Cosmographie in four bookes : containing the chorographie and historie of the whole vvorld, and all the principall kingdomes, provinces, seas and isles thereof / by Peter Heylyn.

9. BRABANT. 10. The MARQUISATE, And 11. MACHLIN.

THese I have joyned together, though distinct estates, because they have a long time followed the same fortune, and that the two last doe no otherwise differ from the first, then the parts from the whole: the Marquisate, and Machlin, being reckoned as parts of Brabant, and included in it.

9. BRABANT is bounded on the East, with Luickland, or the Bishoprick of Leige; on the West, with the River Scheld, and a part of Flanders; on the North, with the Maes, which severeth it from Holland, and Guelderland; and on the South, with Hainalt, Namur, and part of Luickland.

The Air hereof is generally very wholesome, and good, and the Soil naturally fruitfull, except∣ing Kempenland, (being the parts hereof lying towards the North, which being barren of it self, is made indifferently fertile by keeping Cattell, Soiling the ground, and other arts of good Husban∣dry. The people live in most freedome, and are the best priviledged of any in Belgium; A thing for which they are more beholding to the Princes goodnesse, then their own great wits; being no∣ted to be none of the wisest, especially as they grow in age, when most men learn wisdome. Bra∣banti quo magis seneseunt, eo magis stultescunt, as Erasmus telleth us.

The length hereof, from S. Gertrudenberg to Genblaurs, North and South, is 22 Dutch, or German miles; from Helmont to Berghen ap Some, East and West, 20 of the same miles; the whole com∣passe 80. Within which circuit are conteined 26 walled Townes; and Villages with Parish Chur∣ches 718. of which, the odde 18 called Franks, or Market-townes, enjoy the priviledges of walled Townes, or Cities, though unwalled themselves.

Places of most importance in it, are 1. Shertogen Bosch, or the Bosch, as the Dutch; Bois le Duc, or Bolduc, as the French; and Silva Ducis, or Boscum Ducis, as the Latines call it: each name derived ac∣cording to the severall languages, from a pleasant wood belonging to the Dukes of Brabant, where the Town now stands, situate on a litle River called Deese, some two leagues from the Maes, neer the borders of Guelderland: a large and well built Town, very strongly fortified, and of great trade for Clothing, here being made yeerly, in the time of Lewis Guicciardine 20000 Clothes, worth 200000 Crownes to the Clother or Draper; made an Episcopall See anno 1559. the Cathedrall, which is fixed in the Church of S. John, being fair and large, and beautified with one of the goodliest Dials in the Christian world. This is the principall town of Brabant (properly and distinctly so called) comprehending under it the four Countries of Kempenland, Maesland, Peeland, and Osterwick; and was taken by the Confederate Estates from the King of Spain, after a long and chargeable siege, Anno 1628. 2. Tilmont, on the little River Geet, once the chief of Brabant, but long since decayed. Arschot on the litle River Dennere, which gives the title of a Duke to them of the Noble house of Croy; the Dukes hereof (advanced unto that honour by Charles the Fift) being men of greatest Re∣venue and Authority of any in Belgium. 4. Bergen ap Zome, so called from the River Zome, upon which it is situate, about half a league from the influx of it into the Scheld, and not far from the Sea, which gives it a reasonable good Haven. A town of great strength by nature, but more strongly fortified: Famous for being made a Marquisate by Charles the Fift, anno 1553. more for the notable resistance which it made to the Marquis Spinola, anno 1622. 5. Breda, upon the river Merck, a Town pleasantly seated, well fortified, and of great Revenue, having under it the Town and Territorie of Steenberg, the franchise of Rosindale, and the Seigneury of Osterhout: the residence, Baronie, and chief town of the Princes of Orange, from whom being taken by the Spaniard in the beginning of those wars, it was again recovered by some venturous Gentlemen, who hiding themselves in a Boat covered over with Turf, were conveyed into the Castle, which they easily mastered, and made the Prince Lord of it again. After re-taken by the Spaniard, anno 1625. but now in the possession of its naturall owners. 6. Diest, on the River Dennere, a good town, and of a large territory and jurisdiction, belonging to the Prince of Orange, who had it in exchange for some other lands of the Duke of Cleve; and in right hereof is Burgrave of the City of Antwerp. 7. Grinbergen, an ancient Baronie, with a large jurisdiction, descendible on the youngest sonne onely, after the manner of Burgh English, as our Lawyers call it. 8. Gertrudenberg, standing on the Douge, not far from the influx of it into the Maes, the furthest town in the North of Brabant, where it joyns to Holland: which makes it a matter of dispute betwixt those Provinces, to which of them it doth belong. A town of great trade for fishing, plenty of Salmons, and Sturgeons being taken here; but of Shads especially, whereof 18000 are sometimes caught in a day, salted, and sent abroad into forain parts: It acknowledgeth the Prince of Orange for the Lord thereof; as doth also 9. Grave, a good

