabant also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant
, Lothier
, and Limburg
(1312–1355). He was the son of John II, Duke of Brabant
and his wife Margaret, daughter of King Edward I of England
and Eleanor of Castile
.
(d. 1335), the daughter of count Louis d'Évreux
and Margaret of Artois
. They had six children:
granted by his father in the year of his death (1312). By 1356 his daughter and son-in-law were forced to accept the famous Joyous Entry
as a condition for their recognition, so powerful had the States of Brabant become.
The marital alignment with France was tested and failed as early as 1316, when Louis X
requested Brabant to cease trade with Flanders and to participate in a French attack; the councillors representing the towns found this impossible, and in reprisal Louis prohibited all French trade with Brabant in February 1316, in violation of a treaty of friendship he had signed with Brabant in the previous October.
, became John's enemies; among the adversaries of John were the Count of Flanders
, the prince-bishop of Liège
, and counts of Holland and Guelders
. In 1332, a crisis with the king of France arose over John's hospitality to Robert, count of Flanders, during his journey to eventual asylum at the English court. In response to French pressure John reminded Philip that he did not hold Brabant from him but from God alone. A brief campaign of a coalition of Philip's friends came to a truce, followed by a pact at Compiègne by which John received a fief from Philip worth 2000 livres and declared himself a vassal of France. His oldest son, Jean, was betrothed to Philip's daughter Marie, and it was agreed that the Brabançon heir would complete his education at the French court in Paris and that Robert of Artois would be expelled from Brabant.
The support of France strengthened John's hand with his feudal suzerein, the Holy Roman Emperor
. Though he was technically the Emperor's feudal vassal
, John had been able to ignore Emperor Louis IV
's summons to join him in his intended invasion of Lombardy (1327). The separation of Brabant from the Empire was completed by the Burgundian dukes of Brabant in the fifteenth century.
Meanwhile, the princes of the Low Countries settled their differences and formed a coalition against Brabant with a defensive alliance in June 1333. War was briefly brought to the Duchy of Brabant in the summer of 1334, but resolved by a peace brokered by Philip at Amiens
. The French king declared that John had to hand over the town of Tiel
and its neighbouring villages Heerewaarden
and Zandwijk to the count of Guelders and to betroth his daughter Marie to the count's son, Reinoud.
decided to press his claim to the crown of France in 1337, John, who was his first cousin became an ally of England
during the first stage of the Hundred Years' War
. To Edward's diplomatic offensive to draw Brabant away from France, John lent a sympathetic ear. Disrupting the staple connection between the towns of Flanders and the sources of English wool should divert it to the towns of Brabant, notably the recently-established wool exchange. Edward protected Brabançon merchants in England from arrest or the confiscation of their goods, and he sweetened his offers with a promise of £60,000, an immense sum, and to make good any losses of revenue that might be confiscated by the king of France. The same month of July 1337 John promised Edward 1200 of his men-at-arms in the event of an English campaign in France, Edward to pay their salary. In August Edward pledged not to negotiate with the king without prior consultation with the duke. The alliance, kept secret at John's insistence, came into the open when Edward landed with his troops at Antwerp July 1338. John received the promised subsidy (March 1339) and agreed in June to betroth John's second daughter, Margaret, to Edward, the Black Prince
, heir to the English throne. Two seasons of inconclusive campaigning that ravaged the north of France left Edward penniless at the end of 1341; he returned home, and when he returned to the fray, it was to Brittany: he never returned to the Low Countries.
to sign preliminary agreements, and by a treaty signed at Saint-Quentin, June 1347, Brabant was retained as an ally by France. Margaret was now to marry Louis of Male, who had inherited the title of count of Flanders, but whose power against the Flemish communes was virtually nil. A point of dispute with the count of Flanders had been the lordship of Mechelen/Malines
, a strategic enclave within Brabant: it was agreed that it would now come under full Brabançon control. Despite the diplomacy of Edward, John remained true to his French commitments until his death in December 1355.
In 1350, Jews were persecuted in Brabant.
(now in Belgium). His sons having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his daughter Joanna.
The standard history is Piet Avonds, Brabant tijdens de regering van Hertog Jan III (1312–1356)(Koninglijke Academie, Brussels) 1991.
Duke of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was formally erected in 1183/1184. The title "Duke of Brabant" was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, son of Godfrey III of Leuven . The Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant...
, Lothier
Duke of Lothier
Lothier refers to the territory within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia, governed by the Dukes of Brabant and their successors after 1190 until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1796....
, and Limburg
Duke of Limburg
The counts of Limburg rose to prominence when one of their house was appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine.Though Lorraine was soon confiscated, the ducal title was kept within the family, transferred it to the county of Limburg, which was eventually ratified by the Holy Roman Emperor...
