Duke of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was formally erected in 1183/1184. The title "Duke of Brabant" was created by the German Emperor Frederik Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, son of Godfrey III of Leuven (who was Duke of Lower Lotharingia at that time). The Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the already existing title of Landgrave of Brabant. This was an Emperial fief which was assigned to Count Henry III of Leuven about 1085/1086, more exactly after the death of the preceding Count of Brabant, Count Palatine Herman II of Lotharingia (+ September 20, 1085). Although the corresponding county was quite small (limited to the territory between the rivers Dender en Zenne, situated to the west of Brussels) its name was applied to the entire country under control of the Dukes from the 13th century on. In 1190, after the death of Godfrey III, Henry I also became Duke of Lotharingia. Formerly Lower Lotharingia, this title was now practically without territorial authority, but was borne by the later Dukes of Brabant as an honorific title.

External link

• Counts of Louvain: genealogical note (Caution: some information provided by this link could be historiographically obsolete).