town upon the Maes,* 1.1 bought by these Princes of the King of Spain with consent of the States; with∣out whose approbation, no part of the Domain is to be dismembred. 10. Maestreicht (in Latine, Tra∣jectum ad Mosam) so called of a ferry over the Maes in former times, supplyed now with a goodly Stone bridge in the place thereof. A fair and goodly town, beautified with two Collegiate Chur∣ches, in one of which the Dukes of Brabant were alwayes Canons, subject in part to the Bishop of Leige, and partly to the Duke of Brabant: The children are subject to that Prince to whom the Mother was subject at the tim•• 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Birth, without relation to the Father, according to that Maxime of the Civill Law, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sequitur ventrem: And if a stranger come to live there, he must de∣clare to which of the two he will be subject, yet is the Duke of Brabant the chief Soveraign of it, he only having the power of Coynage, and of granting pardon to Offenders: and as a town of this Dukedome, besieged and taken by the confederate States, Anno 1632.

Here is also within the limits of this Dukedome, the town and Signeurie of Ravesiem, situate on the banks of the Maes, held by the Dukes of Cleve, of the Duke of Brabant; but no otherwise sub∣ject; and on the same River, the Town and County of Horn, a Fief Imperiall, beautified with a strong Castle, and a goodly Territory, in which is Wiert; the residence of the Earls of Horne descen∣ded of the ancient house of Montmorencie in France.

2. THE MARQVISATE OF THE EMPIRE, so called, because the farthest bounds and Marches of the German Empire frontizing on Flanders, which appertained unto the Soveraignty of the Crown of France, comprehendeth four of the best Towns in Brabant, with very large and spacious Territories adjoyning to them, viz. 1. Lovain, on the River Dyle, about four English miles in compasse, but in that compasse much of the ground is taken up with Vineyards, Gardens, Mea∣dowes, and pleasant Fields, which make the situation far more delightfull, then if all built, and peopled. It was the Mother town of Brabant, and sometimes gave the title of an Earl to the Dukes hereof: afterwards made an University by Duke John the 4. anno 1426, wherein are contained about 20 Colledges, such as they be; much priviledged, and inriched with pensions for publick Readers, by King Philip the 2. 2. Brussels (Bruxella) the seat of the ancient Dukes of Brabant, and of the Dukes of Burgundie also, after they came to be Lords of these Countries, seated upon the Sinne, and other sweet springs and Riverets, which make it one of the sweetest situations in all Europe: having with∣all, a goodly channell made by Art from Brussels, to the River Dele, and from thence to the Scheld; the charge whereof amounted to ••00000 Crowns. It is of the same compasse with Lovain, the buildings sumptuous, and the town very rich; not only in regard that it is the ordinary seat of the Prince, or his Regent, and of the Chancery for all Brabant, and the Dutchy of Limbourg; but in regard of the rich Manufactures of Armour and Cloth of Arras, of Silk, Gold, and Silver, which are there in∣dustriously pursued. 3. Nivello, on the borders of Hainalt, in a very rich and fruitfull soil, re∣markable for the abundance of fine Linnen, which is therein made, but most of all for a very rich Nunnery (or rather Nurserie) of noble Ladies; of the same nature with those of Mentz, and others before described. 4. Antwerp, situate in a goodly plain on the River Scheld, above 17 leagues from the Sea, but furnished with eight Channels cut out of the River for the transport of Commodities, one of the which is capable of 100 great Ships, the private buildings very handsome, but the publick sumptuous; the chief whereof were weckoned the Church of Nostre Dame, the Bourse, the Town-house, and the house of the Easterlings, or Eastern Merchants, well peopled, and of so great Trade in the former times, that it was held to be the richest Empory of the Christian world: the commodities here bought and sold, amounting to more in time moneth, then that of Venice in two years. The causes of which sudden growth and increase of Trading, are said to be these, 1. The two Marts holden here every year, either of them during six weeks, in which time no mans person could be arrested, or his goods distrained. 2. The King of Portugall having in the yeer 1503. diverted the course of Merchandise from Alexandria and Venice to the City of Lisbon, kept here his Factories, and sent hi∣ther his Spices, and other Indian Commodities; for which cause the Merchants, in the yeer 1516. forsook Bruges in Flanders, and setled here. And 3. many of the Nobility and Gentry during the long and bloudy wars betwixt France and Spain, forsook their Country houses, and repaired hi∣ther; by means whereof Antwerp, in a very little time grew bigger by 3000 houses, then it had been formerly. But as the growth hereof was sudden, so the fall was sensibler occasioned through the yoking of it with a Citadell by the Duke of Alva, which made Merchants afraid to resort any longer thither, as a place of little freedome, and lesse security: but chiefly by blocking up the Haven, and intercepting the trade at Sea, by the more powerfull Hollanders, which hath removed this great traffick to Amsterdam, and other towns of their Country. So that now the chief support of it is the reputation which it hath of being an Imperiall City, the place of receipt for the Kings Revenues, and a Bishops See founded here in the yeer 1559. which draweth hither some resort of Lawyers and Church-men.

