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A 'Joyous Entry' ("Blijde Intrede", "Blijde Inkomst", or "Blijde Intocht" in Dutch, "Joyeuse Entrée" in French) was the first official peaceable visit of a reigning monarch, prince, duke or governor into a medieval city, mainly in the Duchy of Brabant or the County of Flanders and occasionally in France, Luxembourg or Hungary, often coinciding with granting more rights or privileges to the city.^[1][2][3][4] The majority of these events occurred in the Renaissance era and continued through the Reformation in Catholic countries. A formal first visit of a city by an inheritor of the throne of Belgium upon coronation and since 1900 for a crown prince upon marriage, is still referred to as a "Joyous Entry", a reminder of this tradition of the rule of law.^[5][6]

Contents

Some notable Joyous Entries

The Joyous Entry of 1356, or a new 'Brabantian Constitution'

See also

References

General references for the Joyous Entry of 1356 charter

Footnotes

Some notable Joyous Entries

★ In 1356, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Joanna and her husband Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg, upon her becoming Duchess of Brabant when her father John ''the Triumphant'' deceased — the origin of a charter described in a section hereunder.^[7][8]

★ In 1407?, a Joyous Entry, by John the Fearless.^[9]

★ In 142?, a Joyous Entry, by Philip the Good.

★ In 1464, the Joyous Entry into Sopron, by King Matthias of Hungary — atypically mainly celebrating the return of the object of the Crown.^[10]

★ In 1467, the (not so very) 'Joyous' Entry into Ghent, by Charles the Bold.^[11][12]

★ In 1468, the Joyous Entry into Bruges, by Charles the Bold and Margaret of York.^[13]

★ In 1478, the Joyous Entry into Antwerp, by Maximilian of Austria.

★ In 1493?, the Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Maximilian of Austria (and his young daughter Margarete)

★ In 1496, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Joanna ''the Mad''.

★ In 1501, a tour of Joyous Entries throughout Hainaut, Picardy, Île-de-France, Champagne, Burgundy and Franche-Comté, by Philibert II, Duke of Savoy and Margarete of Austria upon their marriage, and the following year into Bourg-en-Bresse.^[14]

★ In 1507, the Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Philibert's widow Margarete, returning as Regent of the Low Countries.^[15]

★ In 1515, the Joyous Entries into Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp, and Leiden, by young Prince Charles.^[16][17]

★ In 1520, the Joyous Entry into Bruges, by young King Charles

★ In 1548, the Joyous Entry into Lyon, by Henri II of Valois.^[18]

★ In 154?, the Joyous' Entry into Brussels, by William ''the Silent''.^[19]

★ In 1549, the Joyous Entries into Bruges and Antwerp, by Philip II of Spain.^[20]

★ In 1550, the Joyous Entry into Rouen, by Henri II of Valois.

★ In 1561?, the (not so very) Joyous Entry into Mechelen, by Granvelle, as Archbishop.^[21]

★ In 1577, the (not so very) 'Joyous' Entry into Brussels, by Don John, as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.^[22]

★ In 1578, the Joyous Entry into Brussels, by Prince Matthias, later ''the Magnificent''.^[23]

★ In 1582, the Joyous Entry into Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, by François, Duke of Anjou.

★ In 1599-1600, a tour of Joyous Entries into Leuven, Tournai, Ghent, Mechelen, Brussels etc, by Albert and Isabella of Austria, and the following(?) year into Antwerp.^{[24][25][26][27]}

★ In 1635, the Joyous Entry into Antwerp, by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (depicted by P.P. Rubens).^[28]

★ In 1891, the Joyous Entry into Luxembourg, by Grand Duke Adolphe and his wife Adelheid.^[29]

The Joyous Entry of 1356, or a new 'Brabantian Constitution'

This Joyous Entry of 1356 into Brussels implies the charter of liberties'' granted ''to the Duchy of Brabant following the death in 1355 of Duke John III, by his daughter Joanna, the new Duchess, and her husband Wenceslaus, since 1354 the first Duke of Luxembourg ; the document is dated 3 January 1356 (NS). On 5 April, Wenceslaus' half-brother Charles (born also Wenceslaus) became Holy Roman Emperor ; he presided the ''Reichstag'' which decreed the Golden Bull of 1356, fixing an important aspect of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire, mainly restricting the freedoms of cities and civilians.
By August 1356, the Brabantian document was a dead letter in practice, owing to the military occupation of Brabant by Louis, count of Flanders, and the following February, when Emperor Charles IV, Joanna and Wenceslaus, and representatives of the Brabantian towns all met at Maastricht: to satisfy the Luxembourg dynasty it was officially denigrated by all parties, especially its chapter vii, which stipulated that the Duchess Joanna, if childless, should be succeeded by her natural heirs—her sisters. Thus it was by abrogation of the Joyous Entry of 1356 that the Habsburgs eventually inherited Brabant. The defeat of Wencelas in 1371 was a victory for the towns over the feudal nobility, and in supporting Anton of Burgundy as Duke, the towns wrung from him a new constitution or Inauguration Charter (1406).^[30] What remained of the Joyous Entry charter would nevertheless be referred to for centuries.^[31]
The charter had not been completely new. A custom of "landcharters" originating in Brabant during the previous century, had already produced the Charter of Kortenberg, granted by John II in 1312 and also considered a Babantian Constitution, or the "Walloon Charter" of 1314. The six specific freedoms or "privileges" detailed powers granted to the church, the towns and some nobles, by means of which Duke John III's heiress, Joanna, Duchess of Brabant and her consort Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, could collect taxes.
The Joyous Entry of 1356 has been viewed an equivalent to the rechtsstaat in the Low Countries of Magna Carta's establishment for England of a rule of law, the only other medieval document with claims to comprising a written basis of governance, in the other early successful example of a nation-state. In common with Magna Carta its functioning significance was exaggerated by the Romantic historians of the 19th century.^[32][33]
Annually the Dukes of Brabant pledged to adhere to the text in the document by making a ceremonial entry into the main cities of Brabant. In the midst of the Eighty Years' War in the Low Countries, a book was repeatedly published (the 1578 edition safely from Cologne) with the Latin title ''Laetus introitus'', with the view of reminding Philip II and his military commanders of the constitutional restraints of the Blijde Inkomst and giving heart to the insurgents in Brabant.
This Joyous Entry charter was declared null and void when the Revolutionary French forces took possession of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794. Nevertheless, it became one of the elements that formed the Belgian Constitution of 1831.

