Brabant

Brabant is a historical region in the Low Countries, whose name and core date from the medieval Duchy of Brabant. The duchy was centered around Leuven (Louvain) and Brussels and expanded to include parts of what are now both Belgium and the Netherlands. It played a central role in the political and cultural life of the Burgundian and Habsburg eras and remained a defining territorial unit until the modern reorganizations of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1830, Belgium gained independence, and the historic Brabant was divided between the new Belgian state and the Netherlands. In Belgium, the province of Brabant was later split in 1995 into Flemish Brabant (capital Leuven) and Walloon Brabant (capital Nivelles), with the Brussels-Capital Region becoming a separate, enclaved entity around the city of Brussels. In the Netherlands, the northern portion of historic Brabant became the Dutch province of North Brabant, whose capital is ’s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch). The southern portion of the old duchy is now part of Belgium, while North Brabant remains a distinct Dutch province with a strong Brabantine cultural heritage.

Today, the term Brabant survives primarily as a historical and cultural reference, preserved in the names of provinces in Belgium and in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The historical duchy’s legacies can be seen in regional architecture, dialects, and local traditions that continue to be associated with Brabant across the Low Countries.