(1312–1355). He was the son of John II, Duke of Brabant
John II, Duke of Brabant
John II van Brabant , also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg...
and his wife Margaret, daughter of King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
.
Marriage
In 1311, as his father's gesture of rapprochement with France, John married Marie d'ÉvreuxMarie d'Évreux
Marie d'Évreux was the eldest child of Louis d'Évreux and his wife Margaret of Artois. She was a member of the House of Capet and was Duchess of Brabant by her marriage to John III, Duke of Brabant....
(d. 1335), the daughter of count Louis d'Évreux
Louis d'Évreux
Louis of France, Count of Évreux was the third son of King Philip III the Bold and his second wife Maria of Brabant, and half-brother of King Philip IV the Fair....
and Margaret of Artois
Margaret of Artois
Margaret of Artois was the eldest child of Philip of Artois and his wife, Blanche of Brittany. She was a member of the House of Artois. She was married to Louis d'Évreux, her daughters all made good political marriages...
. They had six children:
- Joanna, Duchess of BrabantJoanna, Duchess of BrabantJoanna, Duchess of Brabant , also known as Jeanne, was the heiress of Duke John III, who died in Brussels, December 5, 1355. Her mother was Marie d'Évreux.- Family :...
(1322–1406). Married first to William IV, Count of Holland and second to Wenceslaus of LuxemburgWenceslaus I, Duke of LuxembourgWenceslaus I was the first Duke of Luxembourg from 1355...
. - Margaret of Brabant (February 9, 1323 – 1368), married at Saint-QuentinSaint-Quentin, AisneSaint-Quentin is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France. It has been identified as the Augusta Veromanduorum of antiquity. It is named after Saint Quentin, who is said to have been martyred here in the 3rd century....
on June 6, 1347 Louis II of FlandersLouis II of FlandersLouis II of Flanders , also Louis III of Artois and Louis I of Palatine Burgundy, known as Louis of Male, was the son of Louis I of Flanders and Margaret I of Burgundy, and Count of Flanders.On his father's death at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, he inherited the counties of Flanders, Nevers, and... - Marie of Brabant (1325 – March 1, 1399), Lady of Turnhout, married at TervurenTervurenTervuren is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636...
on July 1, 1347 Reginald III of GueldersReginald III of GueldersReginald III of Guelders was Count, later Duke, of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1343 to 1361, and again in 1371. He was the son of Reginald II of Guelders and of Eleanor of Woodstock, daughter of Edward II of England.... - John (1327–1335/36) Buried in Tervueren
- Henri (d. October 29, 1349) Lord of Limburg and Mechelen in 1347. Buried in Tervueren in 1349.
- Godfrey (d. aft. February 3, 1352) Lord of Aarschot in 1346. Buried in Tervueren.
John and the towns of Brabant
The early fourteenth century, an economic boom time for Brabant, marks the rise of the Duchy's towns, which depended on English wool for their essential cloth industry. During John's minority, the major towns of Brabant had the authority to appoint councillors to direct a regency, under terms of the Charter of KortenbergCharter of Kortenberg
On September 27, 1312, the Duke of Brabant signed a charter that should better be referred to as a constitution. It was valid for the entire duchy. From this charter originated a kind of "Parliament of Cortenbergh" or a "Council of Cortenberg" or what was called an assembly of "The Lords of...
granted by his father in the year of his death (1312). By 1356 his daughter and son-in-law were forced to accept the famous Joyous Entry
Joyous Entry of 1356
The Joyous Entry of 1356 into Brussels is the charter of liberties granted to the Duchy of Brabant following the death in 1355 of Duke John III, by his daughter Joanna, the new Duchess, and her husband Wenceslaus, Duke of Luxembourg...
as a condition for their recognition, so powerful had the States of Brabant become.
The marital alignment with France was tested and failed as early as 1316, when Louis X
Louis X of France
Louis X of France, , called the Quarreler, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn was the King of Navarre from 1305 and King of France from 1314 until his death...
requested Brabant to cease trade with Flanders and to participate in a French attack; the councillors representing the towns found this impossible, and in reprisal Louis prohibited all French trade with Brabant in February 1316, in violation of a treaty of friendship he had signed with Brabant in the previous October.
The French alliance, 1332-1337
After his initial period of maintaining independent neutrality from both France and England failed, neighboring sovereigns in the Low Countries, stimulated as a matter of policy by Philip VI of FrancePhilip VI of France
Philip VI , known as the Fortunate and of Valois, was the King of France from 1328 to his death. He was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328...
, became John's enemies; among the adversaries of John were the Count of Flanders
Count of Flanders
The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....