See also

★ Golden Bull of 1356

References

General references for the Joyous Entry of 1356 charter

★ Text of the Joyous Entry

★ Michiel Kaptein, 2001. "De Blijde Inkomst"

Footnotes

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica — ''Joyeuse Entrée''
2. Bell & Hawell Information and Leaming: ''Margaret of Austria and Brou: Habsburg Polical Patronage in Savoy'' thesis submitted by Deanna MacDonald, Department of Art History and Archaeology, McGilf University, Montreal (pdf file)
3. University of Leiden: Self-Representation of Court and City in Flanders and Brabant in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries, by Wim Blockmans & Esther Donckers (pdf file)
4. The Project Gutenberg EBook ''Holland, The History of the Netherlands'' by Thomas Colley Grattan
5. Museum of the World Ocean — The thirtieth anniversary of the international conferences (schools) for marine geology
6. Nieuwsbank interactief Nederlands persbureau
7. CRW Flags — Brabant (Former province, Belgium)
8. VRTtaal.net ''Blijde Inkomst'' (Language site by the official public TV broadcaster)
9. University of Leiden: ''Vlaanderen 1384-1482'', by W.P. Blockmans (pdf file)
10. Dissertations University of Groningen: ''De Hongaarse heilige kroon'' (The Hungarian Sacred Crown) (pdf file)
11. presentation of a university conference, see: LA Williams Andrews Clark Library Conference ''The political culture of the revolt of the Netherlands, 1566-1648'', October 7-8 2005 (draft) by Marc Boone (University of Ghent)
12. The Project Gutenberg EBook ''Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy'', by Ruth Putnam
13. "''whips and angels'', Painting on Cloth in the Mediaeval Period" by Barbara Gordon
14. [series Joos De Rijcke: ''Margaretha van Oostenrijk of van Savoye'', mentioning sources DEBAE 1987, Kocken 1981, DE IONGH 1981]
15. Tertio, Christian weekly journal, 297 p. 11 - 2005-10-19: ''Stad in vorstelijke vrouwenhanden - Mechelse Margareta’s'' by Sabine Alexander
16. University of Utrecht - C.M.M.E. — A Choirbook for Henry VIII and his Sisters ed. Theodor Dumitrescu
17. ''De Divisiekroniek van 1517'', republished Amsterdam 2003, Editor: Karin Tilmans (pdf file)
18. British Library — ''Festivals in Valois France''
19. ''Brusselse Geschiedenis'' (Brussels' History), by Dr. Paul De Ridder of the Royal Belgian Library
20. Antiquarian site referencing "Kuyper,W. ''The Triumphant Entry of Renaissance architecture into the Netherlands. The Joyeuse Entrée of Philip of Spain into Antwerp in 1549. Rennaissance and Mannerist architecture in the Low Countries from 1530 to 1630'', Alphen aan de Rijn, 1994."
21. American Presbyterian Church: ''Duchess Margaret I'', part 2, chapter 2 ''Opposition to Philip and Cardinal Granvelle in the Netherlands''
22. University of Mannheim site: The Cambridge Modern History, planned by Lord Acton, ed. by Adolphus W. Ward. Cambridge: Univ. Press volume III, chapter XV ''Spain under Philip II'' by Martin Hume, of the Royal Spanish Academy
23. municipality of Willebroek, Flanders, Belgium: history Belgium and the Netherlands, year 1578
24. Catholic University of Leuven, Justus Lipsius: Philologist, Philosopher and Political Theorist
25. site of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Brussels) — National events
26. dbnl (digital library for Dutch literature), Leiden: ''De weerliicke liefden tot Roose-mond'', Justus de Harduwijn, edition O. Dambre, p. 11, 12
27. Albert & Isabella's Virtual Tour - Joyous Entry
28. JSTOR A lost oil scetch by Rubens rediscovered: ''"Entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into the city of Antwerp in I635"''
29. Luxembourg Medals - 1891. Grand Duke Adolphe and Grand Duchess Adelheid
30. University of Leiden: ''Constitutions and their application in the Netherlands'' by R. Van Uytven & W. Blockmans
31. The Project Gutenberg EBook ''History of the United Netherlands, 1584'' by John Lothrop Motley, released January, 2004
32. The Project Gutenberg EBook ''Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1560-61'', by John Lothrop Motley
33. 'The metropolis and the state. The autonomy of Amsterdam and Antwerp in a comparative perspective' (ca. 1530-1830), paper by Michael Limberger and Marjolein ’t Hart (pdf file)