3. The Signeurie of MACHLIN, consisteth only of that City, and a small Territorie of nine Villages adjoining to it. The Citie seated on both sides of the River Dele, which ebbeth and flow∣eth to the town and a league above it: and running through the very midst, maketh in it a number of small Islands, to the great ornament and commoditie of it. A goodly town, containing seven Pa∣rish Churches besides the Cathedrall, being the See of an Archbishop founded here in the year 1559. strong in regard it may be easily drowned on all sides: and of great wealth by reason of the many manufactures of linnen, great Artillery of Brasse and Iron, Bels, painted works and others of like use and ornament. And being situate in a manner in the Center of Brabant, distant four Leagues from

Antwerp, Lovain,* 1.2 and Bruxels, was made by Charls the Warlike (who loved the place) the ordinary seat of the great Councell of State, to which appeals are made from the other Provinces. But yet more beautifull in former times then it is at the present, the City being much defaced by firing 200 barrels of powder, anno 1546. and by the ••ackage of of the Spaniard, by whom it was taken by force, anno 1572. most memorable at this time for a famous Nunnerie like to that of Nivelle, wherein are some∣times 1600 Nuns, who when they please may leave their Cloister and be married. A town though in Brabant, yet not of it, but a State distinct: for which cause many 〈◊〉〈◊〉 men at the time of their child∣birth, use to lay downe their b••llies in some Village of Brabant, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 their children may be capable of the priviledges and immunities of that country. The principall of the Villages is named Leest, or Heyst, pleasantly seated on an hill, the residue of the Burroughs lying at the foot thereof. Both Town and Villages the patrimonie heretofore of the noble family of the Bertholds: which failing in the person of Gualter, slain in the battle of Worancan by John Duke of Brabant; it sell the one half to the Bishop of Leige, who sold his moitie to John the second Duke of Brabant, the other to the Earl of Gueldres, who in the year 1333. sold his part unto Lewis of Malain, Earl of Flanders. But he sold nothing but the title, John the third Duke of Brabant having seised upon it, and added it to his estate: the occasion of some quarrels between those Princes, composed by the marriage of that Lewis with the heir of Brabant.

