Brabant (redirected from Brabants)

Brabant (Fr. bräbäN`, Du. bräbänt`), former province, central Belgium. The region is drained by the Dijle, Senne, and Demer rivers. Much of its soil is fertile and under cultivation, and industry is prevalent. Belgian Brabant occupies the southern part of the former duchy of Brabant. In 1995 it was split into two provinces—Dutch-speaking

Flemish Brabant (1995 pop. 999,186), 813 sq mi (2,106 sq km), with its capital at Louvain, and French-speaking

Walloon Brabant (1995 pop. 339,062), 421 sq mi (1,091 sq km), with its capital at Wavre (1995 pop. 29,906). The Brussels capital region is surrounded by, but not part of, Flemish Brabant.

---

Brabant

Old duchy, northwestern Europe. Located in what is now the southern part of The Netherlands and central and northern Belgium, the region in the 9th century AD was part of the kingdom of Lotharingia. In the late 12th century it became independent; it finally passed to the house of Burgundy in 1430. Inherited by the Habsburgs in 1477, it became a centre of culture and commerce (see Antwerp; Brussels). The northern section of Brabant took part in a revolt from Spain, and in 1609 it was awarded to the United Provinces, while the southern section remained part of Spanish (later Austrian) Netherlands. The northern section now forms the Dutch province of North Brabant. The southern section eventually became part of Belgium and is divided between the provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant.

---

Brabant

1. a former duchy of W Europe: divided when Belgium became independent (1830), the south forming the Belgian provinces of Antwerp and Brabant and the north forming the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands

2. a former province of central Belgium; replaced in 1995 by the provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant

---

Brabant 

a historical region of northwestern Europe. In the early Middle Ages the territory of Brabant was part of the Duchy of Lorraine (later Lower Lorraine). In the 11th century Louvain County (from 1106, Louvain Duchy) was formed around the rapidly developing towns of Louvain and Brussels, and from the end of the 12th century it was called the Duchy of Brabant. Struggling for hegemony over the counts of Flanders, their main rivals, the dukes of Brabant significantly widened their possessions. Their centralization policies rested on the growing economic significance of the towns that blossomed in the 13th and 14th centuries.

In the 14th century the structure of a class monarchy was established on this base. In 1430, Brabant came under the sovereignty of the dukes of Burgundy, and from 1477 to 1482 it was under the Hapsburgs, thus becoming one of the 17 provinces of the Netherlands.

In the 16th century, Brabant was one of the main regions of the bourgeois revolution in the Netherlands. It was divided by the Dutch-Spanish reconciliation of 1609 (and then by the peace of 1648). Its southern part remained within the Spanish Netherlands until 1714 when it went to Austria, and the northern part went to the Dutch republic.

As a result of the so-called Brabant Revolution of 1789–90, South Brabant was temporarily liberated from Austrian rule. In 1794 it was taken by French troops, and in 1797 it was annexed by France, which in 1810 also took North Brabant. From 1814 to 1830, Brabant was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. After the Belgian Revolution of 1830, it became part of the Belgian kingdom (the Belgian province of Brabant). North Brabant is part of the Netherlands (the Netherlands province of North Brabant).

REFERENCE

Schouteden-Wery, J. Brabant. Brussels, 1951.

---

Brabant 

a province in Belgium. Area, 3,300 sq km. Population, 2.1 million (1968). Flemings live in the northern part, and Walloons live in the southern part. Brussels (the capital of Belgium) is the province’s administrative center. Industry is concentrated mainly in the capital and its suburbs. Intensive farming (wheat, sugar beets, truck farming, and floriculture) is combined with the raising of dairy cattle.