John I, Duke of Brabant

John I
Duke of Brabant and Lothier
Reign	1267–1294
Predecessor	Henry
Successor	John II
Duke of Limburg
Reign	1288–1294
Predecessor	Reginald I of Guelders
Successor	John II
Born	1252
Died	3 May 1294
Spouse	Margaret of France Margaret of Flanders
Issue	John II, Duke of Brabant Margaret, Holy Roman Empress Marie, Countess of Savoy
House	House of Reginar
Father	Henry III, Duke of Brabant
Mother	Adelaide of Burgundy
Religion	Roman Catholic

Silver or 'petit' denier, struck under John I in Louvain after 1282.

John I of Brabant, also called John the Victorious (1252/1253 – 3 May 1294) was Duke of Brabant (1267–1294), Lothier and Limburg (1288–1294).

Life

John I, Duke of Brabant going to battle from the Codex Manesse.

Born at Leuven, he was the son of Henry III, Duke of Brabant and Aleidis of Burgundy, daughter of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. He was also an older brother of Maria of Brabant, Queen consort of Philip III of France. In 1267 his older brother Henry IV, Duke of Brabant, being mentally deficient, was deposed in his favour.^[1]

His greatest military victory was the Battle of Worringen 1288, by which John I came to reign over the Duchy of Limburg. He was completely outnumbered in forces but led the successful invasion into the Rhineland to defeat the confederacy. In 1288 Limburg was formally attached to Brabant.^[1]

John I was said to be a model of feudal prince: brave, adventurous; excelling in every form of active exercise, fond of display, and generous in temper. He was considered one of the most gifted princes of his time.^[1] This made him very popular in Middle Ages poetry and literature. Even today there exists an ode to him, so well known that it was a potential candidate to be the North Brabant anthem. John I delighted in tournaments and was always eager to take part in jousts.^[1] He was also famous for his many illegitimate children.

On 3 May 1294 at some marriage festivities at Bar-le-Duc (now France), John I was mortally wounded in the arm in an encounter by Pierre de Bausner.^[1] He was buried in the church of the Minderbroeders in Brussels, but since the Protestant iconoclasm (Beeldenstorm) in 1566, nothing remains of his tomb.

Family and children

Marriage of John and Margaret of Flanders from the Chronicle Brabantse Yeesten by Jan Van Boendaele.

He was married twice. On 5 September 1270, he wed Margaret of France, daughter of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence.^[2] She took the title of Duchess of Brabant. He had a son, but both wife and child died shortly after the boy's birth.

In 1273, He married Margaret of Flanders (d. 3 July 1285), daughter of Guy, Count of Flanders^[3] and had the following children:^[1]

1. Godfrey (1273/74 – aft. 13 September 1283).
2. John II of Brabant (1275–1312).
3. Margaret (4 October 1276 – 14 December 1311, Genoa), married 9 June 1292 to Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor.
4. Marie (d. after 2 December 1338), married to Count Amadeus V of Savoy.

John I had several illegitimate children:

1. Gillis van der Balcht
2. Jean Meuwe, Seigneur of Wavre and Dongelberg.^[4]
3. Margareta of Tervuren, she was married on 2 March 1292 to Jean de Rode de Lantwyck
4. Jan Pylyser (1272 - 1342)
5. Jan van der Plasch

Legacy

The duke is remembered in a folkish song that remains popular. His name and image also survive in the lager beer of the Haacht brewery, named Primus.

Ancestry

Ancestors of John I, Duke of Brabant

16. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven               8. Henry I, Duke of Brabant                       17. Margaret of Limburg               4. Henry II, Duke of Brabant                             18. Matthew, Count of Boulogne               9. Matilda of Flanders                       19. Marie I, Countess of Boulogne               2. Henry III, Duke of Brabant                                   20. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor               10. Philip of Swabia                       21. Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy               5. Marie of Swabia                             22. Isaac II Angelos               11. Irene Angelina                       23. Unknown Palaiologina?, afterwards Irene               1. John I, Duke of Brabant                                         24. Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy               12. Odo III, Duke of Burgundy                       25. Alice of Lorraine               6. Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy                             26. Hugues, Seigneur de Vergy               13. Alice of Vergy                       27. Gillette de Trainel               3. Adelaide of Burgundy                                   28. Robert II, Count of Dreux               14. Robert III, Count of Dreux                       29. Yolanda of Coucy               7. Yolande of Dreux                             30. Thomas de Saint-Valéry               15. Aenor of Saint-Valéry                       31. Adela de Ponthieu, Dame de Saint-Aubin

See also

• Dukes of Brabant family tree
• Hertog Jan

References

1.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John I. of Brabant and Lorraine". Encyclopædia Britannica 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 445.
2. Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 2nd edition, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004), 121.
3. J.F. Verbruggen, The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Courtrai, 11 July 1302), ed. Kelly DeVries, transl. David Richard Ferguson, (Boydell Press, 2002), 8.
4. "Messager des sciences historiques...", p. 194, Retrieved 6 October 2009.