But to return again unto Brabant it self, the antient inhabitants hereof, were the Aduatici, and some part of the Tungri: accompted by the Romans a part of the Province of Germania secunda; and by the French a Province of the Kingdom of East-France, or Austrasia, when it was a Kingdom; as after of the great Dukedom of Lorrain, conteining then the modern Dukedoms of Lorrain, Gulick, and Brabant, with the lands of Luick. Brabant at that time had the name of Basse (or Low) Lorrain, and as a memory thereof, there is a Court for criminall and civill causes held at Genappe (one of the Franks or Market towns of Brabant) called La Court de Lorrain to this day. A Dukedom first erected by the Em∣perour Otho the 2. who gave it to Charles of France son of Gerburg his Aunt, by Lewis surnamed Trans∣marine, King of France; reserving out of it as a Dower for his said Aunt Gerburg, the towns and ter∣ritories of Lovain, Bruxels, Nivelle, and Antwerp, lying in the Marches of his Dominions towards France, which he honoured with the title of the Marquisat of the holy Empire, anno 981. Gerburg the sister, and after the death of her brother Otho, the heir of Charls, disseised of Lorrain and the right of that fair inheritance by the Emperour Henry (who gave it to Geofrey of Ardenne) succeeded her Grand∣mother the first Gerburg in the towns and territories of Lovain, Nivelle, and Bruxels, which she con∣veyed in marriage to Lambert, one of the sons of Reyner of Hainalt, with the title of Earl of Lovain. Henry his son having made himself Master of Antwerp also, was by that means possessed of the whole Marquisate, but still retained the title of Earl of Lovain. Godfrey the 6. Earl, having enlarged the bounds of his Dominions, was by the Emperour Henry the 5. anno 1108. created the first Duke of Brabant: whether so named from the old Bratuspantium, which Caesar placeth in this tract, or that it was so called quasi Brachland, that is to say, a barren soil, is not yet determined. John the first Duke of that name, added hereunto the Dutchie of Limburg, and John the third, the Signeurie of Malines or Machlin. How it became united to the house of Burgundie, is to be seen by the en∣suing Catalogue of the

The EARLS of LOVAIN, and DUKES of BRABANT.

• 104 1 Lambert, one of the sons of Regnier Earl of Hainalt, made the first Earl of Lovain in right of Gerburg his wife.
• 1015 2 Henry the son of Lambert, who took Antwerp, making it the head City of the Marquisate of the holy Empire.
• 1046 3 Lambert II. son of Henry.
• 1054 4 Henry II. son of Lambert the second.
• 1068 5 Henry III. son of Henry the second.
• 6 Henry IV. son of Henry the third.
• 1096 7 Godfrey surnamed Barbatus, brother of Henry the fourth, created the first Duke of Brabant by the Emperour Henry the fifth, anno 1108. father of Adelize, the second wife of our Henry the first.
• 1140 8 Godfrey or Geofrey II. son of Godfrey.
• 1143 9 Godfrey or Geofrey III. son of Godfrey the second.
• 1183 10 Henry V. son of Godfrey the third.
• 1230 11 Henry VI. surnamed the Good, son of Henry the fift.
• 1247 12 Henry VII. surnamed the Magnanimous, by whose marriage with Sophia daughter of Lewis the sixt, Lantgrave of Turingia, the Lantgravedome of Hassia came into this house, invested on it in the person of Henry his son, by the said Sophia.
• 1260 13 John, son of Henry the seventh, took in the Dukedom of Limbourg, and destroyed the potent Familie of the Bertholds: his younger brother Henry, by another venter, succeeding in Hassia.
• 14 John II. son of John the first, bought of the Bishop of Leige the moitle, or one halfe of Machlyn.

• 1312 15 John III. son of John the second,* 1.3 added the whole estate of Machlyn to the Dukedome of Brabant.
• 1355 16 Joane, eldest daughter of John the third, married to Wenceslau•• the first Duke of Luxembourg, but dyed without issue.
• 1406 17 Anthony of Burgogne, son of Philip the Hardie, and the Lady Margaret his wife, daughter of Lewis de Malain Earl of Flanders, and of Margaret the sister and heir of Joane; after the death of the said Wenceslaus and Joane his wife, succeeded in the Dukedom of Brabant, his elder brother John giving way unto it.
• 1415 18 John IV. sonne of Anthony by his first wise Joane daughter of Waleran Earl of Saint Paul.
• 1426 19 Philip, the second son of Anthony, and brother of John the fourth.
• 1430 20 Philip II. called the Good, Duke of Burgundie, son and heir of John Duke of Burgundie, elder brother of Anthony; on the deth of his two Cousin Germans John and Philip, succeeded In the Dukedom of Brabant, as the direct heir of the Lady Margaret, wife of Lewis de Ma∣lain, and daughter of John the third, the last Duke of Brabant of the house of Lo∣vain.

The Arms hereof are Sable, a Lyon Or.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The Mar∣quisate.
• * 1.2

  Machlyn.
• * 1.3

  Holland.