Joyous Entry of 1356
Encyclopedia
The Joyous Entry
of 1356 (Dutch
: Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or Blijde Intocht, French
: Joyeuse Entrée) 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. The document is dated 3 January 1356,(NS)
and it is seen as the equivalent of the Magna Carta
for the Low Countries
.
The death of Duke John III of Brabant
in 1355 sparked a succession crisis. As both of his sons had died, he left the throne to his daughter Joanna
and her husband Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg. Louis II
, Count of Flanders
had married Joan's younger sister Margaret and thought the throne should be his. Louis invaded Brabant and quickly seized Brussels.
During the night of 24 October 1356, a group of Brabantian
patriots led by Everard 't Serclaes
scaled the city walls and drove the Flemings
from the city. This enabled Joanna and Wenceslaus to make their Joyous Entry
into Brussels.
, granted by John II
in 1312 and also considered a Babantian Constitution, or the "Walloon Charter" of 1314. The six specific freedoms or "privileges" detailed powers granted to the church, the towns and some nobles, by means of which Duke John III's heiress, Joanna, Duchess of Brabant and her consort Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, could collect taxes.
became Holy Roman Emperor
; he presided the Reichstag
which decreed the Golden Bull of 1356
, fixing an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire, mainly restricting the freedoms of cities and civilians.
By August 1356, the Brabantian document was a dead letter in practice, owing to the military occupation of Brabant by Louis, count of Flanders
, and the following February, when Emperor Charles IV
, Joanna and Wenceslaus, and representatives of the Brabantian towns all met at Maastricht
: to satisfy the Luxembourg
dynasty it was officially denigrated by all parties, especially its chapter vii, which stipulated that the Duchess Joanna, if childless, should be succeeded by her natural heirs—her sisters. Thus it was by abrogation of the Joyous Entry of 1356 that the Habsburg
s eventually inherited Brabant. The defeat of Wencelas in 1371 was a victory for the towns over the feudal
nobility, and in supporting Anton of Burgundy as Duke, the towns wrung from him a new constitution or Inauguration Charter (1406). What remained of the Joyous Entry charter would nevertheless be referred to for centuries.
The Joyous Entry of 1356 has been viewed an equivalent to the rechtsstaat
in the Low Countries
or the Magna Carta
's establishment of a rule of law
for England, the only other medieval document with claims to comprising a written basis of governance, in the other early successful example of a nation-state
. In common with Magna Carta its functioning significance was exaggerated by the Romantic historians
of the 19th century.
Annually the Dukes of Brabant pledged to adhere to the text in the document by making a ceremonial entry into the main cities of Brabant. In the midst of the Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries, a book was repeatedly published (the 1578 edition safely from Cologne) with the Latin title Laetus introitus, with the view of reminding Philip II
and his military commanders of the constitutional restraints of the Blijde Inkomst and giving heart to the insurgents in Brabant.
This Joyous Entry charter was declared null and void when the Revolutionary French forces took possession of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794. Nevertheless, it became one of the elements that formed the Belgian Constitution of 1831.
Joyous Entry
A Joyous Entry was a local name used for the royal entry - the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city - mainly in the Duchy of Brabant or the County of Flanders and occasionally in France, Luxembourg or Hungary, often coinciding with...
of 1356 (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Blijde Intrede, Blijde Inkomst, or Blijde Intocht, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Joyeuse Entrée) into 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...
is the charter of liberties granted to the Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
following the death in 1355 of Duke John III
John III, Duke of Brabant
Jan III van Brabant , also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg...
, by his daughter Joanna
Joanna, Duchess of Brabant
Joanna, 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 :...
, the new Duchess, and her husband Wenceslaus, Duke of Luxembourg. The document is dated 3 January 1356,(NS)
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
and it is seen as the equivalent of the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
for the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
.
Background
John III, Duke of Brabant
Jan III van Brabant , also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg...
in 1355 sparked a succession crisis. As both of his sons had died, he left the throne to his daughter Joanna
Joanna, Duchess of Brabant
Joanna, 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 :...
and her husband Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg. Louis II
Louis II of Flanders
Louis 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...
, 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....
had married Joan's younger sister Margaret and thought the throne should be his. Louis invaded Brabant and quickly seized Brussels.
During the night of 24 October 1356, a group of Brabantian
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
patriots led by Everard 't Serclaes
Everard 't Serclaes
Everard 't Serclaes , lord of Cruyckembourg , a citizen of Brussels, was made famous by his recovery of that city from the Flemish....
scaled the city walls and drove the Flemings
County of Flanders
The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....
from the city. This enabled Joanna and Wenceslaus to make their Joyous Entry
Joyous Entry
A Joyous Entry was a local name used for the royal entry - the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a city - mainly in the Duchy of Brabant or the County of Flanders and occasionally in France, Luxembourg or Hungary, often coinciding with...
into Brussels.
The charter
The charter had not been completely new. A custom of "landcharters" originating in Brabant during the previous century, had already produced 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 John II
John II, Duke of Brabant
John II van Brabant , also called John the Peaceful, was Duke of Brabant, Lothier and Limburg...
in 1312 and also considered a Babantian Constitution, or the "Walloon Charter" of 1314. The six specific freedoms or "privileges" detailed powers granted to the church, the towns and some nobles, by means of which Duke John III's heiress, Joanna, Duchess of Brabant and her consort Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, could collect taxes.
Aftermath
On 5 April, Wenceslaus' half-brother Charles (also originally named Wenceslaus)Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
became 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...
; he presided the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
which decreed the Golden Bull of 1356
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 was a decree issued by the Reichstag assembly in Nuremberg headed by the Luxembourg Emperor Charles IV that fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire...
, fixing an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire, mainly restricting the freedoms of cities and civilians.
By August 1356, the Brabantian document was a dead letter in practice, owing to the military occupation of Brabant by Louis, count of Flanders
Louis II of Flanders
Louis 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...
, and the following February, when Emperor Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
, Joanna and Wenceslaus, and representatives of the Brabantian towns all met at Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
: to satisfy the Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
dynasty it was officially denigrated by all parties, especially its chapter vii, which stipulated that the Duchess Joanna, if childless, should be succeeded by her natural heirs—her sisters. Thus it was by abrogation of the Joyous Entry of 1356 that the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s eventually inherited Brabant. The defeat of Wencelas in 1371 was a victory for the towns over the feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
nobility, and in supporting Anton of Burgundy as Duke, the towns wrung from him a new constitution or Inauguration Charter (1406). What remained of the Joyous Entry charter would nevertheless be referred to for centuries.
The Joyous Entry of 1356 has been viewed an equivalent to the rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat
Rechtsstaat is a concept in continental European legal thinking, originally borrowed from German jurisprudence, which can be translated as "legal state", "state of law", "state of justice", or "state of rights"...
in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
or the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
's establishment of a rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
for England, the only other medieval document with claims to comprising a written basis of governance, in the other early successful example of a nation-state
Nation-state
The nation state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity for a nation as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity...
. In common with Magna Carta its functioning significance was exaggerated by the Romantic historians
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
of the 19th century.
Annually the Dukes of Brabant pledged to adhere to the text in the document by making a ceremonial entry into the main cities of Brabant. In the midst of the Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries, a book was repeatedly published (the 1578 edition safely from Cologne) with the Latin title Laetus introitus, with the view of reminding Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
and his military commanders of the constitutional restraints of the Blijde Inkomst and giving heart to the insurgents in Brabant.
This Joyous Entry charter was declared null and void when the Revolutionary French forces took possession of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794. Nevertheless, it became one of the elements that formed the Belgian Constitution of 1831.