John IV, Duke of Brabant (Arras

Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...

, 11 June 1403 – 17 April 1427, Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

) was the son of Antoine of Burgundy, Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg

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...

.

John IV was the second Brabantian ruler of the House of Valois.

He succeeded his father in 1415, after his death at the Battle of Agincourt

Battle of Agincourt

The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...

.

In 1418, he married Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut

Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut

Jacqueline of Wittelsbach was Duchess of Bavaria-Straubing, Countess of Hainaut and Holland from 1417 to 1432...

, who saw in him a protector against the claims of her uncle John III. However, the marriage proved unhappy.

Jacqueline fled John in 1420, and the Estates of Brabant declared his brother Philip of St. Pol the ruwaard (regent). However, he returned and regained the regency in 1421, and his expansion of city privileges (the "Nieuw Regiment") in 1422 undermined the support of Jacqueline. and he now joined the party of the Cods to make war upon his quondam wife.

This second resurgence of the Hook and Cod wars

Hook and Cod wars

The Hook and Cod wars comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the underlying reason was because of the power struggle of the bourgeois in the cities against...

 pitted Jacqueline, her third husband Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Pembroke, KG , also known as Humphrey Plantagenet, was "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son of king Henry IV of England by his first wife, Mary de Bohun, brother to king Henry V of England, and uncle to the...

, and the party of the Hooks, against the Cods, represented by a coalition of John IV, his cousin Philip the Good, and John III of Hainaut. The death of John III in 1425 allowed John IV to make good his claims to Jacqueline's territories (she being then a prisoner in Burgundian hands in Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

), but the real power and the title of ruwaard went to Duke Philip. At his death, he was succeeded by his brother Philip.

In 1425, he founded the University of Leuven.