, the prince-bishop of Liège
Bishopric of Liège
The Bishopric of Liège or Prince-Bishopric of Liège was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries in present Belgium. It acquired its status as a prince-bishopric between 980 and 985 when Bishop Notger, who had been the bishop of Liege since 972, acquired the status of Prince-Bishop...
, and counts of Holland and Guelders
Guelders
Guelders or Gueldres is the name of a historical county, later duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries.-Geography:...
. In 1332, a crisis with the king of France arose over John's hospitality to Robert, count of Flanders, during his journey to eventual asylum at the English court. In response to French pressure John reminded Philip that he did not hold Brabant from him but from God alone. A brief campaign of a coalition of Philip's friends came to a truce, followed by a pact at Compiègne by which John received a fief from Philip worth 2000 livres and declared himself a vassal of France. His oldest son, Jean, was betrothed to Philip's daughter Marie, and it was agreed that the Brabançon heir would complete his education at the French court in Paris and that Robert of Artois would be expelled from Brabant.
The support of France strengthened John's hand with his feudal suzerein, the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. Though he was technically the Emperor's feudal vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
, John had been able to ignore Emperor Louis IV
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
's summons to join him in his intended invasion of Lombardy (1327). The separation of Brabant from the Empire was completed by the Burgundian dukes of Brabant in the fifteenth century.
Meanwhile, the princes of the Low Countries settled their differences and formed a coalition against Brabant with a defensive alliance in June 1333. War was briefly brought to the Duchy of Brabant in the summer of 1334, but resolved by a peace brokered by Philip at Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
. The French king declared that John had to hand over the town of Tiel
Tiel
' is a municipality and a town in the middle of the Netherlands.The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river on the south and the north side, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal on the east side. The city was founded in the 5th century AD....
and its neighbouring villages Heerewaarden
Heerewaarden
Heerewaarden is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Maasdriel, and lies about 8 km south of Tiel....
and Zandwijk to the count of Guelders and to betroth his daughter Marie to the count's son, Reinoud.
The English alliance, 1337-1355
When Edward III of EnglandEdward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
decided to press his claim to the crown of France in 1337, John, who was his first cousin became an ally of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
during the first stage of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. To Edward's diplomatic offensive to draw Brabant away from France, John lent a sympathetic ear. Disrupting the staple connection between the towns of Flanders and the sources of English wool should divert it to the towns of Brabant, notably the recently-established wool exchange. Edward protected Brabançon merchants in England from arrest or the confiscation of their goods, and he sweetened his offers with a promise of £60,000, an immense sum, and to make good any losses of revenue that might be confiscated by the king of France. The same month of July 1337 John promised Edward 1200 of his men-at-arms in the event of an English campaign in France, Edward to pay their salary. In August Edward pledged not to negotiate with the king without prior consultation with the duke. The alliance, kept secret at John's insistence, came into the open when Edward landed with his troops at Antwerp July 1338. John received the promised subsidy (March 1339) and agreed in June to betroth John's second daughter, Margaret, to Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, heir to the English throne. Two seasons of inconclusive campaigning that ravaged the north of France left Edward penniless at the end of 1341; he returned home, and when he returned to the fray, it was to Brittany: he never returned to the Low Countries.
The French alliance, 1345-1346
Though John was requesting papal dispensation for the marriage of Margaret and the Black Prince in 1343, the alliance with England unravelled as Edward's coffers emptied and his attentions turned elsewhere. In September 1345 representative of France and Brabant met at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-LayeChâteau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the Musée d'Archéologie Nationale ....
to sign preliminary agreements, and by a treaty signed at Saint-Quentin, June 1347, Brabant was retained as an ally by France. Margaret was now to marry Louis of Male, who had inherited the title of count of Flanders, but whose power against the Flemish communes was virtually nil. A point of dispute with the count of Flanders had been the lordship of Mechelen/Malines
Mechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
, a strategic enclave within Brabant: it was agreed that it would now come under full Brabançon control. Despite the diplomacy of Edward, John remained true to his French commitments until his death in December 1355.
In 1350, Jews were persecuted in Brabant.
The heiress of Brabant
In 1355, when his two surviving sons died one right after the other, John was forced to declare his daughter Joan his heiress, which would provoke a succession crisis after his death. John III was buried in the Cistercian Abbey of VillersVillers Abbey
Villers Abbey is an ancient Cistercian abbey located near the town of Villers-la-Ville in the Brabant province of Wallonia , one piece of the Wallonia's Major Heritage. Founded in 1146, the abbey was abandoned in 1796...
(now in Belgium). His sons having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his daughter Joanna.
The standard history is Piet Avonds, Brabant tijdens de regering van Hertog Jan III (1312–1356)(Koninglijke Academie, Brussels) 1991.